“My story is not an exceptional story. It could have been the story of any girl if their fathers and brothers had allowed them to speak out.”

In this View From The Top interview, activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, shares her mission mission to ensure that all 130 million girls who are out of school can have access to education.

“My goal is to meet these girls, but also uplift their story so leaders listen to them rather than me. And this is my goal in every meeting ... to say ‘let’s listen to these activists. They have something to say to you. You have been ignoring their voices, so hear from them and they will tell you what the issues are in this country for girls and women.’”

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"What I've found with our players, is that the guys who have the most balance in their lives, are the ones who know how to handle all this stuff the best," said Steve Kerr, head coach of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, in a View From The Top interview on campus. "Work-life balance is just crucial."

Interviewed by Rustom Birdie, MBA '22, Kerr compared leading on the court to leading at home. "I think I lead my team a little bit like I raised my children," he said. "My wife and I did that together, and we always sort of gave them a lot of rope, but they kind of knew they were responsible for that freedom. I believe in the same kind of leadership with the team."

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In this View From The Top interview, Thasunda Brown Duckett, president and CEO of TIAA, recalls her childhood experience moving from New York to Texas in a car packed with everything her parents and two siblings owned and why she knew from a young age that she had the power to make progress. In her conversation with Adriann Negreros, MBA ’21, Duckett talks about how to change social inequities by believing in “the art of possibility.”

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In this View From The Top interview, Priscilla Chan, cofounder and co-CEO of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, shares the story of her refugee family fleeing Vietnam and what it was like for her growing up as an Asian American in the Catholic suburbs of Boston. In a conversation with Rex Woodbury, MBA ’21, Chan discusses how the values she learned as a young girl have given her the optimism to always do better and the confidence to tackle problems that others aren’t tackling. “I’m sure many of you are very good at identifying problems and going to the authorities,” she says. “The only problem is, eventually you’ll find that there is no authority and that you’re the grown-up in the room. You’re the only one who cares enough about this problem to do something about it.”

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As the CEO of Gap Inc., Sonia Syngal’s brand is to create with audacity. In this View From The Top conversation with Adriann Negreros, MBA ’21, Syngal discusses her career, from her start in the auto industry to her recent experience guiding a major retailer through the pandemic. “It's like that Apollo 13 moment when you just have to get it done and the situation requires us to step into the leadership required,” she says. “That's what happened and you have to believe that we're all here for a reason I was in that role at that time to lead.”

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As the CEO of Land O'Lakes, Beth Ford connects her working-class Midwestern childhood with her success running a farmer-owned cooperative . In in this View From The Top episode, Ford talks to Adriann Negreros, MBA ‘21, about being the first openly gay female CEO of a Fortune 500 company and how she’s succeeded in a male-dominated industry. “You want to have humility, but you can’t be shy to make clear to your supervisors, your leaders, whomever, what your aspiration is,” she says. “Otherwise, people are going to just guess. Nobody, I promise you, cares more about your career than you do.”

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Having lived in 4 countries by the age of 12 and growing up the only Ghanaian family in a predominantly white town in Colorado, Bozoma St. John had an expansive worldview at a young age. In this View From The Top interview conducted by Jessica Lawson, MBA ’21, the chief marketing officer of Netflix discusses the importance of not comparing yourself to others and how content can spark curiosity and connection. “I think that entertainment has a very, very, very big role in changing societal norms,” she says. “If we are able to use entertainment as a way to normalize experiences across the board, then we have a much better shot at being just better human beings.”

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Rosalind Brewer has a remarkable ability to see the big picture. She has led major organizations such as Sam's Club and Starbucks and identified major growth opportunities by tapping into her education in chemistry and data analytics. In this View From The Top interview conducted by Joy Wong, MBA ’21, the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance and former COO of Starbucks shares why you should find your voice and always speak up. “Don't be silent in the room,” she says. “Even if you think you're gonna make a mistake, that's better than sitting there quiet because you begin to suffocate… So just get it out there and feel like you have value.”

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Tony Xu, MBA ’13, says that immigrating from China at the age of five and moving around as a young kid taught him one of the keys to success — how to adapt to new environments. Influenced by his entrepreneurial and hardworking parents, Xu started Doordash in his apartment while attending Stanford Graduate School of Business. In this View From The Top interview conducted by Joy Huang, MBA ’21, the cofounder and CEO of Doordash explains why problem solving means focusing on the smallest details, like working out logistics issues by making deliveries yourself. “If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, I would say find something you're obsessive about,” he says. “Because the journey to building anything of meaning, I believe, will take years, maybe decades.” 

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Founding Member of the SB Opportunity Fund and Former CEO of TaskRabbit, Stacy Brown-Philpot, MBA ’02, is leading the charge on diversity by trusting her gut. In this View From The Top conversation at Stanford GSB, Stacy discusses her childhood in Detroit and how community has given her grit and influenced her career journey with Jess Lawson, MBA ’21.

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

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