The Blueprint

Step 2REFLECT: Dig Deep

“A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives.”

—Charles Darwin, English scientist

Richard Cavanagh (“Dick” to his friends) is an impressive guy whom I’ve had the pleasure of knowing professionally for many years. Dick has served in senior positions in the White House, worked as a consultant for McKinsey, served as executive dean at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and was CEO of The Conference Board for 12 years.

The organization he led for over a decade, The Conference Board, is a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. It provides in-depth insights about global trends, economics, leadership, geopolitics, and more. At the heart of its mission is helping leaders make well-informed decisions that benefit the world. For The Conference Board to continue to earn leaders’ and organizations’ trust, the information they provide has to be the best: exhaustively researched, actionable, digestible, and beyond reproach. The trustworthiness of their insights is paramount. To meet this expectation, they employ some of the top thinkers across many disciplines, including many world-class economists.

When Dick began his tenure as CEO of The Conference Board, he hadn’t led an organization of that size before and his mandate was new and different from what his ...