From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
Today's Coronavirus crisis is not a force-majeure, it is a biological phenomenon, the spread of which is an indictment, and commentary on the mediocrity global leadership. It should never have escaped Wuhan, and the fact it has shows a failure of leadership and now the very same people who are responsible for neglecting these issues are being invited to comment on it, and lead our way out.
Fundamentally, it's really hard to work on intellectual and complex projects collaboratively. Complexity is underestimated, even by the people who are in the thick of it.
I never, ever, thought – even remotely – that I would make this festival my life. It was never seen as something that would run forever – and was something which was very much done 'by the seat of our pants' you know? It was a miracle if we got through, one year at a time….
We are held back by our deep, underlying fears. Fears of rejection, fears of being the imposter. We need to reframe these fears and work on regret minimisation. If you didn't take that action, spark up that conversation, or try that idea, would you regret it? if you would- then don't hesitate, do it.
There is a certain kind of X factor that is really hard to define, but it is the thing that makes a person stand out when they walk into a room or makes you magnetically drawn to walk towards them at a party or a gathering. It is often about authenticity and being true to themselves, because I think most people are very good at reading what is and what is not authentic.
From day one, we said that we wanted to create value, create impact, and create inspiration. We're not going to build a business that just creates impact—we're not a nonprofit. We're not going to just create a company that inspires the next generation. We have to create value.
Failure is an important tool with which one can reassess and reconstruct an idea or process, it is an essential element of the feedback loop. Failure should be used to step back and question your method and weaknesses. To recognize failure early can ultimately make one much stronger down the road.
It is the job of the prime minister or the president to persuade people that we are all in it together, and that if you fall behind, we will lend you a hand.
The power of routinization is that it allows you to spread a shared set of identity markers to a large population—and to do so very quickly. All you need is a handful of proselytizing leaders willing to travel from village to village, spreading the same ideas and behaviours, and you can soon create a vast tradition encompassing hundreds of communities.
To be the CEO of a company, particularly of a B Corp, you require a set of transformational skills and the ability to think broadly, and over long time horizons. You need to be able to consider the interplay and interdependencies between the business and its various stakeholders.
You can have your best day and your worst day on the same day. There's so much happening at once, and everything happens so fast… the emotional highs and lows are tense.
I start by asking: How will our customers benefit from this acquisition? I tend to shy away from companies that don't share a similar cultural ethos. Even if an acquisition seems financially sound, if there's a stark cultural mismatch, I'd usually reconsider.