The World Class Leaders Show: The CEO leadership podcast for leaders who solve big problems and build better futures.

While many organizations promote and publicize their ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance) efforts, still there exist significant gaps between concepts and execution. This is especially true for the Social and Governance dimensions. 

Environmental initiatives are generally maturing. However, the Social aspect is receiving preliminary, and sometimes misguided, attention, and the Governance aspect is often no more than a few paragraphs in the annual report. Why is this so, and how can performance be improved?

For Episode # 52 of my podcast, The World Class Leaders Show, I was honored to host Miriam González Durántez. Miriam is an international trade lawyer who currently leads the trade and EU regulation practice of US law firm, Cohen & Gresser, and is a founding partner of Altius. Her extensive legal experience includes advising clients on intricate EU regulatory, compliance, and trade matters, and Miriam serves on several influential boards and advisory committees.

Miriam is the Founder and Chair of Inspiring Girls International, a global charity dedicated to raising the aspirations of young girls around the world by connecting schoolgirls and women role models. The campaign operates in nearly 30 countries across the globe and has led the highly praised global campaign #ThisLittleGirlIsMe.

By listening to this podcast episode, you will hear:

1. Perspectives on each dimension of Environmental, Social & Governance initiatives

If you’d like to know more about Miriam and her work, you can find her on her website, https://miriamgonzalezdurantez.com/about, 

on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/miriamgonzalezdurantez/, 

or on LinkedIn, linkedin.com/in/miriamgonzalezdurantez.

If you are interested in the Inspiring Girls initiative, https://inspiring-girls.com/

To learn more about me, Andrea Petrone, and my work with leaders and organizations, to subscribe to my weekly newsletter, or to take a free assessment of your leadership level, please drop me an email at [email protected], or go to my website at https://www.andreapetrone.com/.

I would also very much appreciate hearing from you about your thoughts on this episode, or suggestions for future topics for this podcast.

Read the article related to this podcast: https://www.andreapetrone.com/how-to-monetize-the-social-element-of-esg-article/

I don't believe that what we often label as "weaknesses" is correct.

Some of them are actually great signs of leadership.

In this episode, I shared some typical misconceptions about weaknesses in the workplace and explained why seemingly-weak behaviors are actually wonderful ways to demonstrate good leadership.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts or reading your comments about this episode at:

Email: [email protected] 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreapetrone/

Want to get a score on your leadership level? Take the free assessment today at: https://www.andreapetrone.com/assessment/

If you don’t want to miss any episode and receive the full article in your inbox, subscribe today to our blog here: https://www.andreapetrone.com/blog

Need more? Book a 30min call here: https://calendly.com/andreapetrone/strategy

Read the article related to this podcast: https://www.andreapetrone.com/9-seemingly-weak-behaviours-that-define-great-leaders-article/

Life is unpredictable, and careers often take patterns that cannot be foreseen. 

For the special 50th episode of my podcast, I was extremely honored to host Dr. Robert Lefkowitz, Nobel Laureate for Chemistry in 2012.  

Dr. Lefkowitz is an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as well as a James B. Duke Professor of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry at Duke University. Other awards include the National Medal of Science, the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine, and the Canada Gairdner international award. Dr. Lefkowitz is also the author of a best-selling memoir, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Stockholm”. 

By listening to this podcast episode, you will learn:

1. Five Secrets for Success
2. The Role of Self-actualization and Serendipity in your Career
3. How to Apprentice for High-Performance

If you’d like to get in touch with Dr. Lefkowitz, the best way is through email, at: [email protected]. You can also learn more about his journey by reading his book, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Stockholm”, available at https://www.amazon.com/Funny-Thing-Happened-Stockholm-Adrenaline-Fueled/dp/1643136380/.

For more information about my work with leaders and organizations, to subscribe to my weekly newsletter, or to take a free assessment of your leadership level, please drop me an email at [email protected], or go to my website at https://www.andreapetrone.com/.

I would also very much appreciate hearing from you about your thoughts on this episode, or suggestions for future topics for this podcast.

Read the article related to this podcast: https://www.andreapetrone.com/an-unconventional-conversation-about-success-article/

49,600 M&A deals failed last year. 

Here's the logic: According to Pwc, we hit a new record of M&A deals globally in 2021: 62,000. But according to many experts, the average failure rate is 80%. 

If this is true, it’s too easy to fail.

But it's never about strategy, commercial, or finance alone. It's also about people.

In this episode, I invited Branka Dessens, Post M&A Advisor, and together we discussed:

1. Why and how to assess culture before making any deal
2. The importance of choosing the right level of integration
3. The typical mistakes of the execution phase

If you’d like to learn more about Branka, connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmld-branka-dessens/

If you want to book a call with both of us to discuss your M&A strategy, book a time here: https://calendly.com/andreapetrone/strategy-call-with-branka-andrea-30min

For more information about my work with leaders and organizations, to subscribe to my weekly newsletter, or to take a free assessment of your leadership level, please drop me an email at [email protected], or go to my website at https://www.andreapetrone.com/.

I would also very much appreciate hearing from you about your thoughts on this episode, or suggestions for future topics for this podcast.

Read the article related to this podcast: https://www.andreapetrone.com/three-drivers-to-make-ma-integration-successful-article/

Over the past two years, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant acceleration of a set of trends impacting how we work.

Many organizations dealing with these forced changes simply took the approach to ‘retrofit’ their office-bound existing habits and practices to accommodate remote working. However, some companies have gone further by rethinking and redesigning core operating principles such as onboarding, innovation, or creativity to re-engineer the business for greater flexibility.

For episode # 48 of the World Class Leaders Show podcast, I’m very happy to bring you a fascinating conversation I had on LinkedIn with Brian Elliott, the executive leader of Future Forum. Brian has an amazing track record of leading teams and building companies, as a CEO of several start-up firms, a product leader at Google, and a senior vice president at Slack. Brian’s new book “How the Future Works; Leading Flexible Teams to Do the Best Work of their Lives” was co-authored with Sheela Subramanian and Helen Kupp.

By listening to this podcast episode, you will learn more about Brian Elliot’s experiences at Slack and with the Future Forum. Brian shares the learning:

• What type of work flexibility is most important?
• The impact on talent — building competitive advantage through work model redesign.
• Steps to take in defining the rules of the game – one size does not fit all.
• Potential pitfalls to be aware of, and how to move the process forward, with guidelines and examples for team agreements.

If you’d like to learn more about Brian Elliot’s work, visit the website https://futureforum.com/.

Brian can also be followed via LinkedIn, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/belliott/.

For more information about my work with leaders and organizations, to subscribe to my weekly newsletter, or to take a free assessment of your leadership level, please drop me an email at [email protected], or go to my website at https://www.andreapetrone.com/.

I would also very much appreciate hearing from you about your thoughts on this episode, or suggestions for future topics for this podcast.

Read the article related to this podcast: https://www.andreapetrone.com/leading-flexible-teams-with-brian-elliott-svp-of-slack-article/

If you’re an avid book reader like I am, you’re in the right place today.

Whether you’re on holiday or planning the next one, you may look for some good book recommendations for your book list.

Here’s my small gift for you: my top three business books that had a huge impact on me and my clients. 

Ready?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts or reading your comments about this episode at:

Email: [email protected] 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreapetrone/

Want to get a score on your leadership level? Take the free assessment today at: https://www.andreapetrone.com/assessment/

If you don’t want to miss any episode and receive the full article in your inbox, subscribe today to our blog here: https://www.andreapetrone.com/blog

Need more? Book a 30min call here: https://calendly.com/andreapetrone/strategy

Read the article related to this podcast: https://www.andreapetrone.com/the-three-books-that-you-must-read-this-summer-article/

Driving innovation is one of the main priorities of every leader.

Yet, it’s not so easy doing it in a very competitive market or in a conservative industry.

One of the most effective ways to build an innovative company is to build a corporate venture arm. That’s, for example, what Shell did back in 1998.

For episode 046 of “The World Class Leaders Show”, I invited Andrea Course, Venture Principal of Shell Ventures, to share her experience with innovation, startups, founders, and CEOs.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. How to choose the right companies to invest in
2. The power of diversity in the startup world
3. What makes great founders and CEOs
4. The best way to support the startups after the investment
5. How to deploy new technologies in a large and established company

For more information about Andrea Course, visit her LinkedIn profile and connect with her:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreacourse/

To know more about Shell Ventures: https://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/new-energies/shell-ventures.html

For more information about my work with leaders and organizations, to subscribe to my weekly newsletter, or to take a free assessment of your leadership level, please drop me an email at [email protected], or go to my website at https://www.andreapetrone.com/.

I would also very much appreciate hearing from you about your thoughts on this episode, or suggestions for future topics for this podcast.

Read the article related to this podcast: https://www.andreapetrone.com/why-building-a-corporate-venture-arm-for-your-company-article/

Company culture is not a toy that you can “fix”.

Yet, how many times have you heard leaders asking their managers to fix people's behaviors? 

I remember when that happened to me as a manager earlier in my career.

I was asked by the CEO to fix the culture but soon after, I realized that I didn’t have the support I was expecting.

In this episode, I discuss:

• the problem with changing internal perception
• the impact of lack of sponsorship from the top
• the challenge with delegating the entire process to one person
• the five simple steps you need to have in place before starting any culture change

I look forward to hearing your thoughts or reading your comments about this episode at:

Email: [email protected] 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreapetrone/

Want to get a score on your leadership level? Take the free assessment today at: https://www.andreapetrone.com/assessment/

If you don’t want to miss any episode and receive the full article in your inbox, subscribe today to our blog here: https://www.andreapetrone.com/blog

Need more? Book a 30min call here: https://calendly.com/andreapetrone/strategy

Read the article related to this podcast: https://www.andreapetrone.com/why-i-shouldve-said-no-to-fix-the-company-culture-article/

It’s harder today to keep motivation strong and sustained, due partly to the decrease in organized and structured work environments. Many people are encountering a negative impact on their ability to reach their own goals, given higher levels of distraction.

For episode 044 of “The World Class Leaders Show” podcast, I was thrilled to discuss the most interesting topic of Motivation with Dr. Ayelet Fishbach. Dr. Fishbach is the Jeffrey Breckinridge Keller Professor of Behavioural Science and Marketing at the Chicago Booth School of Business. 

Dr. Fishbach’s ground-breaking research on human motivation has won the Society of Experimental Social Psychology's Best Dissertation Award and Career Trajectory Award, and the Fulbright Educational Foundation Award.

By listening to this podcast episode, you will learn more about the key elements of motivation, including:

1. Setting a goal, and leveraging intrinsic motivation
2. Monitoring progress, and the importance of sub-goals
3. Setting priorities and managing multiple goals simultaneously
4. The importance of social support
5. 
   

For more information about Dr. Ayelet Fishbach’s work, you can visit her website, at https://www.ayeletfishbach.com/, or read her book, “GET IT DONE: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation.”

For more information about my work with leaders and organizations, to subscribe to my weekly newsletter, or to take a free assessment of your leadership level, please drop me an email at [email protected], or go to my website at https://www.andreapetrone.com/.

I would also very much appreciate hearing from you about your thoughts on this episode, or suggestions for future topics for this podcast.

Read the article related to this podcast: https://www.andreapetrone.com/how-to-unlock-motivation-article/

Change doesn’t happen if you don’t understand first why people resist.

I’ve seen too many great change initiatives fail just because leaders struggle to understand the causes of resistance and its effect on the implementation.

They often underestimate its impact until they realize it when it’s too late.

The good news is that resistance can be fought if you know what causes it.

In this episode, I share my experience of overcoming resistance by bringing some case studies of my work with organizations during major change or transformation initiatives. In particular:

- Why you should embrace resistance

- The key reasons why people resist

- The best strategies to turn resistance into commitment

I look forward to hearing your thoughts or reading your comments about this episode at:

Email: [email protected] 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreapetrone/

Want to get a score on your leadership level? Take the free assessment today at: https://www.andreapetrone.com/assessment/

If you don’t want to miss any episode and receive the full article in your inbox, subscribe today to our blog here: https://www.andreapetrone.com/blog

Need more? Book a 30min call here: https://calendly.com/andreapetrone/strategy

Read the article related to this podcast: https://www.andreapetrone.com/why-employees-resist-to-change-and-how-to-turn-them-into-advocates-article/