Quotes from Sandra E. Peterson

If you look at my career, I've taken on a lot of risky roles.

Most women I know who have been successful in business, it's because they've been willing to take on the risky challenge that other people would say, 'Oh, I'm not sure I want to do that.'

The people inside the company, generally two to three levels down, they know best what's wrong and how to fix it. It's just that their voices aren't being heard. I listen for words, tonality, and language.

One of the things I've learned is people are smart, and they understand what should be done. They understand what the challenges are, but they're not always able to have their voices heard.

There's still a narrower band of acceptable behavior for women than men.

I don't compromise at all on how people lead and manage other people. I don't want to work in an environment where people are belittled and berated.

Bayer CropScience aims to lead the way in sustainable crop solutions, and we are heavily investing in R&D, as well as production capacities, to respond to global demand for differentiated crop solutions.

It's critically important for Europe to have a different way to think about the role of agriculture in society and the economy here.

I am very comfortable not being the expert and actually putting people who work for me forward. I don't need to know all the answers, and I don't need to be the one who's out there up front.

The reality is that unless you understand the regulatory environment and payment structure, you can't revolutionize it. I think most tech companies and startups have come to this realization: that you have to partner with people in the ecosystem.

When I walk into a new organization and I don't know the industry or the people, which has always been the case, I do a few things. One is I think about the business from the outside in.

'Women on Board' provides a roadmap for high-performing women leaders to join high-performing boards. It is a must-read for every sitting board director, man or woman, and for everyone who aspires to a corporate board seat.

I don't believe in management by fear. I also won't sacrifice the future of a company for a quarter.

Honestly, my secret is I pick really, really good people around me.

Saying you must rotate three crops a year, a certain percentage of your land must be set aside, and some of the other proposals, my sense is that it's a little anti-technology, and the ability of European farmers to feed Europe is reduced as a result.

Agility is fundamental to leading a team through times of change.

It's hard not to identify with some of what Hillary Clinton is up against.

Anyone who ends up being a leader of a large complicated organization, whether you're a male or a female, you're working an immense amount of hours, and you can't do everything. You can't have complete work/life balance.

I consciously make an effort to get to know some of the women who may be in the middle of the organization - they're not at senior management levels - and try to figure out whether there's a new opportunity they can take on that enables them to shine and succeed in a way they may not have in the past.

Build an environment that empowers your team to take risks. Set metrics for what needs to be achieved and measure against them to track progress along the way. If targets aren't being met, challenge your team to reassess and come back with a new strategy. And create a culture where people are awarded for challenging the status quo.

The signal of the importance of something is whether you're actually measuring it and you're holding people accountable to improving those numbers.

Managing through ambiguity can be difficult for even the most experienced leaders. Defining a clear set of goals for your team demonstrates that there is an end in sight. However, it's crucial during this time to move through the transition in phases.

The thing that has not had enough attention is really thinking about how to use modern breeding techniques to really look at the germplasm pools and find ways to actually improve yields and to improve the heat and drought tolerance of these crops.

I always remember what's the most important thing - my kids.