What is your purpose? What societal impact are you driving? Patrick Decker, CEO of Xylem, shares how this water technology company is helping to tackle these questions while tackling big issues impacting society and the planet (such as water scarcity, water infrastructure and emissions), leveraging everything from effective communication to technology (AI and digital twins) and innovative demand deposit accounts. 

On this episode, released ahead of the UN 2023 Water Conference, Decker shares the virtuous circle purpose creates - how it draws motivated people to join teams, attracts partners and commercial teams, drives fresh thinking and keeps a cross-section of groups aligned on big goals. Decker shared the practical ways leaders can keep teams in touch with a shared purpose -- from aligned communication (that sidesteps confusion) to a simple question asked at the top of meetings to keep conversations focused.

Xylem’s Patrick Decker: Purpose, focus - and effective communication

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As Microsoft’s vice chair and president, Brad Smith leads a team of professionals across business, legal and corporate affairs, tackling issues that stand at the crossroads of technology and society. In this wide-ranging discussion recorded at the Annual Meeting in Davos, he shares how these issues have shaped his thoughts on innovation and how they have informed his book and podcast Tools & Weapons. The 30-year Microsoft veteran also shares the career lessons that have changed him, how he leverages AI in his everyday work, why he thinks leaders must learn to be better storytellers and the tech blindspots they'd do well to avoid.

Microsoft’s Brad Smith: Tech blindspots and the key lesson that changed how he leads

The Netflix documentary 'The Tinder Swindler' is a mind-boggling case of so-called 'romance fraud' in which a charming, handsome - and apparently very rich - man meets women on a dating app - gets them to fall in love with him - and then cons them out of lots of money. Cecilie Fjellhøy is the Norwegian woman at the centre of the documentary whose life was torn apart by the actions of a conman. A survivor of romance fraud on a grand scale, she now advocates for the rights of, and support for, others who find themselves in similar grim circumstances. We also hear from Sean Doyle, who works at the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Cybersecurity, on just how widespread romance fraud really is, why it’s a multinational, multi-billion form of cyber crime, and what is being done to combat it. Links: Centre for Cybersecurity:  Cybercrime Atlas:  's organisation LoveSaid:  The Tinder Swindler documentary: Related podcasts:   Check out all our podcasts on :  -   - :   - :   - :  Join the :

Tinder Swindler: how 'romance fraud' became a multi-billion dollar cybercrime

Living longer than ever will mean we’ll need to prepare for our later years in ways we've never done before. While financial education and making savings last is always paramount, the World Economic Forum's recent Longevity Principles report drives home the need to make sure we also prepare to live those extended years with purpose, changing the way we approach everything from careers to community. Annette Mosman, the CEO of APG (one of the world’s largest pension investors) shares how she approaches the long-term as well as the trends she sees on the horizon -- and how they could change how workers and leaders take on everything from training to career development and advancement. 

We're living longer - how approaches to work, careers and finances will change: APG's Annette Mosman

'Spatial computing', 'blended reality', 'the metaverse'. For those of us who still use screens and keyboards to access the digital world, those phrases might not mean very much. But many experts believe the '2D' internet will soon be a thing of the past, and we will all be, one way or another, in a 3D metaverse. With Apple's Vision Pro headset renewing interest in virtual reality, we speak to two proponents of the metaverse who see both huge opportunities and significant risks. Guests: Yonatan Raz-Fridman, CEO of Supersocial and host of the podcast  Brittan Heller, lecturer on International Law, Technology, and Human Rights, Stanford University. Links: Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution:  Metaverse Identity: Defining the Self in a Blended Reality:  Navigating the Industrial Metaverse: A Blueprint for Future Innovations:  Related podcasts:    Check out all our podcasts on :  -   - :   - :   - :  Join the :

Spatial computing: why the future of the internet is 3D

Mining is an industry that many of us probably rarely think about, but one that provides the raw materials for so many of the things we use, not least the modern technologies such as smart phones and electric vehicles that require certain minerals that are not always in abundant supply. The International Energy Agency predicts that the demand for minerals will double by 2040. So how can we meet that demand in the most energy efficient and sustainable way? UpLink, the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum, is inviting entrepreneurs who have answers to that question to take part in its Sustainable Mining Challenge - a competition that aims to pick the most promising startups in the field. On this episode we speak to Vivek Salgaocar, the founder of Prospect Innovation, which is the leading funder and business partner of the Sustainable Mining Challenge, and to Megan O'Connor, CEO and Co-founder of Nth Cycle, a company which is innovating in ways to better recycle mining waste. This podcast is published around the World Economic Forum's Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development. Find more information at  and across social media using the hashtag #specialmeeting24. Links: UpLink Mining Challenge:  Related podcasts:   Check out all our podcasts on :  -   - :   - :   - :  Join the :

Xylem’s Patrick Decker: Purpose, focus - and effective communication

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