About a year ago, Campbell Soup Company CEO Mark Clouse made that statement during a keynote presentation to student leaders saying, "I like to seek out experiences that challenge me. I like to do things that make me a little uncomfortable and that put me in positions where I was learning…where I was trying something that I might not have been great at.” And he’s right…as putting yourself in positions where you're a little uncomfortable (but where you can learn and develop as you move forward) is an essential part of what sets leaders apart. No matter what stage of your career, you must have that thirst to keep learning…looking for more inspiration, more knowledge, more mastery. And while some enhance their knowledge and skills through reading, listening to podcasts, or learning from mentors…Mark Clouse prefers a different more challenging method. Last week, Mark Clouse decided to leave The Campbell’s Company (where he served as President and CEO since 2019) to become team President of the Washington Commanders. So, in essence…one day Mark Clouse is overseeing a $13 billion CPG brand portfolio, and the next he will be leading all facets of my lifelong favorite NFL team’s business operations. Because even if Mark Clouse had an extremely impressive almost three-decade journey climbing the ranks of a highly competitive multitrillion-dollar industry…major U.S. pro sports organizations hiring a team president from the corporate world in general is a very rare occurrence. How does this even happen, right? It doesn’t matter that Mark Clouse has no experience in professional sports…the team owner Josh Harris believes that being an accomplished business builder with a proven track record to strengthen both the organizations he leads and the communities he serves will translate successfully. But there is something that I believe is worth mentioning here…because while admiring (respecting) professional accomplishments (or personality traits) can happen from a distance in today’s connected world, it’s even more noticeable up close and personal. In that same keynote, Mark Clouse shared a story from early in his CPG career at Kraft Foods where he made a commitment to his future self…stating that he would be all in (showing up ready to play) regardless of what he was doing in life. And my assumption is that the leadership team at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment saw Mark Clouse consistently show up in that “all-in” manner when they were negotiating a unique marketing partnership with The Campbell’s Company that was announced about 1.5 months prior. This leadership pivot happened at the intersection of my passions for CPG and sports (aka the right place), but it also happened at maybe the right time. I wholeheartedly believe that the more you learn, the more you realize that there’s still so much more to learn. And while I’ve continued to be passionately curious everyday…I’ve unintentionally put limitations to my learning. With the world changing rapidly today…I believe your ability to learn new things and adapt to new circumstances is more important than ever. So, while I’m not saying that I’ll be professionally pivoting to such a degree like Mark Clouse (that is unless he needs a right-hand man) haha…his decision did inspire (and challenge) me to rediscover aspects of my lifelong learning quest that I know will provide me with an even greater fulfillment.

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