That’s a wrap! Season 1 of A Call to Lead is in the books. We pulled together a recap episode for you this week, featuring short clips from some of the great moments in the podcast’s first season. We were fortunate to have incredible leaders from across industries, disciplines, and fields share their stories and perspectives on leadership this season – and we wanted to share them with you as we wrap up Season 1 and look ahead to the second season. Share your feedback with us at [email protected]...
Jul 30, 2019•28 min
This new episode of A Call to Lead has me in Singapore, sitting down in front of a live audience with one of the world’s most respected and popular global movie stars. Michelle Yeoh grew up in Malaysia and England, gained her early fame in Hong Kong action films, and went on to star in mega-hits such as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Memoirs of a Geisha, Star Trek: Discovery, and Crazy Rich Asians . Michelle played family matriarch Eleanor Young in that blockbuster romantic comedy. As a master o...
Jul 22, 2019•40 min
This latest episode features one of the smartest women in retail. Mercedes Abramo is the President and CEO of Cartier North America, and I had the opportunity to sit down with her at Cartier’s Hudson Yards boutique in New York City this past April. Growing up in a retail household (her dad was a senior executive at Lord & Taylor), Mercedes had her sights set on becoming a lawyer. She majored in political science, worked at a law firm, couldn’t stand it, got a job in a hotel—and found her cal...
Jul 15, 2019•36 min
Whether you're a Girl Scout or not (I am—once a Scout, always a Scout), my conversation with Sylvia Acevedo, the CEO of the Girl Scouts, is worth a listen. Sylvia has a remarkable path to success: As a young woman, she was discouraged from pursuing her interest in engineering. So what did she do? She went to school for engineering and became a rocket scientist at NASA. After stops at IBM and Apple and Dell, Sylvia is leading millions of Girl Scouts to places they've never gone before—teaching th...
Jul 08, 2019•35 min
On this new episode of A Call to Lead, I sit down with someone out of my world, and probably out of your world too. Sarah Hauser is a champion windsurfer who knows a lot about leadership and navigating your ideal career. Sarah talks about how a missed deadline forced her to delay her plan to pursue a math degree and gave her an unplanned year off to pursue windsurfing, which turned out to be her true calling. There are plenty of lessons here—such as, control what you can, embrace the moment, and...
Jul 01, 2019•25 min
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair recently sat down with me at A Call to Lead in Orlando. And on this week's podcast, we bring you the enlightening conversation. When the Prime Minister, who urged me to call him Tony, talks about the world or recalls his own experience as PM, he dispenses loads of wisdom about leadership. There's plenty in this episode. Here are just 3 points among many that make this show a terrific listen: No matter what field you're in, the mark of a leader is the same...
Jun 24, 2019•20 min
On this episode of A Call to Lead, you'll meet Karlie Kloss, a 26-year-old wonder who is building on her success as one of the world's top fashion models to expand her leadership platform and scale her social impact. She is teaching young women how to code at Kode with Klossy, her tech summer camps across the U.S. She is helping to discover the next generation of fashion designers on Project Runway, where she is the new host and executive producer. And she's constantly looking to hone her own le...
Jun 17, 2019•29 min
We got a lot smarter after talking with Adam Grant on this new episode of A Call to Lead. You may know Adam from his best-selling books including Give and Take and Originals , and his hit podcast, WorkLife . Professor Grant's classes at Wharton are also wildly popular, which isn't surprising because he is one of today's smartest, freshest, and, yes, most original thinkers on leadership and success. Adam and I tackled these topics from all angles. Here are 5 Points from this show that my team fou...
Jun 10, 2019•47 min
Today on A Call to Lead , you'll meet Laura Dern, one of the world's great actors. Laura knows leadership. In films like Jurassic Park and Wild and TV shows like Enlightened and Twin Peaks , she has captured the complexities and vulnerabilities of strong women. In HBO's Big Little Lies , Laura's award-winning performance as Renata Klein is a study of a tech CEO who is also a fierce and frightened mother. Laura and I covered a lot of ground including leadership, parenthood, and gender equity in t...
Jun 03, 2019•29 min
Today on A Call to Lead, I talk with Jen Rubio, the inspiring co-founder, president, and chief brand officer of Away. Jen co-founded Away on the notion that luggage—holding many of life's most important things when we travel—had become commoditized. Away injects style and community into travel. Jen and I talked about building great brands and thriving cultures, and about leveraging mistakes to learn and grow. Here are 5 Points that my team and I found particularly useful as we all work to build ...
May 27, 2019•28 min
Today on A Call to Lead, we have a very special guest: Dr. Jill Biden. Dr. Biden’s Memoir, Where the Light Enters, was released earlier this month and I hosted her for a live discussion several months ago at SAP’s North America Headquarters near Philadelphia. During the eight years that Jill served in the Obama White House where her husband, Joe, was Vice President, Jill advocated for military families, women and children, STEM education, and more, while never pausing her career as a teacher. Th...
May 20, 2019•41 min
I hope you enjoy Part 2 of my conversation with Malcolm Gladwell recorded during a recent live podcast taping. Celebrated journalist, best-selling author, and keen observer of the ways that people lead and succeed, Malcolm continues, in this Q&A portion of our discussion, to talk about how leaders, in every profession, should think about changing how and where we find talent. Here are two interesting points from Malcolm to add to the five points that I shared with you from Part 1 of the inte...
May 15, 2019•15 min
On this week's episode of A Call to Lead, I talk with Malcolm Gladwell, renowned journalist and best-selling author who is one of the world's foremost observers of how we live and work and lead. Malcolm has plenty to say, and it's all incredibly thoughtful, different, and relevant. He expounds on how people and businesses function amidst tech revolutions and demographic booms. He riffs on how perhaps arbitrary rules change outcomes of chess championships, LSAT scores, and potential careers. And ...
May 13, 2019•43 min
On this new episode of A Call to Lead, you'll meet Dana Perino. Dana has seen leadership from some very interesting and unique vantage points. She served as the first female White House press secretary in a Republican administration for President George W. Bush. Today, Dana is a bestselling author, mentor, podcast host, anchor of Fox News' The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino, and co-host of Fox News' The Five. In our conversation, Dana shares lessons learned from her career journey including tim...
May 06, 2019•29 min
On this week's episode of A Call to Lead, you'll meet Bob Nardelli, who has an extraordinary breadth of expertise from a series of CEO jobs: GE Power Systems, then Home Depot, and then Chrysler. Bob, who spent three decades at GE, has an incredible perspective on business, operations, and leadership in times of disruption. Here, he shares lots of great advice about building teams and finding opportunity amidst near constant global change. Here are five things that my team and I found particularl...
Apr 29, 2019•31 min
On this week's A Call to Lead , we bring you one of the greatest entrepreneurs and business builders the world has ever seen: Sir Richard Branson. I had the pleasure of talking with Sir Richard at a recent event hosted by SAP Qualtrics. We discussed what makes a great, creative leader and the gaps in consumer experience he saw and exploited in building the iconic Virgin brand and disrupting industries ranging from music to airlines to telecom to space travel. Sir Richard’s team was kind enough t...
Apr 22, 2019•9 min
On this week’s episode of A Call to Lead, you'll meet Van Le, Co-Founder of Xinja. I sat down with Van on a recent trip to Australia, where Xinja is the country's first "neobank," empowering customers to bank 100% digitally, via a mobile app. Van is an expert on mobile technology and customer experience. She also has an inspiring personal story. She arrived in Australia as an 11-month-old refugee from Vietnam, grew up in Perth, got a law degree, and later traded law for entrepreneurship. I sat d...
Apr 15, 2019•32 min
This week on A Call to Lead , you'll meet Julie Sweet, who is CEO of Accenture North America. Julie's story is remarkable. She was raised by hard-working parents who told their daughter that she could do anything. Julie ran with that ethos all the way to Columbia Law School and a partner position at law giant Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Then she did something really unconventional: Julie quit Cravath, joined Accenture as general counsel, and rose quickly to head Accenture's North American unit,...
Apr 08, 2019•36 min
This week, A Call to Lead takes us to São Paolo, Brazil, where I sat down with João Paulo Ferreira, the CEO of Natura, a fast-growing multi-billion-dollar beauty company that is both innovative and purpose-driven. João Paulo, a globetrotting former Unilever executive who goes by JP, drives purpose in so many ways—in the products Natura sells, in the way Natura operates its supply chain and its "social network" of salespeople , and even in the way the company operates its distribution center—high...
Apr 01, 2019•20 min
In the latest episode of A Call to Lead, I sat down with Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, who has seen it all in the tech and startup worlds. Sukhinder was an early leader at Google, where she headed Asia-Pacific and Latin America operations. She went on to run startups that merged tech and fashion (Polyvore and Joyus) before taking the helm of StubHub, the online ticket exchange company owned by eBay. On the side (because Sukhinder is a master multitasker, as we all aspire to be), she founded and has c...
Mar 25, 2019•35 min
In this week's episode of A Call to Lead, I sit down with Bobbi Brown, who started a cosmetics business in her home three decades ago, sold it to Estee Lauder, and stayed on board to build Bobbi Brown Essentials into a billion-dollar global brand. So Bobbi knows how to lead inside a giant corporation and, since she left Estee Lauder and is now back on her own, she is a serial entrepreneur. These days, Bobbi is innovating in the wellness space, with her startup called JustBOBBI, and in the hotel ...
Mar 18, 2019•38 min
On this week's episode of A Call to Lead , my guest is Bianna Golodryga. Bianna is the co-anchor of CBS This Morning —and a woman with a fascinating path to success. Bianna was born in Russia, grew up in Texas, and spent her early career as a business news journalist, telling stories about CEOs and world-changing entrepreneurs. Over the years at CNBC, ABC, and now CBS, Bianna has interviewed some of the world's most prominent leaders in government as well as business. She's also a mother of two ...
Mar 11, 2019•36 min
Our new episode of A Call to Lead is my interview with Stacey Cunningham. Stacey started at the New York Stock Exchange as an intern, quit to go to culinary school, did a stint at rival NASDAQ, returned—and rose through the ranks to become the NYSE’s first-ever female president. That’s an unconventional path to the top job (yes, “president” is the top position at the NYSE), and Stacey is leading the 227-year-old company in unconventional and new ways. She’s full of career advice and leadership w...
Mar 04, 2019•27 min
Today we're bringing you a A Call to Lead Classic—one of my favorite interviews that I've done at Call to Lead at SAP's annual Sapphire Now conference. My guest is Walter Isaacson. Talking with Walter is always head-spinning and enlightening because he is the foremost expert on leaders who also happen to be the world's smartest people. Walter's specialty is geniuses. He's written biographies of Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, and Leonardo da Vinci. He's also a very smart leader h...
Feb 25, 2019•30 min
In this week's A Call to Lead I talk with Simon Sinek. You may know Simon from his TED Talks, which are viral phenoms, or his best-selling books. Start With Why , his first book, is a guide to discovering and honing purpose to help build extraordinary teams. In his upcoming and fifth book, The Infinite Game , Simon explains how to lead in a world where the competition comes and goes, where rules are changeable, and where there is neither a finish line nor definite winners. Simon spoke about play...
Feb 18, 2019•34 min
This week on A Call To Lead, I talk with one of my favorite leadership philosophers, Frances Frei. Frances is a TED Talk phenomenon, a professor at Harvard Business School, and a former executive at Uber. She's a fount of wisdom on developing great teams, maximizing your own performance, and building trust in a world that’s devoid of it. Here are just a few choice insights that Frances shared with me: 15:52 - Learn more than you have to so you can describe topics simply, especially if you’re the...
Feb 11, 2019•44 min
On this week's episode of A Call To Lead, I talk with Gary Vaynerchuk, digital marketing expert, social media guru, and one of the most energetic and candid leaders I know. Gary and I talked about everything from staying current in an app world to embracing your shortcomings in order to advance your career—and of course, we talked about building great businesses. Fair warning: Gary’s known for using colorful language and this podcast episode was no exception (though tame by his standards!) Here ...
Feb 04, 2019•41 min
In this very first episode of my new podcast A Call to Lead, I talk with Arianna Huffington—serial entrepreneur, Uber board member, author, and leadership expert. Arianna shares her unique perspective on a broad range of subjects, from connecting people (she's a master) to building businesses (she's created many, including Thrive Global) to understanding the zeitgeist. Below are a few highlights from the episode. Enjoy! 6:20 - If we don't continue to learn, we're going to miss where the world is...
Jan 28, 2019•33 min
Announcing a brand new leadership podcast from Jennifer Morgan, President and Executive Board Member at SAP.
Oct 01, 2018•39 sec
