Baking & Snack - December 2013 - 20

by Joanie Spencer

No one who's ever met Mondelez International's Cynthia
Waggoner would accuse her of being at a loss for words
... unless you ask her to talk about herself. Now vicepresident, North American Integrated Supply Chain,
Biscuits, and based at the company's East Hanover,
NJ, office - and Baking & Snack's 2013 Operations
Executive of the Year - Ms. Waggoner freely admits she
built her success upon the shoulders of others.
"People ask me, 'What did you do to get where you
are?' I'll tell you, it's the people who have worked for me
and worked with me and who have been my managers,"

morals that you don't compromise for anything."
Although it's easy to define a leader as someone who
can bring a group of people into one common objective,
for Ms. Waggoner, it's more about what it takes to get
people there. It's about the journey. "For me, leadership
is about setting the right mission objectives, having a
clear roadmap to get there and making sure your people
have the resources they need to deliver and execute," she
explained. And then once they have those things, "Get
out of their way," she instructed. "Empower people, let
them go, and reward them for their delivery."

The formula for
Cynthia Waggoner's brand of
leadership blends strength,
selflessness and a little bit of sass.
Ms. Waggoner said in an exclusive interview. "I'm where
I am today because people believed in me. People put
me where I am."
In the baking industry, an environment built on
collaboration, Ms. Waggoner brings success to her team,
her company and its powerhouse brands through leadership, respect and her own radical brand of joy ... and
what she puts in, she gets back in kind.

A leader defined
Honesty. Integrity. Loyalty. These are not only the qualities that define Ms. Waggoner as a leader for her people
and her organization, but they also are the standards to
which she holds those around her.
A captain and paratrooper in the US Army in the 24th
Infantry Division headed by Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf,
Ms. Waggoner learned leadership from the best. "It's really about living by a code of conduct," Ms. Waggoner
explained, "having a set of principles and ethics and

/ Baking & Snack / December 2013

But, of course, even the best mission can fail. And
what happens next can define a leader as good or great.
"Some of my best learnings have been from failures,"
Ms. Waggoner noted. Her code of conduct dictates that,
should a mission fail, the leader takes responsibility. "If
we fail on a mission, that's my fault, and it's my job to
realign my organization," she said. "But if we succeed,
it's because of the people who delivered, not me." And
her code of conduct is unwavering, be she on the bakery
plant floor or in the corporate office. It's a code that not
only is supported by Mondelez International but that
also fits right into its corporate culture.

The power of one
Within the walls of the Mondelez International North
American headquarters, a physical transformation has
taken place. The office space that once had been formal
and traditional has done away with walls that separate
and delineate employees. In the foyer, brightly colored

Baking & Snack - December 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baking & Snack - December 2013