Meet The Leader

As the climate summit COP28 kicks off this week, and Egypt hands the summit baton to Dubai, Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation discusses what any negotiation needs to be effective. In her role, Rania Al-Mashat helps drive economic diplomacy and she shares the phrases that can help build common ground, the personal traits that can forge perseverance  and the mindsets that are key to make...

Executive coaches Mitzi Short and Lori Marcus share a tactical approach to careers and promotions to help women get their work noticed while eliminating gender bias in the workplace. These coaches, two of the 6 members of Band of Sisters (a group of former executives turned authors and speakers), discuss the the block and tackle of promotions: what experiences you must have on your CV for C-Suite...

Matthias Maurer, an astronaut for the European Space Agency, returned home from his first space mission in May 2022 after 177 days living and working on the International Space Station (ISS). There he helped to conduct more than 35 experiments benefiting biology and robotics and more - an experience that drove home for him the need to protect space and maximize its potential. He spoke with Meet Th...

How can leaders best navigate layoffs -- and rebuild for the future? Melbourne-based software firm Culture Amp recently conducted research on this question -- and then unexpectedly faced cuts of its own. CEO Didier Elzinga shares insights from the research and his applied experience, including common myths, surprising findings, and strategies his firm used to recalibrate and reprioritize. He also...

Melting arctic ice will have knock-on effects around the globe, impacting farms, homes, livelihoods and more. But making people care about melting ice or the Arctic - things most people will never see firsthand - can be almost impossible. Unless you get creative, that is. Arctic Basecamp (a group of arctic experts and scientists), has found a range of creative ways build awareness, including: a sp...

The first black female CEO of one of the largest privately-funded global non-profits discusses the experiences that helped her learn how to be a better advocate for others. These experiences range from a father who served in the NAACP tackling civil rights in 1960s South Carolina, to her own life journey serving as a trial lawyer, a Baptist minister and in the military during Operation Desert Stor...

The digital transformation is shifting more than technology - it's changing the skills workers will need, the mindsets required to tackle big challenges, and the nature of business itself. Roland Busch, Siemens CEO, shares how tech is reshaping Siemens and how reskilling will evolve, and how managers especially will need to empower teams for the changes ahead. He shares why more decisions should h...

Trust time. Pick your moments. Find joy in doing. Know the future is not ordained. These are just some of the hard-won lessons learned that have guided the top minds in government, civil society, business on Meet the Leader. This 101st episode collects the program's highlights, from Jane Goodall's run-in with a grumpy cabbie, to a moment that changed how Al Gore communicates, to a habit that Veriz...

Helen Mountford is the president and CEO of ClimateWorks Foundation, a philanthropy platform that has granted more than a billion dollars to worthy projects and grantees in more than 50 countries since 2008. She's a key partner in a World Economic Forum initiative that launched this year called GAEA - Giving to Amplify Earth Action - and she'll tell us why philanthropy can be a critical way to fun...

More companies have set sustainability goals than ever. But many will struggle to meet those goals. Baker McKenzie's Alyssa Auberger shares insights from a special survey that reveals business leader worries and the blindspots that some might overlook. As the global law firm's first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer, she also shares her unique journey to the role -- from pianist to lawyer to her c...

Dylan E. Taylor is the chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Voyager Space, a space infrastructure company and one of the firms helping with efforts to replace the aging International Space Station. He and his team are working hard to ensure there's no 'space station gap', all while getting the infrastructure in place so as many people as possible could one day live and work in space.  In this e...

Trust time, make one thing better everyday and keep upgrading yourself. CEO Yuxiang Zhou shares the lessons he has learned in co-founding Black Lake Technologies and his journey to help digitise factories -- a too-often analog world where too many still depend on paper and pencil. It's a trip through big ideas, big disappointments (including a failed startup), and the slow process of building back...

How can something as simple as a seed help the world begin to make progress across big challenges such as protecting water, tackling climate change and even strengthening food security and opportunity? Ponsi Trivisvavet, the CEO of seed design company Inari, shares the innovations that are helping to protect the earth while tackling stubborn problems like hunger. She also shares her leadership jou...

Is your team solving the right problems and building the right solutions? Are they truly pushing the envelope - in the short- and long-term? This compilation episode shares the questions top innovators ask themselves and their teams, across engineering, biotech, healthcare and more. It also highlights the practical tactics and strategies they use to keep teams challenged, focused and engaged so th...

Chief Risk Officers (CROs) are firefighters, investigators, counselors and -- critically -- the people trained to ensure companies have the systems, frameworks and culture in place to identify, assess and monitor big challenges ahead. They also help teams take meaningful action and chart a path forward. On the launch of the World Economic Forum's Chief Risk Officers Outlook, Bahare Heywood, the fi...

Qualcomm has long served as a tech pioneer, driving innovations in cellular connectivity, AI, autonomous driving and more. CEO Cristiano Amon shares how digitalization will further transform our lives -- from health and retail to energy and the future of work. He also shares how Qualcomm drives innovative thinking in its teams and the simple framework any leader can use to decide which disruptive...

Hard-fought battles by leaders around the world have helped better protect nature in recent years but more work is needed to secure everything from future economic resilience to progress on climate action. Dr. Andrew Steer of the Bezos Earth Fund shares what transitions must happen this decade and the new approaches to philanthropy, policy, technology and more that can bring those transitions past...

The global gender gap isn't budging, new research shows, and in this week's episode, women leaders share some of the unique policies and programs that can help build a pipeline for women in leadership and get closer to bridging that divide. Women also share the strategies that they have personally used to get their ideas heard and lead in only the way they can. This episode features: Ashley Dartne...

Speaking to the media during COVID drove home to epidemiologist Prativa Baral the need for clear science communication training so experts can build trust with the public and be understood. Her experience led her to found Let Science Connect, a social enterprise that trains scientists and technical experts how to speak without jargon and connect more effectively with audiences. She shares the fram...

This Co-CEO and CFO explains how biotech leader Royal DSM invests in innovation that propels the company in the short term while putting in place the solutions that will be critical for the future. She'll share key mindsets, such as the frameworks critical for balancing present and future needs, the key role purpose plays, and more. She also shares the skillset that must be built in the next 3 yea...

In this special compilation episode, top CEOs, founders, activists reveal the advice that shaped them, helping them change their minds and their approaches to work and life, improving on everything from patience and authenticity to how they team and learn. Featured in this episode: Leif Johansson, former non-executive chairman at AstraZeneca, AstraZeneca; Marie-France Tschudin, President of Innova...

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs report finds that 44% of worker skills will be disrupted in the next five years. In this episode, experts from Google, LinkedIn and more talk about the mindsets and approaches that will help workers and employees navigate the skills disruption ahead - and what some companies are already putting into place to help workers stay relevant.  In this episode: Be...

Josef Aschbacher's role as Director General for the European Space Agency (ESA) requires mobilizing support for visionary innovations that often take decades to build. He shared the strategies he's learned while at ESA to talk about technical marvels in a clear way, without jargon, to earn buy-in for big ideas and connect with a range of stakeholders from policy makers to children. These methods f...

With a background in software engineering and ad tech, Blake Scholl has an unusual CV for an aviation CEO. However, his singular passion for aviation drove him to learn this sector and eventually found a sustainable aviation company with flights twice as fast as what's offered today. Founding Boom was one of several crossroads moments in Scholl's life that drove home to him that knowledge and skil...

The CEO of Mercer, one of the world's largest human resource consultancies, shares the blind spots holding companies back from building healthier and more resilient teams. She shares how targeted uses of data can boost uptake of health and wellness benefits, the role of reskilling in future workforces and the importance of rethinking retention strategies in the long term.   Hosted on Acast. See ac...