Meet The Leader

Tough calls, earning buy-in, and the ‘Courage to be Disliked’: Cisco’s Liz Centoni on driving big change


Listen Later

Big change can come with big fallouts and big feelings. Cisco's chief customer experience officer Liz Centoni runs a team with tens of thousands of employees and has 25 years of experience making the tough calls needed to drive needed technological change and earn critical buy-in and support. She shares what she's learned about tackling team fears and frictions head on and the importance of breaking down complex shifts into manageable ‘chunks’ to bring people along. She explains why she recommends leaders embrace the 'power of the pause’  -- and wait to speak in meetings -- and what's needed to get truly honest feedback in pivotal moments. Learn more about her approach –  and the empowering lessons she learned about transformation from books like ‘The Courage to be Disliked’ and the famed psychologist Viktor Frankl.  About this episode:Cisco: https://www.cisco.com/ Episode Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/liz-centoni-cisco-tough-decisions-big-change Referenced in this episode: Book recommendation - The Courage to Be Disliked, by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi: https://www.amazon.com/Courage-Be-Disliked-Phenomenon-Happiness/dp/1501197274 World Economic Forum Research - Future of Jobs Report:  https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/ Related podcast:  7 women leaders on the books that shaped them https://tinyurl.com/vuketc78 How one global health leader plans for the unexpected: Gavi https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Sj2YMTzpZj54Q0DMhHVrr

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Meet The LeaderBy World Economic Forum / Linda Lacina

  • 3.4
  • 3.4
  • 3.4
  • 3.4
  • 3.4

3.4

21 ratings


More shows like Meet The Leader

View all
HBR IdeaCast by Harvard Business Review

HBR IdeaCast

1,869 Listeners

The Look & Sound of Leadership by Essential Communications - Tom Henschel

The Look & Sound of Leadership

1,173 Listeners

The McKinsey Podcast by McKinsey & Company

The McKinsey Podcast

382 Listeners

Coaching for Leaders by Dave Stachowiak

Coaching for Leaders

1,463 Listeners

a16z Podcast by Andreessen Horowitz

a16z Podcast

1,062 Listeners

Azeem Azhar's Exponential View by Azeem Azhar

Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

608 Listeners

Equity by TechCrunch, Rebecca Bellan, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, Max Zeff, Theresa Loconsolo

Equity

339 Listeners

Worklife with Adam Grant by TED

Worklife with Adam Grant

9,183 Listeners

Inside the Strategy Room by McKinsey & Company

Inside the Strategy Room

168 Listeners

The Next Big Idea by Next Big Idea Club

The Next Big Idea

1,273 Listeners

Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques by Matt Abrahams, Think Fast Talk Smart

Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

776 Listeners

House on Fire by James Bray and Keyaira Kelly, World Economic Forum

House on Fire

12 Listeners

Coaching Real Leaders by Harvard Business Review / Muriel Wilkins

Coaching Real Leaders

644 Listeners

ReThinking by TED

ReThinking

620 Listeners

Agenda Dialogues by World Economic Forum

Agenda Dialogues

4 Listeners

Stakeholder Capitalism by World Economic Forum

Stakeholder Capitalism

7 Listeners

The World Economic Forum Book Club Podcast by World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum Book Club Podcast

23 Listeners

Radio Davos by World Economic Forum

Radio Davos

3 Listeners

HBR On Strategy by Harvard Business Review

HBR On Strategy

74 Listeners

HBR On Leadership by Harvard Business Review

HBR On Leadership

161 Listeners