Leadership Next

On February 24, Russia fired missiles into Ukraine, launching a war that has displaced millions and likely killed thousands. One week later, mega retailer IKEA announced it would pause all production in both Russia and Belarus and shutter its namesake stores. This decision was anything but simple. Showing support for Ukraine ultimately meant impacting over 12,000 IKEA employees in Russia, not to mention Russian consumers who turn to IKEA for reasonably-priced home goods.On today's Leadership Next, the CEO of IKEA's Ingka Group Jesper Brodin explains how the company thought through this complicated decision."A bit like the pandemic, there is no manual or guidebook for us here," Brodin says.Also in today's conversation: why IKEA now sells renewable energy, the mattress-recycling economy in Sweden, and how Brodin nurtures his mental health.

Linda Rendle is one of just a few women to be running a Fortune 500 company. She took over the top job at Clorox early in the pandemic when the company was scrambling to meet unprecedented demand for its cleaning products. That demand has subsided but inflation has skyrocketed, handing Rendle yet another challenge. On today's Leadership Next, she tells Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt how she's approached these hurdles and why she strives to take care of her employees and the planet."(It) has nothing to do with the idea of being woke. it has to do with this is the way that we actually create value," Rendle explains. "And we've been under leveraging it as a society for many years. And now I think it is the way and the path forward to continuing to create good growth, and really a more comprehensive view of capitalism."

Global Payments provides the technology plumbing for a lot of digital commerce. That means when life moved largely online for many in 2020, the company's bottom line benefited. And while pandemic restrictions have eased, CEO Jeff Sloan says consumers will likely continue to order dinner, buy shoes and visit the doctor online."Cash and check is the enemy. And the pandemic has accelerated the decline of cash and check," Sloan tells Leadership Next. "As long as you as a consumer are paying for something other than in cash and check, we ultimately are going to get paid."That extends to cryptocurrency as well. But Sloan feels strongly nobody is going to be buying groceries with crypto any time soon. Instead, he expects to see the introduction of a U.S. stable coin in the near future.Also in the conversation: how Sloan see corporations benefiting from cryptocurrency today, the importance of empathy in leadership, and why Sloan aims to surround himself with people who disagree with him.

Ahead of Russia launching attacks on Ukraine, businesses and governments were warned to brace for cyber warfare. That hasn't transpired yet, but it doesn't mean it won't warns the co-founder and CEO of security company CyberArk."Perhaps they're saving it for a later time," Udi Mokady tells Leadership Next. "(Y)ou don't certainly pull out all of your arsenal at once. And of course, my concern is that some of it will be taken against countries that are participating in the sanctions."Cyber threats - and the actors behind them - have changed dramatically since Mokady helped found CyberArk in 1999. Of course, he points out, investment in cyber defenses have changed over time too.Also in today's conversation: why companies are more vulnerable than ever to cyber attacks and how to improve the cybersecurity talent pipeline.

What is design thinking, and why should you care about it?" You know, so many leaders today are asking the question, what comes next? How do we prepare ourselves for what we can't even see? ... Well, that's where design thinking comes in," Sandy Speicher, CEO of IDEO, tells Leadership Next.Design thinking is a different way of seeing the world, a different approach to problem solving and leading. It's also a bit of a buzz word that many people still don't fully understand.But with so many changes happening in business right now - the technology revolution, the rethinking of how companies function in a hybrid world, the search for greater corporate purpose - now's the time to figure it what it is and how to implement it, according to Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt.

Bigger is no longer better for General Electric, according to CEO Larry Culp. When he took charge of the iconic company in 2018 it was clear change was needed - GE was in the midst of a years-long slump where much of its market value disappeared. His solution: break the corporate giant into three smaller, focused companies.How did he come to this conclusion? Why is it the right move? And what leadership lessons can others gain from Larry's story? Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt answer those questions and more in this episode of Leadership Next.

Signet Jewelers - parent company to Zales, Kay and several other brands - has seen its digital sales quadruple since the start of the COVID pandemic. And an estimated 85 percent of customers interact with the company digitally at some point during their shopping process, according to company CEO Gina Drosos.But pushing the company towards a digital future is just part of the transformation plan Drosos put in place after becoming CEO in 2017."Our transformation has been both strategic and cultural, with cultural being probably even the more important of the two," Drosos tells Leadership Next.Also in today's conversation: tracing the diamond supply chain, the importance of having a diverse leadership team, and inflation's impact on the jewelry industry.

Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya immigrated to the U.S. from Turkey, He purchased an old yogurt factory in upstate New York in 2005. Two years later, the company sold its first Greek yogurt. Today, the brand is reportedly worth billions and is preparing for an IPO.But perhaps the most remarkable part of this story is HOW Ulukaya met his goal of making quality yogurt available to the mass market. As he tells Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt, it all came down to trusting his employees and treating them well. Chobani makes a practice of hiring refugees, and has enlisted other companies in these efforts. Ulukaya is dedicated to the idea that CEOs have the power to change lives, and the responsibility to do so. Hear more in this episode of Leadership Next.

As recently as 1993, 80 percent of Africans had never heard a phone ring according to Cassava Technologies CEO Hardy Pemhiwa. Today, the vast majority of people on the continent own mobile phones. But connecting those phones to the internet remains pricey.This is where Cassava Technologies enters the picture. The company aims to become the first tech company to connect all of Africa. This massive ambition springs from the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to afford online access, and that providing this access opens the door to job growth and - ultimately - to a better economy.Pemhiwa tells Leadership Next how he's approaching the challenge, the role of regulators in Africa's growing tech industry, the opportunity for investing in African entrepreneurs, and more.

In this episode of Leadership Next, Alan Murray and Ellen McGrit take listeners inside the annual CEO meeting that Fortune typically hosts at Davos. Davos itself was postponed due to Omicron, so Fortune moved its meeting online - and attendance was impressive. Leaders who joined oversee an estimated $2.6 trillion in annual revenues and directly employ just under seven million people.On the agenda: looking ahead to the biggest challenges and opportunities of 2022. Today you'll hear from Andy Jassy of Amazon, Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, Carol Tomé of UPS, Nicolas Hieronimus of L'Oréal, Vicki Hollub of Occidental Petroleum, and Dan Schulman of PayPay.Also on the show, Joe Ucuzoglu of Deloitte US shares results from the Fortune-Deloitte CEO survey conducted in January.