Carlos Gutiérrez released Sheer Will: Learning to Lead When There Is No Path on Oct. 6 through St. Martin's Press. The book chronicles his journey from fleeing Cuba at age six to becoming the youngest CEO in Kellogg Company's history and later the 35th U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
The memoir opens with the March 1960 explosion of the French freighter La Coubre in Havana Harbor, an event that preceded his family's departure from Cuba four months later. Gutiérrez describes arriving in the United States without knowing English, beginning his career at Kellogg selling cereal from a van in Mexico and climbing to the CEO role without a college degree. The book also details his lifelong struggle with undiagnosed ADHD, a condition he did not learn he had until age 65.
Gutiérrez attributes his success to what he calls "relentless positivity" and a belief that obstacles are opportunities. He argues that his working-class background gave him more empathy than most business leaders possess, and that ADHD, while debilitating in a career track that rewards consistency, granted him talent for problem-solving, creative thinking and bold action with little concern for risk.
The stakes for leadership teams are immediate. As organizations confront labor shortages, workforce gaps and the reshoring of supply chains, Gutiérrez's experience leading a Fortune 500 company through transformation and later shaping U.S. trade and economic policy offers a framework for navigating change when the path forward is unclear.
Sheer Will: Learning To Lead When There Is No Path
Carlos Gutiérrez is co-founder and executive chairman of EmPath, a workforce technology company, former chairman and CEO of Kellogg Company, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and a CNBC contributor. At Kellogg, he introduced the company's "volume-to-value" strategy, shifting the company away from growth through volume alone and toward stronger brands, innovation and higher-value products. As Secretary of Commerce under President George W. Bush, he advanced U.S. competitiveness, trade and economic policy, with deep involvement in free trade negotiations and relationships with Latin America and Asia. At EmPath, he focuses on the gap between the capabilities organizations need and those many workers currently possess.
Carlos Gutiérrez is exclusively represented by Stellant Group for speaking engagements including keynotes, fireside chats and panel discussions with leadership teams thinking through trade policy, workforce transformation, organizational change and North American competitiveness. For our consulting or advisory offerings, please reach out for a custom proposal.
