Adam Bryant conducts interviews of senior-level executives that appear in his “Corner Office” column each week in the SundayBusiness section of The New York Times. Here are a few insights provided during an interview of Jenna Fagnan, president of Tequila Avión, who says managers shouldn’t be too prescriptive. “People may not do things the way I want them to,” she says, “but you have to step back and realize that people achieve things in different ways.”

To read the complete interview as well as Bryant’s interviews of other executives, please click here.

Photo credit: Earl Wilson/The New York Times

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Bryant: What were some early lessons for you?

Fagnan: When I was younger, we lived for many years in a little Eskimo village in Alaska. My father was a rural doctor for the Indian Health Service. He would fly from village to village, and my mother, brother and me would sometimes go with him. We would land in a village, and all the little kids would gather around. While he was treating people, the kids would take us and we’d go play. I learned to connect with people early on.

Bryant: How did your parents influence you?

Fagnan: My father really trusted people and believed in humankind. That’s something that’s stuck with me, and it’s also the way I try to manage people. My mother was always a teacher, wherever in the world we were living — in Oregon or Alaska or Africa. We had this whale vertebra in our house, and if I had something to present at school the next day, my mother would make me stand on top of this big bone and recite it. She would say, “Just speak your piece, and make me feel some emotion.” It really helped in life because you learn how to connect with your audience and be more articulate speaking in public.

Bryant: Any managers you’ve had who influenced you?

Fagnan: One of them had this belief in people — that you can do more than you think you can. To me, that’s so powerful. If you believe in someone, even more than they believe in themselves, they will do anything to succeed. They will do everything they can not to let you down.

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Adam Bryant, deputy national editor of The New York Times, oversees coverage of education issues, military affairs, law, and works with reporters in many of the Times‘ domestic bureaus. He also conducts interviews with CEOs and other leaders for Corner Office, a weekly feature in the SundayBusiness section and on nytimes.com that he started in March 2009. In his book, The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed, (Times Books), he analyzes the broader lessons that emerge from his interviews with more than 70 leaders. To read an excerpt, please click here. To contact him, please click here.