5. Cynthia Round

“Core values are not so much a script to be learned and repeated as an experience to be shared and replicated,” says Cynthia Round. “They are communicated better through people than merely on paper.” The principles by which she helps lead United Way in effecting change for millions in the United States and around the world were shaped and honed in her formative business years with Procter & Gamble (P&G)—and instilled largely through the encouragement and opportunities she received there. “It was more from experience than written policy,” she says. It stems from the “culture of mentoring” she encountered upon arriving at the company fresh from college more than 30 years ago.

Her first assignment was a classic example of mentoring. ...

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