Debra CrewCEO of Diageo

I believe leadership is about making the team better. It's not about you as a leader, but about helping the team succeed. I focus on getting the best out of everyone and making sure the team works well together.

When I became CEO, I asked senior leaders across markets to assess our culture. We realized our value "Be the Best" created perfectionism, which slowed us down. We changed it to "Be Better," focusing on learning, speed, and acting decisively.

Yes. For example, we cut down innovation processes from five stages to two for lower-risk projects. This helped us launch products faster, taking almost a year out of the process. We also celebrate failures to encourage learning.

I always ask for feedback. Sometimes people are shy to give it to the boss, so you have to invite it. I even test my messages before big meetings to make sure they land well.

We look for a mix: deep spirits knowledge, local market experience, and fresh skills from other industries. Sometimes bringing in ideas from outside, like smaller bottle sizes from the soft drink world, has been a big success for us.

I love data. We track 220 million occasions in 37 markets. Data helps us do precision marketing — matching the right brand to the right moment. It helps us make better choices, especially when consumers are under financial pressure.

We look at spaces where we don't have a strong brand or across different price tiers. If there's an opportunity, like non-alcoholic spirits in the U.S., we either build or buy, like we did with Ritual. At the same time, we dispose of brands that don't fit our future premium growth.

Coming back into an executive role after doing board and private equity work was a big decision. I had to unwind a lot of other things and step back into an operational role before becoming CEO.

Absolutely. Having mentors who know you well and will tell you things others won't is really important. They help you think differently and guide you when making big transitions, like moving into a CEO role.

Try new things, even if they scare you. When I joined the Army, I was bad at many things at first, but I learned and got better. Trying tough things builds resilience and confidence, and that's so important in this world.

I like to run because it gives me good thinking time. I also love to read, mainly fun fiction books, for escape. When traveling for work, I try to see something special, like visiting the panda reserve when I was in China.

I like to work out first thing in the morning, at least four times a week. It's a great way to manage stress and think clearly. If I have an early flight, I sometimes miss it, but I try to keep it part of my routine.

When traveling for work, it's easy to just go from hotel to hotel. So I try to take a moment to enjoy something in each place — whether it's seeing the pandas in China or visiting local landmarks when possible.