Steve Stout explains that a company’s core mission and values—its “DNA”—shape hiring, expectations, and ambition, and it’s the CEO’s responsibility to distill these into a handful of guiding principles that every employee understands and lives by. He highlights three key values from his own experience: 1) “Getting on the plane”—prioritizing physical presence to show genuine commitment and turn ideas into real dialogue; 2) Viewing conflict as critical to success, encouraging teams to engage constructively around differing perspectives to reach the best outcome for the company; and 3) Being fearless—leading by example, embracing what you don’t know, and turning that openness into learning and growth. Together, these values create a shared understanding that drives talent alignment, innovation, and a winning culture.
1. Steve Stout is the author of the book *The Tanning of America*.
2. Steve Stout is the founder of United Masters.
3. Steve Stout is the founder of a creative solutions company (translation).
4. Steve Stout cites “getting on the plane” (physical presence) as a core value.
5. Steve Stout states that conflict is critical to success.
6. Steve Stout says accepting and running toward conflict is important for a winning team.
7. Steve Stout claims being fearless helped him tremendously throughout his career.
8. Steve Stout asserts that fearless leadership requires leading by example.
9. Steve Stout co‑founded a beauty company with Carol’s Daughter.
10. Steve Stout’s beauty company was eventually sold to L’Oréal.
11. Steve Stout had no prior knowledge of the beauty business when he started.
12. Steve Stout identified a problem in the beauty industry that he could solve.
13. Steve Stout advocates knowing what you don’t know and embracing it.
14. Steve Stout encourages finding joy and freedom in saying “I don’t know.”
15. Steve Stout says learning what you don’t know builds muscle memory for fearlessness.