Sandra E. Peterson

“I consciously make an effort to get to know some of the women who may be in the middle of the organization - they're not at senior management levels - and try to figure out whether there's a new opportunity they can take on that enables them to shine and succeed in a way they may not have in the past.”

“I don't compromise at all on how people lead and manage other people. I don't want to work in an environment where people are belittled and berated.”

“People need to go back and remember what it was once like to lead businesses in emerging markets.”

“'Women on Board' provides a roadmap for high-performing women leaders to join high-performing boards. It is a must-read for every sitting board director, man or woman, and for everyone who aspires to a corporate board seat.”

“I don't believe in management by fear. I also won't sacrifice the future of a company for a quarter.”

“The thing that has not had enough attention is really thinking about how to use modern breeding techniques to really look at the germplasm pools and find ways to actually improve yields and to improve the heat and drought tolerance of these crops.”

“Most women I know who have been successful in business, it's because they've been willing to take on the risky challenge that other people would say, 'Oh, I'm not sure I want to do that.'”

“One of the things I've learned is people are smart, and they understand what should be done. They understand what the challenges are, but they're not always able to have their voices heard.”

“There's still a narrower band of acceptable behavior for women than men.”

“The signal of the importance of something is whether you're actually measuring it and you're holding people accountable to improving those numbers.”

“Saying you must rotate three crops a year, a certain percentage of your land must be set aside, and some of the other proposals, my sense is that it's a little anti-technology, and the ability of European farmers to feed Europe is reduced as a result.”

“If you look at my career, I've taken on a lot of risky roles.”

“Build an environment that empowers your team to take risks. Set metrics for what needs to be achieved and measure against them to track progress along the way. If targets aren't being met, challenge your team to reassess and come back with a new strategy. And create a culture where people are awarded for challenging the status quo.”

“Bayer CropScience aims to lead the way in sustainable crop solutions, and we are heavily investing in R&D, as well as production capacities, to respond to global demand for differentiated crop solutions.”

“Men don't quite know how to read women if they're not used to seeing them in a business environment.”

“I am very comfortable not being the expert and actually putting people who work for me forward. I don't need to know all the answers, and I don't need to be the one who's out there up front.”

“There is value in finding a combination of internal people, stretching them and seeing their potential, then marrying that with someone from the outside.”

“When I was not working, when our children were little, our life was all about our kids and our relationship. We didn't spend tons of time going off and spending time with friends and going on vacations alone.”

“If I'm sitting in an office, I'm not doing my job.”

“It's critically important for Europe to have a different way to think about the role of agriculture in society and the economy here.”