Meet The Leader

What is your purpose? What societal impact are you driving? Patrick Decker, CEO of Xylem, shares how this water technology company is helping to tackle these questions while tackling big issues impacting society and the planet (such as water scarcity, water infrastructure and emissions), leveraging everything from technology (AI and digital twins) to innovative demand deposit accounts.

On this episode, released ahead of the UN 2023 Water Conference, Decker shares the virtuous circle purpose creates - how it draws motivated people to join teams, attracts partners and commercial teams, drives fresh thinking and keeps a cross-section of groups aligned on big goals. Decker shared the practical ways leaders can keep teams in touch with a shared purpose -- from aligned communication (that sidesteps confusion) to a simple question asked at the top of meetings to keep conversations focused.

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Too many groups, including women and gender diverse people, do not see themselves as policymakers or politicians. Raise Our Voice Australia works to change that by providing special training on how the political system works, as well as tactical skills in areas like community building and having conversations with people you disagree with. Founder Ashleigh Streeter-Jones shares the important role a mentor played in crafting a step-by-step process to launch the social enterprise, one that helped break the massive project into 'bite-sized' pieces, a process that can be instrumental for founders of any startup or initiative. In fact, Streeter-Jones has a circle of mentors she turns to for advice and commiseration, and she shares the key role that mentoring plays in sharing knowledge and building anything big. 

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The second woman in history to run the New York Stock Exchange shares her 'non-linear' path to the role of President and the integral role her background in programming, technology and statistics plays in running a modern stock exchange. In a conversation recorded at the 2023 Annual Meeting in Davos, she talks about her first year on the job, the simple habit that helped her navigate 2022's rollercoaster year for stocks, the books inspiring her now, and what's needed to get more women into finance and tech.

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COVID-19 set women at work back ‘a generation.’ Learn why — and what can be done to bridge gender gaps, burnout and tackle labor scarcity from ManpowerGroup's Becky Frankiewicz.

In this episode, recorded at the Annual Meeting in Davos, Frankiewicz delves into the value of thinking 'skills-first,' how leaders can ensure flexible work works for everyone, what it means to be 'visible' in the workplace and the soft skill some tech fields need most. 

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A more sustainable future means transforming how business is done. In a special conversation recorded at the 2023 Annual Meeting in Davos, PepsiCo's CEO Ramon Laguarta shared how the food and beverage giant is rethinking things like packaging and consumption models - and how de-risking investments, scaling new habits and the right mix of internal collaboration and competition can spur innovation. 

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Caroline Casey is the founder of The Valuable 500, an organization that represents 22 million workers across 64 sectors worldwide working to end disability exclusion. Key to this effort is bridging a data gap to make it easier to track progress for inclusion and make apples-to-apples comparisons between companies. But critical, too, is ensuring leaders have the skills and the mettle to transform their organizations for a more inclusive world. She shares her journey in founding The Valuable 500, what motivates her and how a mentor changed how she thinks about impact. She also shares why a leader’s self-awareness is critical to better managing people - and what could be unlocked if more CEOs engaged in therapy. 

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In a tight labor market, how can you ensure you're filling much-needed roles with the right people? And once they're hired, how can you ensure those new staffers stay for the long haul? Valerie Beaulieu, Adecco Group's Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, shares why labor scarcity is here to stay, how companies can navigate hiring, and how workers can make the most of this moment. She also shares a skill she honed in an early career as a journalist and how it can help any leader spot new talent trends as they emerge.

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More people have a bank or mobile account than ever before, giving more people in the developing world and beyond a chance build savings, grow businesses and protect their families from the next global shock. But despite big gains in financial inclusion, there’s much more work to do. This work is especially urgent as a new swirl of economic, humanitarian and climate shocks could make getting payments to people quickly and efficiently more important than ever. Al Kelly, Jr, Executive Chairman and former CEO of Visa shared what’s needed next to bridge gaps and reach true financial inclusion in an interview recorded at the Annual Meeting in Davos in 2023. He also shares the questions all good leaders ask themselves as well as the lessons he learned from an early role at the White House and from Visa’s founder and first CEO Dee Hock.

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At the Annual Meeting in Davos this year, we asked CEOs, activists and civil society leaders how leaders can prioritize what really matters despite a swirl of challenges: an energy crisis, a food crisis, geopolitical conflict, a potential economic downturn, and more. They shared their strategies and secrets -- from how they make time in their calendars and unlock 'people power', to how they tap 'unhealthy impatience'. Learn the 'tells' that reveal you're building momentum and the tough questions you must ask yourself to ensure your actions are really laddering up to your values. 

In this episode: 

Roy Jacobs, CEO, Royal Philips; Harmony Jade Wayner, vice-chair, Arctic Youth Network; Deborah Braide, sustainable energy leader and researcher, E-Guide; John Schultz, Chief Operating Officer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Blake Scholl, founder and CEO, Boom Supersonic; Alyssa Auberger, Chief Sustainability Officer, Baker Mackenzie; Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of Transparency International; Lynn Martin, president of NYSE Group; Geraldine Matchett, co-CEO and CFO, Royal DSM; Alex Liu, managing partner and chairman, Kearney; Becky Frankiewicz, Chief Commercial Officer, Manpower Group, Inc.; Dr. Andrew Steer, president and CEO, Bezos Earth Fund.

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What if the next time your smartphone broke, you could fix it yourself? The repairable, sustainable smartphone maker Fairphone does just that all while helping to wean consumers off the quest for the thinnest, latest gadget -- a cycle that simply adds tons of valuable materials to landfill annually. Founder Bas van Abel joins Meet the Leader for a frank talk about what’s really involved in making a smartphone, his journey from designer to device CEO, and the tough moments he faced in the startup’s early days to stay on track with the startup's sustainable mission. He’ll also share why he founded two startups tackling circularity (Fairphone and food waste startup De Clique) and what’s needed for true system change. He’ll also explain what excites him about social enterprise and how entrepreneurs with big ideas for sustainability can tackle multiple challenges at once, from working conditions to resource protection, helping to reshape entire sectors and practices in the process.

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Alex Karp shares with Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein how he founded and leads software company Palantir Technologies. This thoughtful, wide-ranging conversation covers serious topics such as how its work with governments powers anti-terror efforts and counters human rights abuses. It also includes its share of light and even funny moments, including Karp's non-traditional background, his hair and why he lives in the New Hampshire.backwoods..

This conversation was recorded at the Annual Meeting in Davos Switzerland 18 January.

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Follow all the action from the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2023 at wef.ch/wef23 and across social media using the hashtag #WEF23.

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More than 100 million displaced people struggle to find new work after fleeing war and chaos. To help refugees and asylum seekers find a true fresh start, Ingka Group (the chief owner and operator of IKEA retail) designed the Skills for Employment Initiative. With its 3-6 months of training in language and other critical job skills, displaced people can find meaningtul work at IKEA or other companies and get a true fresh start. In this episode, Ingka Group CEO Jesper Brodin shared the lessons he has learned from this initiative and how, if scaled, programs like this one could play an important role in everything from tackling labor shortages to strengthening economies. He also shared how programs like this one can reveal key hiring blindspots, ensuring leaders re-examine current hiring approaches to be more inclusive, less slow, and even less biased towards a certain types of profiles.

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Ahead of the 2023 Annual Meeting, Makhtar Diop, the Managing Director and Executive Vice President of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), shares a special funding initiative designed to confront the food crisis, one that can also help address other issues including financial resilience for farmers and more sustainable practices for the climate. Success requires new forms of collaboration and drives home one of the key themes of this year's global conference in Davos, 'Cooperation in a fragmented world.' Diop also shares what gives him hope, what keeps him up at night, and what he hopes leaders will prioritise at this year's conference in Davos. 

These resources can help you learn more about the topics in this episode:

IFC: The IFC is the private sector arm of the World Bank, and describes itself as ‘the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. Learn more here:

Global Food Security Platform: this IFC initiative is tackling the overlapping crises simultaneously including the food crisis, financial resilience and climate change. Learn more here.

OCP: The world’s largest producer of phosphate-based fertilizers is a Strategic Partner at the World Economic Forum and announced a plan in October to dedicate 4 million tonnes of fertilizers to strengthen food security in Africa. Learn more here

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Hiring has never been easy, but economic shifts, global crises and explosive demand for new tech skills has made finding talent harder. Mourshed discusses the models and mindsets her global non-profit uses to train and place adult learners and candidates that might be overlooked around the globe ensuring businesses can tap into and develop new pipelines of talent. She also shares how remote work can tackle job deserts, why buzzwords like quiet quitting provide an incomplete picture of labor challenges and helps leaders identify the hiring blind spots that might be holding their organizations back.

Story: Meet the Leader: 4 mindset shifts for better hiring in 2023

Transcript: Hire better in 2023: Lessons from Generation CEO Mona Mourshed

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What’s inspired, informed, delighted and impressed the top leaders in business and civil society? In this second annual book recommendation episode, learn the top books recommended by CEOs, economists, government leaders and more in 2022. You’ll be reminded of the staying power of definitive business books (‘Made to Stick’, ‘Grit’), discover what new books tech leaders can’t put down ( ‘A Thousand Brains’), which books can help you better understand the economy (‘21st Century Monetary Policy’).and what classic children’s books can teach you about leadership.

In this episode: 

Bas von Abel, Founder, Fairphone; Justin Bibb, Mayor, Cleveland; James Chen, Philanthropist and Founder, Clearly; Chano Fernandez, Former Co-CEO Workday; Andrea Fuder, Chief Purchasing Officer, Volvo Group; Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Building Council; Jane Gilbert, Chief Heat Officer, Miami-Dade County; Justin Hotard, EVP & GM, High Performance Computing & Artificial Intelligence, Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Barbara Humpton, President and CEO of Siemens Corporation; Leif Johansson Non-Executive, Chair of the Board; AstraZeneca; Stephanie Linnartz, President, Marriott International; Alex Liu, Managing Partner and Chairman, Kearney; Tjada Mckenna, CEO, Mercy Corps; Tolullah Oni, Epidemiologist; Kahea Pacheco, Co Executive Director, Women's Earth Alliance; Shez Partovi, Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer, Philips; Nela Richardson, Chief Economist, ADP; Pete Stavros, Founder, Ownership Works; Kristian Teleki, Director, Friends of Ocean Action.

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Technologies are reshaping everything from how we work and relate to one another, to how we deliver healthcare, pursue an education, and manufacture goods. In interviews recorded at the Annual Meeting in Davos, the Global Technology Governance Retreat in June in San Francisco, and even the Urban Transformation Summit in Detroit his fall, leaders share how quantum sensing, the metaverse or data and a range of other tech will drive new shifts. They'll also share how these changes will put new demands on leaders and how they can navigate those changes best. Featured in this episode: Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab; C.P. Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra; Jack Hidary, CEO, SandboxAQ; Justin Hotard, Executive Vice President and General Manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Barbara Humpton, CEO, Siemens Corporation; George Oliver, CEO, Johnson Controls; Igor Tulchinsky, Founder, Chairman and CEO of WorldQuant.

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In this special compilation episode timed to the COP 27 Climate Summit in Egypt, CEOs and government leaders share surprising and innovative approaches to scaling climate action. Featured in this episode: Rania Al-Mashat, the Egyptian minister for international cooperation; Patrick Decker, CEO, Xylem; George Oliver, CEO and chairman of Johnson Controls; Barbara Humpton, CEO, Siemens Corporation; Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, CEO, Mercy Corps; Mohammad Jafaar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kuwaiti Danish Dairy Company; Eric Rondolat, CEO, Signify.

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As the UN Climate Summit COP27 begins this month, here are 6 books - from ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ to ‘Speed and Scale’ that have shaped, inspired and informed top climate leaders. In this episode: Al Gore, former US Vice President and founder of the Climate Reality Project; Activist Jane Goodall, Ezgi Barcenas, AB InBev’s Chief Sustainability Officer; Kristian Teleki, executive director, Friends of Ocean Action; Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Green Building Council; Jane Gilbert, the Chief Heat Officer of Florida's Miami-Dade County; Kahea Pacheco, the co-executive director of the Women's Earth Alliance.

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Ahead of the COP27 global climate summit, this special compilation episode collects interview excerpts from a range of leaders in government, business, and civil society about what leaders must put first for climate action. Leaders share a range of commitments they’d like to see move forward as well as insights on priorities that are often overlooked, including the role women play in climate change solutions, how ocean action can reduce emissions, the importance of scalable innovation and more. Includes interviews with: Rania Al-Mashat, Egypt's Minister for International Cooperation; Kristian Teleki, Director, Friends of Ocean Action; Kahea Pacheco, co-director, Women's Earth Alliance; Ezgi Barcenas, Chief Sustainability Officer, Anheuser-Busch In-Bev; Barbara Humpton, CEO, Siemens USA; Jane Gilbert, Chief Heat Officer, Miami-Dade County, Florida; Frans van Houten, former Philips CEO.

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Joy is key to tackling big challenges - especially during a time of uncertainty. Leaders share strategies to rethink everything from meetings, individual success, to-do lists and more. This episode features insights from: Nela Richardson, Chief Economist, ADP; Alex Liu, Managing Partner and Chairman, Kearney; Chano Fernandez, Co-CEO, Workday.

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