Let Go & Lead With Maril Macdonald

For Vada Manager, everything comes back to relationships. Throughout a career serving on countless Boards of Directors and advising everyone from Nelson Mandela to Nike founder Phil Knight to the New York Yankees’ George Steinbrenner, Manager has accumulated more than 14,000 contacts in his rolodex, and he’s quick to tout this number with students and mentees. Relationships, he says, come full circle — and his career has been driven by them. Nurturing those relationships through thoughtful gestures and regular contact means that you’re always top of mind for opportunities and your connections remain eager to assist you when they can.     Over a wide-ranging conversation, he and Maril discuss the evolving role of corporate Board members; what companies should ask before they get involved in ESG issues; and the strong culture and leadership that successful businesses of all sizes have in common. To Manager, the best leaders trust the people they hire, build cultures of high “failure tolerance” and remain hum