On board he totes a leather Kenneth Cole attaché case for papers, his laptop (an Hewlett-Packard nc8430 he recently chose for its multimedia capabilities and large screen), and a power converter that works in more than 200 countries. Once he settles into his usual first-class window seat, however, he tries to keep laptop usage to a minimum.

Conophy spends most of each trip reading documents and sketching out ideas on an old-fashioned pad of graph paper. He describes most of this planning as “projects, assignments, and deliverables-type stuff.” Mixing up the media, he says, sparks creativity—as does staring out the window and watching the world float by.

“I am a history buff and always studied geography, so I get a kick out of knowing where I am in the air without having to cheat and look at the airline flight path on the screen,” he says.

Conophy doesn’t stop moving once he hits the ground. An avid runner, he lugs sneakers and gym clothes wherever he goes, and usually asks the concierge at hotels in new cities to recommend a running route. He tries to exercise for at least 40 minutes each day and has been known to interrupt an afternoon of meetings just to get his workout in.

“Exercise helps me feel better and gets me into the local time zone,” notes Conophy, who always keeps his wristwatch set on Windsor time. “Worst-case scenario, if I feel I’m in a dodgy place, I’ll use the fitness center.”

But no matter where he’s been the week before, or how jet-lagged he might be, the world-traveling executive says he spends most Saturday mornings hunched over the stove in his Sunningdale, England, home, cooking up crepes or pancakes for his wife and three daughters.

“Under almost any circumstances, we still believe in trying to have everyone sit down together and have a meal,” he says. “It keeps me grounded.”