From an interesting New York Times interview with Michael Gould, the CEO of Bloomingdales, here are some Humanize-related quotes:

I believe the business I’m in is giving people an opportunity to grow. At the end of the day, no one remembers anyone’s numbers, no matter how good they were at any moment in time. All anyone’s going to remember is, did they give me an opportunity to be more than I thought I could be? What people want is a sense of recognition. They want a sense of belonging. People want to sense that what they’re doing makes a difference.

To me, the fundamental basis of leadership is trust. If you don’t have trust, you have no leadership.

I do not claim to be the smartest or the swiftest, but I have an ability to listen to people and empathize with what I think they’re going through. I think empathy is a large part of life, and being sincere and truthful is a large part of life.

I don’t know how you can be a great leader without warmth and humility. That doesn’t mean you can’t cut bait if you have to, and it doesn’t mean you’re not honest with people. Honesty is day in, day out. People have to trust you and know you always have their back, in the good times and the tougher times. I don’t think you can have too much warmth or too much empathy.

Life is an endless process. When you get out of college you say: “I’ve got my degree, I graduated with a solid G.P.A., I played intercollegiate sports, I spent a year in Europe. Now I’m going to go work.” No, you’re not going to go work. You’re going to go learn. Part of what you’re going to learn about here is retail and part of what you’re going to learn is about life and interpersonal skills. It’s everyone’s role at Bloomingdale’s to make sure these kids are learning. And it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep learning.