Rick goings: 'we've got an incredible board: The Tupperware Brands CEO champions the value that directors can add ... as long as there is no crowding out of the board agenda what their top priority should be--to grow the company. 'We treat our board like they work here every day.

• Author: Kristie, James
• Position: BOARD LEADERSHIP - Interview

TUPPERWARE BRANDS CORP. Chairman and CEO Rick Goings keeps a card in his wallet that reads, "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out and shouting, 'Wow, what a ride!

And what a ride it has been so far for the leader of Orlando-based Tupperware. Along with Warren Batts, he took the company public in 1996, when it was spun out of Premark Corp. (later acquired by Illinois Tool Works). Today Tupperware is a $2 billion NYSE-traded "global portfolio of direct-selling companies," as he describes the business that was always well-known for its durable serving and storage products. Its brands now include Tupperware in consumer and household items, as well as a blossoming collection of cosmetic, fragrance and toiletries products under such brands as Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller Cosmetics, NaturCare, Nutrimetrics, Armand Dupree, and Nuvo. He not only grew the product portfolio but also the global scale of the enterprise, opening 24 international markets (all profitable), with business outside the U.S. now constituting 84% of sales. The company's independent sales force numbers approximately 2.3 million. Also growing in scale: the company's reputation, now rated among the top 5 most respected household brand names (GE is No. 7 and Martha Stewart is No. 20) and earning a place on Fortunes Most Admired Companies list for the second year in a row.

All this high-speed action at Tupperware followed a career path that started with an entrepreneurial burst. While in college Goings founded a company that became one of the country's first direct sellers of home fire and smoke detecting systems. The next 15 years, from 1970 to 1985, he spent rolling out this business into a nationwide franchise and then developing and launching another direct-selling business, this one for personal care products. Both of these firms found ready buyers--for the products, and then for the whole businesses themselves. In 1985 Goings joined Avon Products Inc. as director of direct sales development at Avon headquarters in New York. Next he led a turnaround as president of Avon Germany, then moved to Hong Kong as group vice president Asia Pacific, followed by a speedy ascent to president and senior operating officer of Avon USA. He was recruited to Sara Lee Corp. by famed leaders Cor Boonstra and John Bryan to spearhead expansion of household products and direct selling. He then joined Tupperware in 1992 as president of Tupperware Worldwide, and in 1997 was named chairman and CEO of Tupperware. He was on the board of Tupperware's parent, Premark, when the decision was made to spin off the unit, thus presenting the opportunity to take the reins of a newly public entity with a dominating brand to build on.

Where there is a company "on the move" there typically is a board that's helping propel that action. Indeed, that is the case at Tupperware, as DIRECTORS & BOARDS learned when we met with Goings to discuss his "brand" of governance. Publisher Robert Rock and Editor James Kristie caught up with Goings when he touched down in New York for a couple of days in early March while in transit to Europe for a round of meetings with his global sales and management team. Excerpts from the conversation follow.

Directors & Boards: Rick, let's start by getting a sense of your fundamental philosophy about board governance.

Rick Goings: The primary role of a board should be to ensure the perpetuation and growth of the enterprise. When I talk with my board, that's what we agree on as their role. There is just not enough responsibility put on boards for growing the business. The pendulum has swung too far toward governance alone. There needs to be a new balance.

D&B: Are you saying that boards are getting too enmeshed in compliance-related matters to the exclusion of adding value in strategic and operational matters?

Goings: Yes, but I would rather phrase it as "many boards are getting almost singularly focused on compliance-related matters." Let me tell you what I see as the priorities for a board. Number one is ensuring strong leadership and succession. You pick the right leaders and you get the right results. This is where you set the tone at the top. The second is collaborating on strategy and direction. The third is establishing and...