DARDENRESTAURANTS 

## Leadership Defined 

It is said that leadership is the ability to guide or direct others. We would add to that definition the ability to inspire, enthuse, motivate and encourage – for starters. The fact is, at Darden Restaurants leadership manifests itself in hundreds of ways every day. Indeed, we consider leadership excellence to be the essential strategic plank of our business model. So, who better to define leader- ship than some of the many leaders found in our family of more than 141,000 employees? We wish we could include them all, but this report contains the stories of six individuals who we believe personify leadership at its best. They should give you a good idea of how we define leadership at Darden, as well as how leadership creates value for all of our stakeholders – guests, investors, employees, vendors and the community. 

