• It’s up to you to be part of the solution. Don’t let yourself off the hook by taking the easy path; find a way to fix the problem
• Leadership is neutral – it can be good or bad. It’s how we lead that matters
• True leaders are chapters, not books. They are stewards of a legacy, serving as links between the past and future
• The day you have is today – would you be proud to sign your name to it?

 Marilyn Carlson Nelson is chairman and former CEO of Carlson Companies, one of the largest privately held companies in the world, where she has been an extremely effective business leader. Under her leadership, the firm's system wide sales nearly doubled, to $40 billion. She transformed Carlson into a "new model" company and initiated an employee effort that netted more than $200 million in bottom-line process and program improvements. Ms. Nelson is the author of How We Lead Matters: Reflections on a Life of Leadership, an inspiring collection of wisdom about how to build a meaningful legacy one day at a time. She has been named one of "America's Best Leaders" by U.S. News & World Report and Forbes magazine has regularly selected her as one of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women." In 2007, Ethisphere Magazine named her one of the "100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics."

Part of the Excellence in Management and Leadership Series. Originally broadcast March 10, 2009.