Podcast Themes

Sally speaks about the impact of COVID on men and women over the last several months. She goes on to discuss the short term and the long term implications. She speaks about some of the mindset shifts around remote and flexible work that have happened over the last several months and goes onto say that it might actually end up levelling the playing field for women.

Ramesh shares his perspectives around why he has chosen to stay with McKinsey. He also speaks about an informal Board of advisors/mentors that he has architected to stay relevant and to stay interested and interesting in the world.

Ramesh speaks about how CEOs of companies have had to focus on 4 elements during this crisis over the last few months. 1) Using the opportunity to set even bolder aspirations 2) Focusing on their To-Be list, not just the To-Do list 3) Embracing the notion of stakeholder capitalism 4) Harnessing the full power of their peer networks. He also speaks about how they have had to adapt their ways as they have moved from the crisis mode to the long-tail.

Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi speaks about how Covid-19, in some ways, is like a time out that Mother Nature has given human beings so that we could go back to our rooms/homes and reflect on what our priorities in life should be. He shares his perspectives around how could reclaim the fundamental sense of being human rooted in a sense of empathy and in a sense of compassion.

Ashley speaks about how the current context around COVID has really made it that much harder for us to switch off. People are feeling more and more overwhelmed despite having more time at their disposal given commute has been taken out of the equation.

Atul speaks about how he is coping with the changed situation given Covid-19. He speaks about how he had to cancel several of his shows that he had lined up in Canada and the US and head back home as the world started shutting down its borders in front of his eyes. He also shares some thoughts on what he has been doing to stay positive, adapt to the times and move forward.

Andrew shares his perspectives around the criticality of the various steps involved in getting to a good judgment in these times. Given that there are so many unknowns for leaders to grapple with, and given that this is a once in a lifetime crisis that all of us are facing, there is no real playbook for us to work with. In that context, Andrew underscores the importance of having the right process of getting to meaningful judgment.

Jennifer speaks about the need for a new leadership paradigm in the new normal that we are headed to. She speaks about how leaders need to respond with their whole selves (their body, their mind, their emotions) to the whole selves of other people. She also speaks about the leaders having to proactively think about the physical health, economic health and emotional health of the people that work with them.

Jennifer speaks about the fundamental disconnect between the human operating system that has evolved over thousands of years and the current world we find ourselves in. She says that in order to survive in the jungles, we had to cut out complexity, make quick decisions and not over-finesse our responses. But that approach is not going to cut it in the world we are in given the number of moving parts. She also speaks about how our home life has evolved over time and that has led to additional complexity in our lives.

Raj speaks about how we all could think about solving for happiness given the strange times we are in. He speaks about three broad clusters of people and how each of the clusters could cope with the evolving situation with Covid-19.

Sudhir Sitapati is currently Executive Director, Foods and Refreshments at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). He recently published his first book – The CEO Factory, published by Juggernaut Books. While I had interviewed him for the podcast 4 months back, I wanted to go back to him to have a conversation around how organizations like HUL handle volatility and what can we learn from them from the way they have handled volatility in the past. For the entire conversation on “The CEO Factory”, please visit https://www.playtopotential.com/speaker/sudhir.com

Vinita speaks about how executives and board members could navigate these choppy waters as the COVID 19 is playing out. She specifically alludes to the transition we are making from the firefighting mode of dealing with the situation to seeing this as a marathon over a few months now. She also speaks about the leadership competencies that would be required for leaders to cope with what we are experiencing and for the future we are marching into.