Mark Parker

In difficult times, it's important to speak up. We cannot change the past, but we can impact the future.

It's impossible to leave our emotions and experiences outside the work place - they inform us and make us who we are.

As a company, I'm proud that Nike takes a stand on issues that impact all of us, our athletes, and society as a whole. And I am proud that Nike stands against discrimination in any form. We stand against bigotry. We stand for racial justice. We firmly believe the world can improve.

Nike stands together against bigotry and any form of discrimination... Now, more than ever, let's stand up for our values and remain open and inclusive as a brand and as a company.

I've gotten lots of great advice from lots of people that I admire, but the person who influenced me more than anyone in my life was my grandmother.

Curiosity is life. Assumption is death.

I think a really great creative person is almost by nature incredibly curious and digging deeply into cultures and technologies and getting all this input and using it to make things better - basically, creating better solutions.

I'm not a micromanager. I don't believe in that.

One of the challenges of innovation is challenging a set model. A traditional way to manufacture footwear existed for hundreds of years. Now we have a whole new way.

At a big company, often size turns into constipation; it fogs the lens about what's really happening. Sometimes with size and success comes the notion that since we've done things to be successful, we have the formula and can institutionalize it. That can be death.

One of my biggest sources of angst is having people so comfortable with a formula that works that they are not challenging themselves or their ideas.

My wife will go, 'You know, you're drawing a shoe right now.' I do that all the time.

I always carry a sketchbook around with me, and I sketch whenever I can... I might be in a financial review and be sketching because I find that I actually listen better when I sketch. Truth be told, there are probably more sketches in my books than there are written notes.

Observing is really the fuel to innovating, ultimately.

I have sketched since a young age, so there's always been an artistic side, a visual side to my personality.

We need policies that will allow U.S. companies to invest in their business, innovate for the future, and create U.S. jobs.

Nike believes in a world where everyone celebrates the power of diversity.

When you work in a culture that thrives on innovation and is constantly moving into unchartered territory, you're going to hit dead ends. But to be successful over the long term, remember what you've learned and move on from it quickly.

I tend to gravitate toward people who are a bit more eccentric and creative and artistic in some ways. And I like bringing disparate kinds of creative people together to create some great work, even to share points of view on a new direction.

I love working with athletes. They're all very demanding.