No leader can be blamed for thinking how wonderful a week would be if it didn’t have any meetings—or any “I just need a minute” conversations in the hall or interruptions of any kind—basically, a week with a to-do list and without people. Wouldn’t that be a productive week?

Not really, says Douglas Conant, former president and CEO of the Campbell Soup Co. All those meetings, chats, and interruptions are vital points of contact that leaders can use to get an awful lot of work done.

In his book, TouchPoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments (Jossey-Bass, 2011), Conant and his co-writer, Mette Norgaard, assert that every face-to-face conversation can promote a company’s strategies and values and increase a leader’s impact. Leaders can leverage each of those interactions to bolster employee engagement, set priorities, and get tasks moving.

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