World Reimagined

To lead is to exercise power. And to do it well, one must have expertise and character. Perhaps no one understands this better than the President of the United States of America. What can we learn from the Presidency about how to use power – and when?

In this episode, Host Gautam Mukunda speaks with John Dickerson, Chief Political Analyst at CBS News, about what it takes to wield the power of the Presidency. John has reported on the presidency for over 30 years. He has reported for Slate, Time Magazine, and CBS News. His most recent book, The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency is a New York Times Bestseller.

"People require having been tested in their lives so that when they get the keys to the fancy car of the presidency they have some familiarity with what it's like to deal with serious things and be on the spot or else they're going to make decisions and have reactions that are going to be unsorted and disorganized."

— John Dickerson

"I think the overwhelming evidence of both history and just human behavior suggests that those who've been successful — whether it's surviving the marshmallow test or any other use of willpower — to restrain yourself is an important quality." — John Dickerson

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Books Referenced:

The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency, by John Dickerson

Power, for All: How It Really Works and Why It's Everyone's Business, by Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro

Taming the Prince, by Harvey C. Mansfield Jr.

Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter, by Gautam Mukunda

Guest Info:

John Dickerson is CBS News Chief Political Analyst, Senior National Correspondent, and CBS Sunday Morning Contributor. He recently published his third book, and second New York Times Best-Seller, The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency. Dickerson was previously co-anchor of CBS This Morning. From 2015 to 2018 he was the anchor of Face The Nation, and CBS News' Chief Washington Correspondent. Dickerson is also a contributing writer to The Atlantic and co-host of Slate's Political Gabfest podcast and host of the Whistlestop podcast.

Dickerson started his career with Time Magazine, covering economics, Congress, and the presidency. In the last four years of his twelve at the magazine, he was its White House correspondent. From 2005 to 2015, he was Slate magazine's chief political correspondent. He has covered the last seven presidential campaigns.

A native Washingtonian, Dickerson graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor's degree in English and a specialty in American Studies. His mother, Nancy Dickerson, was CBS News' first female correspondent. Dickerson is the author of On Her Trail (Simon and Schuster), a book about his mother. He is also the author of the New York Times best-seller Whistlestop: My Favorite Stories from Presidential Campaign History (Twelve Books). He is the recipient of the Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency and the David Broder award for political reporting.

Great leaders have the insight to see what the right thing to do is, the skill to do it, and the courage to do it even when it is hard. When those three things come together, the impact a great leader can have and the number of lives they can touch are vast.

In this episode, Host Gautam Mukunda speaks with two phenomenal leaders who have completely upended, transformed, and positively impacted the culture of their respective organizations. As CEO of Anglo American, Cynthia Carroll was the first female CEO of a major mining organization and in 2008, Forbes listed her as the fifth most powerful woman in the world. In 2017 Frances Frei served as Senior Vice President of Uber, and radically changed the toxic culture into one the employees could be proud of. She is currently a Professor of Technology and Operations Management at Harvard Business School.

"I was relentlessly optimistic and rigorous about the future, and I think if you have a rigorous and optimistic way forward, coupled with honor and reverence for the past, I think that's what facilitates change, and maybe an insider or outsider helps but I think those two might be more important." - Frances Frei

"I think you need a catalyst for change, and that's what I aimed to do at Anglo American, through prioritizing safety as had never been done before. But it really woke everybody up that we were on a different path, and starting with the protection, the care and respect of each and every person who worked in our operations, or within our walls." - Cynthia Carroll

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Books Referenced:

Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader's Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You, by Anne Morriss and Frances X. Frei

Guest Info:

Cynthia Carroll has spent most of her career leading global businesses in the industrial sector. Cynthia began her career as an exploration geologist at Amoco Production Company in Denver, Colorado before joining Alcan Aluminum Corporation. She held various executive roles at the company including President of Bauxite, Alumina, and Specialty Chemicals, and Chief Executive

Officer of the Primary Metal Group, Alcan's core business. From 2007 to 2013, Cynthia served as the Chief Executive Officer of Anglo American plc. At the time, Anglo American was one of the largest and most diversified mining companies in the world employing approximately 160,000 people with operations on six continents and a market capitalization of approximately $40 billion. Anglo American ranked in the top 20 companies on the London Stock Exchange's FTSE 100 Index.

Cynthia sits on the boards of Hitachi Ltd, Baker Hughes, Pembina Pipeline, Glencore, American Securities, and Prince (an American Securities company). She previously chaired the boards of Anglo American Platinum Ltd, De Beers Société Anonyme, and Vedanta Resources Holdings Ltd. and has also served on the boards of BP, the International Council on Mining and Metals, the International Aluminum Institute, the American Aluminum Association, and the Sara Lee Corporation. She is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Cynthia holds a Bachelor's degree in Geology from Skidmore College, New York, a Master's degree in Geology from the University of Kansas, and a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University. She has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Exeter, Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Skidmore College, and an Honorary Doctorate of Economics from the University of Limerick. In 2009, Forbes ranked her the fourth most powerful woman in the world. She is the only woman to have held a CEO position of a major mining company. Cynthia and her husband have four children ranging in age from 21 to 27.

Frances Frei is a Professor of Technology and Operations Management at Harvard Business School. Her research investigates how leaders create the conditions for organizations and individuals to thrive by designing for excellence in strategy, operations, and culture. She regularly advises senior executives embarking on large-scale change initiatives and organizational transformation, including embracing diversity and inclusion as a lever for improved performance.

A global thought leader on leadership and strategy, Frances is widely recognized for her dynamic teaching style and breakthrough courses optimized for rapid, lasting impact. She developed one of the most popular classes at HBS, which explores business models that reliably delight customers. She also led the design and launch of HBS's innovative FIELD curriculum built around learning experiences that are experiential and immersive.

In 2017, Frances was tapped to be Uber's first Senior Vice President of Leadership and Strategy with a mandate to help the company navigate its very public crisis in leadership and culture. Her firsthand experience in Silicon Valley gave her a new lens on the urgent topic of trust, and in May 2018, Frances delivered a widely-viewed TED talk on "How to build (and rebuild) trust." This powerful framework delivers a crash course on stakeholder trust: how to build it, maintain it and restore it when lost.

Imagine determining the course of the American economy.

Twelve people in the United States actually have that job. They sit on the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee. Their votes affect hundreds of millions of people. And it's just one of their many responsibilities.

Rob Kaplan is one of those twelve. How does he do it? He focuses on communication - no small task when you help lead one of the most tight-lipped institutions on the planet.

In this episode, Host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Rob Kaplan, the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, a giant institution responsible for everything from setting interest rates to keeping the economy growing at a steady pace to running a contest on economic analysis for high school students. Kaplan has a long and distinguished career in global finance, notably serving as the Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs. He is the author of several bestselling books, and served ten years as a professor at Harvard Business School.

"What do we do that's distinctive at the Fed? . . . We've got to be a thought leader and we've got to understand economic conditions. We have to be a leading citizen in our communities, and we have to track, retain and develop superb people."

• Rob Kaplan

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Books Referenced:

What You Really Need to Lead: The Power of Thinking and Acting Like an Owner, by Robert S. Kaplan

Guest Info:

Rob Kaplan has served as the 13th president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas since September 8, 2015. He represents the Eleventh Federal Reserve District on the Federal Open Market Committee in the formulation of U.S. monetary policy and oversees the 1,200 employees of the Dallas Fed.

Kaplan was previously the Martin Marshall Professor of Management Practice and a Senior Associate Dean at Harvard Business School. He is the author of several books, including What You Really Need to Lead: The Power of Thinking and Acting Like an Owner; What You're Really Meant To Do: A Road Map for Reaching Your Unique Potential; and What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential. Prior to joining Harvard in 2006, Kaplan was vice chairman of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. with global responsibility for the firm's Investment Banking and Investment Management Divisions. He became a partner in 1990 and served as co-chairman of the firm's Partnership Committee. He was also a member of the Management Committee.

Following his 23-year career at Goldman Sachs, Kaplan became a senior director of the firm. He serves as chairman of Project A.L.S. and co-chairman of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, a global venture philanthropy firm that invests in developing non-profit enterprises dedicated to addressing social issues. He is also a board member of Harvard Medical School. Kaplan previously served on the boards of State Street Corporation, Harvard Management Company, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. He was also a trustee of the Ford Foundation, co-founding board chair of the TEAK Fellowship, co-founder and chairman of Indaba Capital Management, LP, and chairman of the Investment Advisory Committee at Google, Inc. Kaplan was appointed by the Governor of Kansas as a member of the Kansas Health Policy Authority Board. Born and raised in Prairie Village, Kansas, Kaplan received a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Kansas and a master's degree in business administration from Harvard Business School.

Economic growth demands a stable climate. So, what happens when that stability starts to erode? What becomes of our economy when it is too hot to go outside for six months of the year? Or, when the coastal cities of the world are no longer inhabitable? What does this mean for business?

Climate change is a systemic risk to the global economy.

However, it is a collective risk and, if we take collective action across industries and around the world, we can mitigate the worst effects of climate change. However, we must act quickly.

In this episode, Host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Rebecca Henderson, one of 25 University Professors at Harvard and the author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire, and Spencer Glendon, an economist and senior fellow at Woodwell Climate Research Center, about saving the planet, the future of capitalism, advocating for good regulation and better government, and the idea of investing in the future without financial return.

"If we decided we wanted to address climate change we couldn't fix it, but we could absolutely ameliorate the worst effects before it's too late. It's not a technical problem. The problem is political will. The problem is persuading people that this is real, that it's going to happen, [and] that it's going to have immediate effects. If we can do that, then I am quite sure that we can address it."

— Rebecca Henderson

"Climate change is a systemic risk to the entire economy and the entire financial system. You cannot diversify away from it. The pursuit of alpha in the face of this kind of risk is bizarre if you have financial holdings of any size or grandchildren."

— Rebecca Henderson

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Books Referenced:

Reimagining Capitalism in a World On Fire, by Rebecca Henderson

Fixing the Game: Bubbles, Crashes, and What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL, by Roger L. Martin

All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, Edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson

Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation, by Jonathan Lear

Guest Info:

Rebecca Henderson is one of 25 University Professors at Harvard, a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a fellow of both the British Academy and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her research explores the degree to which the private sector can play a major role in building a more sustainable economy. Rebecca sits on the boards of Idexx Laboratories and of CERES. Her most recent publication is Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire, which was shortlisted for the FT/McKinsey 2020 Business Book of the Year Award.

Spencer Glendon is working to make the consequences of climate change more vivid, intuitive, and useful. Collaborating with scientists, designers, technologists, and other concerned generalists like him, he founded the forthcoming initiative, Probable Futures, which will soon make local and global projections of heat, drought, wildfire, and other variables available, for free, to anyone in the world. Spencer is a pro bono consultant to many institutions and is a Senior Fellow at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. He has worked in Michigan, Chicago, Germany, Russia, China, and Boston. For many years he conducted and directed research at Wellington Management. He holds a BS in Industrial Engineering and a Ph.D. in Economics.

What drives a Super Bowl champion, a top-notch angel investor, a healthcare executive, and a coach for the ultimate NFL dynasty?

Today's guest, Jerod Mayo knows that growth and opportunity begin with getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. As leaders, how can we get to the point where discomfort is something that we lean into, not away from? We all start as rookies but not all of us become champions, and what differentiates the two? It may be the desire to never stop learning, and never stop leveling up.

In this episode, Host Gautam Mukunda speaks with mentor, leader, investor, former linebacker, and current inside linebacker coach for the New England Patriots, Jerod Mayo, about the difference between motivation and discipline, how he uses Impostor Syndrome to his benefit, the importance of asking for help, and what makes Coach Bill Belichick such a powerful leader.

"The guys understood I have no pride here. I have nothing to lose. I'm going to go in there and fight for you guys. That's how it started. The guys knew I cared about them. I think that is first and foremost what a leader has to be able to do."

- Jerod Mayo

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Books Referenced:

The Bible

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by Joshua Foer

Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of Blackberry, by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff

Guest Info:

Jerod Mayo is the linebacker coach for the New England Patriots and an Angel investor. He has had an impressive career achieving success across the diverse sectors of professional sports, finance, and healthcare. Beginning by playing college football for the University of Tennessee and earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport Management, he joined the New England Patriots as a first-round draft pick in 2008, going on to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Mr. Mayo remained with the Patriots for the entirety of his professional football career, and in 2015 won a Superbowl XLIX with the team against the Seattle Seahawks.

After retiring as a player from the NFL, Mayo went on to a successful business career in technology and healthcare. From 2016 to 2019, he served as Vice President of Business Development for UnitedHealth Group's Optum division, the consumer-technology initiative of the health insurance company. In his capacity there, he leveraged his extensive expertise leading successful teams strategically through challenges. Additionally, he has been an active early investor in several successful tech ventures.

In 2019, the Patriots tapped Mr. Mayo to return to the organization as a coach. He is based in Massachusetts with his wife, son, and three daughters.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, economic research makes it clear that increased immigration to the U.S. would be a huge boon, spurring innovation, entrepreneurship and long-term economic growth.

Why then are some in politics and the media stoking an anti-immigration sentiment?

Is it possible that fear of cultural disruption is standing in the way of boosting the American economy, improving international relations, jump-starting local communities and driving future innovation?

How does this research change the debate around immigration? What leadership role should companies play? What is their moral responsibility?

In this episode, Host Gautam Mukunda speaks with award-winning NPR journalist, best-selling author, and activist Aarti Shahani about her tenacious campaign to emancipate her father from the threat of deportation and her ongoing advocacy for migrant identity. And Brookings Institute Economist Dany Bahar shares his research on why immigration may be essential for creating America's next big economic boom.

"The thing you have to remember about this country is it is, by design, supposed to be the place where the rest of the world converges. That is the American experiment. It is an experiment in multi-ethnic democracy like the world has never seen before."

— Aarti Shahani

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Books Referenced:

Good Economics for Hard Times, by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo

Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares (A Memoir), by Aarti Shahani

The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public, by Lynn A. Stout

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

A Promised Land, by Barack Obama

Guest Info:

Aarti Shahani is an award-winning NPR journalist and best-selling author. Her new show Art of Power (a co-production with WBEZ) is inspiring a generation of listeners to act, skillfully.Aarti spent her 20s organizing prisoners. When she pivoted to business journalism, she enjoyed a meteoric rise at NPR, as Silicon Valley correspondent. She's guest-hosted NPR's All Things Considered and KQED's Forum.

Aarti's first book, Here We Are (Macmillan), chronicles her unlikely journey from undocumented kid in Queens, New York to national voice on the frontlines of the most powerful industry on earth. An Amazon bestseller, the memoir has garnered critical acclaim.

"Riveting…a bruising critique of colonialism" (NPR); "heartfelt, galvanizing" (San Francisco Chronicle); "timely, bittersweet" (Publishers Weekly); "among the finest memoirs written in recent decades…a vivid, almost cinematic journey that is both beautiful and unforgettable" (Guy Raz, Host, How I Built This and TED Radio Hour).

Aarti's reporting has received an award from the Society of Professional Journalists, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and an Investigative Reporters & Editors Award. Her very first newsroom was ProPublica.

She received her masters degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, with a full scholarship from the university and additional support from the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. She completed her bachelor's degree in anthropology at the University of Chicago. She was among the youngest recipients of the Charles H. Revson Fellowship at Columbia University and is an alumna of A Better Chance, Inc.

Aarti lives in Oakland, California with her nephew. She loves storytelling and justice.

Dany Bahar is a senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution. He was previously a David M. Rubenstein Fellow at Brookings. An Israeli and Venezuelan economist, he is also an associate at the Harvard Center for International Development, and a research affiliate both at CESifo Group Munich and IZA Institute of Labor Economics. He also hosts the podcast "Economists on Zoom Getting Coffee."

His research sits at the intersection of international economics and economic development. In particular, his academic research focuses on the diffusion of technology and knowledge within and across borders, as measured by productivity, structural transformation, exports, entrepreneurship, and innovation, among other factors. Lately, his research has focused on migrants and refugees as drivers of this process, alongside trade and capital flows.

His expertise on policy issues includes international migration, trade, and globalization more generally, as well as the understanding of economic trends in the global economy and in particular regions. His academic work has been published in top economic journals and he often contributes to leading media outlets in the United States and around the globe. He has worked and consulted for multilateral development organizations, such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Bahar holds a B.A. in systems engineering from Universidad Metropolitana (Caracas, Venezuela), an M.A. in economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an M.P.A. in international development from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University.

Ethical leadership is both personally rewarding — and incredibly hard. How do ethical entrepreneurs and leaders maintain faith in their vision, pivot when necessary, reconcile unintentional consequences, implement innovation guardrails, and persevere in the face of powerful obstacles? It helps to have a North Star – an unwavering vision for the future and a real sense of who they want to be in the future.

In this episode, Gautam Mukunda speaks with two industry creators, Bodhala CEO Raj Goyle and Twitch Co-founder Justin Kan about what it takes to disrupt the world to build a better one.

"As I became more successful and more recently, I realized that wasn't as fulfilling as I thought. And so now what's really activating for me is to think about things that are maybe a little bit more in service to other people. And that manifests in a bunch of different ways." – Justin Kan

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Books Referenced:

The Fracturing of the American Corporate Elite, by Mark Mizruchi

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, by Michael Alan Singer

The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, by James Nestor

The Power Broker, by Robert Caro

Guest Info:

Justin Kan is an American Internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder of Twitch, the internet live video streaming platform. In 2006, Justin launched the live video service Justin.tv, a company that started when he strapped a camera to his head and streamed his life to the internet 24/7. Over the next eight years, through twists and turns, he and his cofounders turned the business into Twitch, ultimately selling to Amazon in 2014 for $970 million. Over the years, he has founded half a dozen companies that have raised over $500 million in venture capital and invested in some of the fastest-growing startups around, including Reddit, Cruise Automation, Bird, Rippling, and many more. He is the host of The Quest, a podcast telling the stories of trailblazers in business, music, sports, and entertainment.

Raj Goyle is CEO of Bodhala, a leading legal technology company based in New York City and Ann Arbor focused on legal spend management and analytics. Co-founded with a fellow Harvard Law graduate, Bodhala helps large and small in-house legal departments, saving companies significant time and money through the creation of a competitive, transparent legal marketplace. Goyle, who received his undergraduate degree from Duke University, served two terms in the Kansas House of Representatives after working as a policy analyst and civil rights attorney. He serves on the boards of Hunger Free America, the American India Foundation, Everyartist.me, Issue One and chairs the State Innovation Exchange. Goyle lives in New York with his wife Monica Arora, a partner at Proskauer. They have two daughters.

How do you find the next big idea — one that will change business or the world? As the main forces of R&D have moved out of government offices and into private businesses, many organizations lack the structure to properly engage them. How can companies encourage innovation and growth in our fast-moving world? What organizational changes can be implemented to create a structure that nurtures sky-high, implausible ideas that challenge conventional wisdom and lead us to our next innovation revolution?

In this episode, Gautam Mukunda speaks with two best-selling authors and entrepreneurs. The physicist founder of a biotech company, Safi Bahcall, and author, investor, and startup CEO, David Kidder describe how to organize your teams and methods for a breakthrough.

"I'm a huge believer in structure. Regardless of whether a company desires growth or not, most efficiency-driven, short-termism-driven cultures — I like to refer to them as the big to bigger — really are at war with growth in their incentive. The talent, the structure, and the models are not designed in any way to create growth as a natural order of their management. Trying to do innovation or disruption anywhere inside or near it is literally a fool's errand."

— David S. Kidder

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Books Referenced:

Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries, by Safi Bahcall

New to Big: How Companies Can Create Like Entrepreneurs, Invest Like VCs, and Install a Permanent Operating System for Growth, by David Kidder and Christina Wallace

Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance, by Gary P. Pisano and Willy Shih

Leading Without Authority: How the New Power of Co-Elevation Can Break Down Silos, Transform Teams, and Reinvent Collaboration, by Keith Ferrazzi

Nabokov books

Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman, by Richard P. Feynman, Michelle Feynman

Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography, by Janet Browne

Guest Info:

Safi Bahcall is a physicist, a former public-company CEO, the founder of a biotechnology company specializing in cancer drugs, and the author of Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas that Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries. An instant WSJ bestseller, Loonshots has been translated into 18 languages; selected as a best business book of the year by Bloomberg, Financial Times, Forbes, Inc., the Washington Post, and others; and recommended by Bill Gates, Daniel Kahneman, Ed Catmull, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and Malcolm Gladwell. Loonshots was the #1 most recommended book of the year in Bloomberg's annual survey of CEOs and entrepreneurs.

Safi received his BA summa cum laude from Harvard, completed his Ph.D. in physics at Stanford, and served for three years as a consultant at McKinsey and Company. In 2001, he co-founded Synta Pharmaceuticals. He led the company's IPO and served as its CEO for 13 years. In 2008, he was named E&Y New England Biotechnology Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2011, he worked with President Obama's council of science advisors (PCAST) on the future of national research. Safi currently advises CEOs and leadership teams on strategy and innovation and is working on his next book. He lives with his wife and two children in Cambridge, MA.

David S. Kidder is an entrepreneur and an angel investor in over 40 companies. He is currently the co-founder and CEO of Bionic, a company that unlocks new growth for the world's most competitive enterprises by leveraging the mindsets and methodologies of venture capital and entrepreneurship. Previously, he served as the co-founder and CEO of venture-backed startups Clickable and co-founded SmartRay Network. A graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, he received Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2008. He is the creator and co-author of two-time New York Times bestselling series The Intellectual Devotional, The Startup Playbook and his latest book, New To Big, published in April 2019 with Penguin Random House. David can be found across all social platforms at @davidskidder and at onbionic.com and davidskidder.com.

Leaders model behavior and inspire others to emulate them in their personal lives and on a bigger scale. Just as we have a choice to do the right thing in our personal lives, business leaders have that choice at work. Many strive to be people of good character in all aspects of their lives. But, what does it really mean to be a person of good character? Or, from a business perspective, a company of character? If character is the critical component of ethical leadership, how do we cultivate it in ourselves and in our organizations?

In this episode, Gautam Mukunda speaks with the Head of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at West Point and Soldier's Medal recipient, Col. Everett Spain and the legendary former CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi about how today's leaders can model courage to do the right thing.

"The character of a corporation is not the personality. The character of a corporation is the integrity and morality of the company. How much does the company believe in the betterment of society? How much does the company believe it cannot succeed at the expense of society? That is the true character of a corporation. I don't want us to lose sight of that."

— Indra Nooyi

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Books Referenced:

The Arc of Ambition, by James A. Champy and Nitin Nohria

2030: How Today's Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything, by Mauro F. Guillén

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond

How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi

The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World's Greatest Teams, by Sam Walker

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, by Marshall Rosenberg

The Colored Cadet At West Point: Autobiography of Lieut. Henry Ossian Flipper, U. S. A., first graduate of color from the U. S. Military Academy, by Henry Ossian Flipper

Guest Info:

Colonel Everett Spain is a Professor, USMA, and the 7th Head of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at West Point. Everett has served with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, 1st Cavalry Division in Iraq, V Corps in Europe, 1st Infantry Division in Kosovo, Multi-National Force-Iraq, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, and as a White House Fellow under the Bush and Obama Administrations. A native of Pensacola, Florida, Everett received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from West Point, a Master of Business Administration from Duke's Fuqua School, and a Doctor of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. He actively researches and writes about talent management. Additionally, he serves as a senior advisor to the Army Talent Management Task Force, is the president of the Harvard Veterans Alumni Organization 501(c)(3), and volunteers as a Holocaust Legacy Partner. Everett and his spouse Julia live at West Point and enjoy raising their four children, including a West Point cadet, a college freshman enrolled in Army ROTC, and two high school sophomores.

Indra Nooyi is the former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo (2006-2019); a Fortune 50 company with operations in over 180 countries.

In this role, Mrs. Nooyi was the chief architect of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo's pledge to do what's right for the business by being responsive to the needs of the world around us. As part of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo was focused on delivering sustained growth by making more nutritious products, limiting its environmental footprint and protecting the planet, and empowering its associates and people in the communities it serves. During her tenure, PepsiCo grew net revenue by more than 80%, and PepsiCo's total shareholder return was 162%.

Before joining PepsiCo in 1994 Mrs. Nooyi held senior positions at The Boston Consulting Group, Motorola, and Asea Brown Boveri.

Currently, Mrs. Nooyi is a member of the board of Amazon and sits on the Audit Committee. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Memorial Sloan Kettering, she is a member of the International Advisory Council of Temasek, an independent director of the International Cricket Council, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She is also a Dean's Advisory Council member at MIT's School of Engineering and a member of the MIT Corporation. Additionally, she is the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at West Point.

Mrs. Nooyi has received many prizes, accolades, and honorary degrees over the years. In 2007, the Government of India awarded her the Padma Bhushan, the country's 3rd highest civilian honor. In 2007, she was named an "Outstanding American by choice" by the U.S. State Department. In 2019, her portrait was inducted into the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

She holds a B.S. from Madras Christian College, an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta, and a Master of Public and Private Management from Yale University. Mrs. Nooyi is married and has two daughters.

In a way, the space where we live is an exhibition, a curation of an exact moment in time. As humans, we are constantly assessing the world around us and arranging it to fit our values. But, what factors influence our sense of taste and point of view? What makes something desirable? What methods do designers and leaders apply to contextualize products, information, and experiences people love?

In this episode, Gautam Mukunda speaks with the Head of the Design Lab at Harvard, Dr. Beth Altringer, and the Chair, Art for Europe at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, Dr. Frederick Ilchman about the relationship between design and technology, and how shaping taste is a powerful way to lead.

"Curating properly means to care for something, to preserve it. It's a rather beautiful calling. You are trying to save the best of the past for the present so we can understand what our future is going to be."

— Dr. Frederick Ilchman

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Books Referenced:

Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944, by Antony Beevor

Stalingrad, by Antony Beevor

Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry, by Leanne Shapton

Salt Fat Acid Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking, by Samin Nosrat

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs, by Karen Page, Andrew Dornenburg

The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, by Jesse Schell

Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, by Caroline Criado-Perez

Guest Info:

Dr. Frederick Ilchman is an art historian and museum curator. He specializes in Italian Renaissance painting, particularly that of Venice. He's chair of Art of Europe for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. His acclaimed exhibition, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice (2009), organized with the Musée du Louvre, won several awards. Eager to enlist supporters for his favorite city, he is also the Chairman of Save Venice, the largest non-profit organization specifically devoted to preserving the art and architecture of Venice.

Dr. Beth Ames Altringer is an award-winning designer and runs the Design Lab at Harvard University's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. In 2016, The Harvard Crimson recognized her as one of the university's top 15 professors. Altringer founded the Desirability Lab, which has helped teams at companies like IDEO, Gucci, Puma, IKEA, Disney, Piaggio, Swarovski, and Uber to create more desirable products and services based on behavioral research. When she's not teaching, Altringer is usually in her studio working with flavor data or making art. She built the iOS app, Chef League, an interactive game that lets you learn flavor intuition from chefs, created flavor research software called the Flavor Genome Project, paints for fun, and is a former champion blind taster.