The most important thing I've learned since becoming CEO is context. It's how your company fits in with the world and how you respond to it.

The best thing you can give as a leader is a reason to trust. People want to trust. They're hungry for it. But they're selective. They'll only give it to a motivator, a communicator, a teacher, a real person. Someone who in good times and bad always does the right thing.

Seeing people in person is a big part of how you drive any change process. You have to show people a positive view of the future and say "we can do it"

Good leaders don't tell people what to do, they give teams capability and inspiration.

I think there's a need for somewhat of a mindset change. We need to have a consistent external focus. We've always had the research labs. We've always had the resources to be innovative, and we've been innovative in a number of businesses. But, in any big company, you have to constantly push people to look at markets and customers, rather than look internally at themselves.

I've been seeing the change. It's been steady. It's been more controlled than people think. And my own belief is that China knows it also needs to be part of the world, and that it needs to be able to have trade with Europe and the United States in order to house and feed a billion people. That's really kind of single-mindedly what they see their role as being.

I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and my parents are really right wingers. My dad watches, like, five or six hours of Fox News every day and stuff like that.