Leadership Next

In this episode of Leadership Next, Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt have a wide-ranging conversation with the CEO of Land O’Lakes, Beth Ford. The farmer-owned cooperative has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic in some pretty unique ways. For instance, with nobody flying, airlines don’t need all of those mini tubs of Land O’Lakes butter. So what do you do with all of that butter?  Ford’s supply chain team has been hard at work on some creative solutions. The pandemic has also shone a spotlight on an issue that Ford has been focused on since she became CEO: improving rural America’s access to the internet.  Remote learning and telemedicine can’t happen without broadband. And, poor connectivity keeps farmers from utilizing the high-tech tools and big data applications that allow them to increase productivity and yield.  Ford wants everyone to realize this is not just a problem for rural America – if the communities keeping us fed are not strong, we all suffer. Other topics discussed include: why the Supreme Court’s decision to protect LBGTQ employees from discrimination was so important to Ford, how Land O’Lakes responded to the killing of George Floyd, and how working from home has changed Ford’s relationships at work. Also in the episode, Fortune’s Beth Kowitt puts Ford’s leadership in context – she goes about her work in a relatively low-key way, but the difference she’s making in rural communities is anything but understated. 

The coronavirus pandemic has touched every industry and every business. But the hospitality industry has been hit particularly hard. As Mark Hoplamazian, the CEO of Hyatt, shared with Leadership Next, hotel bookings were down 94 percent this spring. Demand basically went to zero overnight. So how do you continue to take care of your employees when the bottom falls out of your business? Mark’s answer: it’s painful. He details the steps Hyatt took to try and soften the blow of layoffs and furloughs on employees, and how employees responded.  Also discussed in the episode: how the killing of George Floyd impacted Mark personally, and how it is changing the way he runs Hyatt. Why he believes improved testing is key to recovery for the hotel business. How the pandemic will permanently change the hotel experience.  And, we get the nitty gritty on what’s happening with the business, which geographic areas are seeing a recovery, who is still traveling, and what Mark sees in the weeks and months ahead. 

Aneel Bhusri, the CEO of Workday, runs an employee-first company. He believes taking care of employees translates into better business results. And Workday - which supplies customers with HR and other business software – seems to bear this out. In 15 years it’s grown into a $40B+ business. And it tops Fortune’s “Future 50” list which identifies companies with the strongest long-term growth potential.In this episode of Leadership Next, Bhusri and Alan Murray talk about the challenges of building company culture while everyone is working from home. Despite the talk of remote work becoming mainstream, Bhusri believes it’s key to get people back into physical offices, at least part time.Ellen McGirt picks up this line of conversation with Fortune's Geoff Colvin who has dug into research showing that meeting face to face is key for building trust and enabling innovation.Also in the episode Bhusri talks honestly about company diversity. He admits Workday must do a better job expanding its hiring practices to bring more black employees into the company. And, he says, once they’re there, Workday must ensure black employees have equal opportunity to reach leadership positions.And of course, the conversation circles back to an important theme of Leadership Next: Bhusri's focus on caring for all stakeholders. As he simply says, "Companies need to have a soul."

At the heart of today’s Leadership Next episode is the question, “How do you measure stakeholder capitalism?” We’ve been measuring shareholder returns for years – think earnings reports and stock market moves. But how do you judge if a company is successfully caring for its employees, customers and society?  Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America, is on a mission to figure that out.  After all, identifying the companies doing this well is just as important for big investors as it is for job seekers.  As chair of the International Business Council, Moynihan is working with the Big Four accounting firms to develop a set of metrics to measure stakeholder capitalism. The group is nearing consensus and, despite the coronavirus pandemic, Moynihan says companies are more committed to adopting these standards than ever before.  Moynihan himself has been leading his company through the lens of stakeholder capitalism for some time. He and Alan Murray dive into those specifics, including the company’s response to the killing of George Floyd, raising the company’s minimum wage to $20 an hour, its focus on the environment, and Moynihan’s stance on the controversial “bathroom bill” in North Carolina in 2016. 

 Growing up in a small community in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, Sarah Friar saw first hand what it means for neighbors to be at war with one another. But she also saw the transformative power of neighbors helping neighbors. She’s brought this experience to her role as CEO of Nextdoor, the social network platform centered around local communities. In this episode of Leadership Next, she and Ellen McGirt take a deep dive into two topics. First, the racism that exists in our neighborhoods and on Nextdoor itself. Friar explains how the platform is pushing back against that and, hopefully, even playing a role in deepening understanding between white and black neighbors. Second, the pair discusses Friar’s role as a female CEO. Women running tech companies are still vastly outnumbered by men. Friar has used her role to boost gender diversity at Nextdoor, and is focused on doing the same for people of color. She offers some specific advice for other leaders looking to bring more diversity to their own organizations.   

Bill McDermott’s been leading companies for many years – he spent 10 years as CEO of SAP, and in the fall of 2019, he took over as CEO at ServiceNow. But his approach to leadership is anything but old school. “The pendulum has really swung more towards a leader being absolutely in service to the employees and absolutely finding new ways to inspire them, new ways to innovate, new ways to bring out the best in them,” he tells Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt on this week’s Leadership Next. McDermott credits this shift to a war for talent. And, he points out that taking care of employees means taking a hard look at how people of color are advancing through your organization. “Put the cards on the table and take a look at the facts,” he advises. “The facts just don’t lie. … And by looking at the facts honestly and openly, you will open up a new gateway to innovation and opportunity within your company because that’s what people want.” Alan and Ellen also ask about ServiceNow’s response to COVID-19, the workplace of the future, and what brought McDermott to ServiceNow in the first place.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit and its economic implications became clear, Leadership Next wondered if CEOs would quietly shelve the idea of stakeholder capitalism and focus on their bottom lines. But for food giant Danone, the crisis has instead accelerated its commitment to people and the planet. It’s on the path to becoming a certified B Corporation, meaning it will be held to strict standards for social and environmental impact. Company CEO Emmanuel Faber now wants to hit that goal of becoming the world’s largest B Corp even sooner.  Why? He feels it’s a competitive advantage. Faber explains, and tells Alan Murray how shifting toward B Corp status has changed the company’s behavior. The majority of B Corps are small businesses, but a growing number of larger companies are showing interest in the certification, according to Anthea Kelsick, Co-CEO of B Lab U.S. & Canada. That interest was spurred by the Business Roundtable's shift to stakeholder capitalism last year and, more recently, by both COVID-19 and the business community's spotlight on racial justice. Kelsick speaks with Ellen McGirt.

 What happens to a travel company in the midst of a global lockdown? “It felt like it took 12 years (..) to build this business, and we lost most of it in four to five weeks,” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky tells Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt in this week’s Leadership Next.  Chesky goes on to describe the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic as “harrowing and nerve racking,” complete with large layoffs and a push to refocus the business. He outlines in detail how he made tough decisions during this time, and how he strove to take care of guests, hosts, employees and investors.  Alan and Ellen also ask Chesky how Airbnb is responding to racial discrimination on the platform, and when the company plans to go public. 

Paul Polman is the former CEO of Unilever. And Leadership Next host Alan Murray says he was the first CEO of a major company to truly embrace and promote stakeholder capitalism. Early in his tenure he pointed out that capitalism, as we practice it today, isn’t working – and he demanded that business take responsibility for its impact on society. Today’s episode explores how Polman did that at his own company, the pushback he faced, and how he’s tackling the issue with his new company, Imagine. Also joining Leadership Next is Dov Seidman, founder of LRN and the HOW Institute for Society. Alan calls him “one of the most thoughtful people I know in thinking about how business is changing, and needs to change, the way it operates.” 

The CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra, is a fixture on Fortune’s list of the Most Powerful Women in business. When the coronavirus hit, GM was the first major American automaker to put idle assembly lines to work producing ventilators. She sprang into action again following the killing of George Floyd and the swelling protests supporting Black Lives Matter, committing the company to internal improvements on diversity and vowing to use the power of GM to drive global change. All of that gave her lots to discuss with Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt on this episode of Leadership Next. And for additional insight on Barra's leadership style, Ellen turned to Fortune Senior Editor at Large, Geoff Colvin. Colvin has been reporting on Barra since she became CEO in 2014. He says the changes she's wrought in the GM culture are extraordinary, and her example provides valuable lessons for any leader looking to drive change at their own company.