Meet The Leader

Jane Goodall is one of the world's best known primatologists and activists for animal welfare and the environment. The founder of the Jane Goodall Institute shares how to advocate for change and the strategies she's used over the decades to connect with compassion. She also shares a critical message about hope -- both how it propels her and how we can use it as a tool for action as leaders gather to discuss climate change at COP26. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This management consulting firm’s CEO discusses the company's research on disruption and how leaders can both anticipate change and better manage it, making decisions quickly and effectively. He also shares personal lessons learned from early roles, like his days working as an apprentice for his father’s boat building business. Classic people skills like listening with curiosity and respect can anchor any leader in ever-changing times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Unilever's Chief Human Resource Officer, Nair is the first female, first Asian and the youngest ever person to hold that post at the company. As a result, she knows a little something about pioneering and she talked to Meet The Leader about the future of work as Unilever tests new models such as 4-day work weeks and other new programs rethinking the classic 9 to 5. Our new work future will also take a mastery of soft skills - of vulnerability, transparency and the type of empathy that ensures everyone can truly have a voice and adapt their workplaces to meet the needs of the years ahead. Nair shares how she models these traits, the dramatic moment that shaped how she leads, and why mastering soft skills will be the hardest task of all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Protecting people and the planet is the biggest challenge of our lifetime and one that will require a new type of leadership. CEO Clarke Murphy understands this more than most. His firm Russell Reynolds Associates has just released a first-of-its-kind report, digging into what the new generation of leaders will need to meet sustainability goals in the decades to come. Clarke talked to Meet The Leader about the findings, from what 'spooked' him and inspired him to what gave him pause. He also shared steps leaders can take to bridge 'say/do' divides, rethink incentives and transform company culture. His practical advice paired with the report's surprising findings help leaders better tap the most important sustainability resource already in their organization: their people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Africa's largest computer science non-profit looks to reshape opportunity in Africa by teaching kids to code and creating a pipeline of tech leaders and entrepreneurs. Matlali built this organisation from scratch, with bootstrapping and cold calls, as she worked to transform mindsets and curriculums, and bridge equity gaps. She talks to Meet the Leader about how tech training and entrepreneurship can reshape Africa. She also discusses the power of humility in making collaboration and making change happen and the lessons she's learned from her own mentor, Google’s Marian Croak, about being present. Those lessons can help anyone be a better mentor to a new generation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the Paris Climate agreement of 2015, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Yara shifted gears. The milestone event - held just a few months after he started at Yara - sharpened his understanding of the critical role his company could play in decarbonising food value chains. The shifts that resulted have meant new priorities and a new way of working for him and his teams at the fertiliser and food solutions company as it looks to both feed the world and protect the planet. It has also lead to an exploration of innovative ways to produce 'green ammonia' that could lead to fossil free fertiliser and help decarbonise long-range shipping. Such new solutions require collaboration and trust. That trust, says Holsether, will be play a bigger role than miracle tech in making progress for the climate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This former NBA basketball player changed course after his athletic career to earn a PhD in psychology and found a psychological business consultancy that leverages science, research and evidence-backed insights into human behaviour. He talks to Meet The Leader about how looking inward can help top execs recognize leaders throughout an organisation and how everyday choices and commitments can shape success. He also shares how bias conversations must change in workplaces and insights from his latest leadership book: 'The Promises of Giants.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CEO John Pearson shares the strategies this shipping and logistics company uses to simplify and focus a complex business – methods that have helped it navigate major upheavals including the COVID-19 pandemic. Special training programs - including one featuring a small red passport each staffer carries – are a special source of pride and one of several important ways the company keeps communication clear and thousands of employees aligned in one of the most global companies in the world.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the COVID-19 crisis, those in critical infrastructure joined doctors and nurses in the pandemic’s front line as temporary hospitals and isolation rooms were needed nearly overnight. Chairman and CEO George Oliver shared how practice and routine helped the company weather the crisis and how building technologies can help tackle other complex problems such as climate mitigation. Oliver also shared how routine can drive innovation and the habits this early riser depends on in his own life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When most of IKEA’s global retail locations closed temporarily during the pandemic, e-commerce became the cornerstone of the business. This near overnight shift was possible, in part, thanks to a digital transition that was already several years underway, one of the biggest in the company’s 78-year-history. Barbara Martin Coppola, an alum of Google and Samsung, was hired in 2018 as the company’s first-ever Chief Digital Officer to lead this transition, using data and technology to modernize everything from IKEA’s supply chains, to its stores to the way its staffers work. In this episode, Coppola shares the leadership lessons she’s learned and why she believes in resilience and “stubborn optimism.” She also shares and the experiences that have prepared her to tackle big challenges including early music studies.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.