13 leaders share the books that changed how they live, think and lead: 2024 Books Roundup
Release Date: 12/10/2024
Bridging the gap in women's health research, policy and innovation: Kearney
Meet The Leader
Women's health is under-researched and under-funded, leading women to live longer in poor health than men. However, tackling this gap can boost lifespans and GDP, a fact Paula Bellostas Muguerza understands well. This global head of healthcare and life sciences at consulting firm Kearney, discusses the role that policy and collaboration can play in creating incentives for real change, and driving awareness and education. She'll talk about [w]Health, a special platform she helped found that has grown into a community of 350 organizations sharing best practices to bridge gaps and what leaders...
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We’re ‘losing the war’ on modern slavery: What business leaders can do - HPE’s John Schultz
Meet The Leader
Slavery is not a problem cast to the annals of history. Modern slavery and forced labour are hidden in plain sight, found everywhere from nail salons to pristine factories, estimated to impact millions worldwide. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s John Schultz explains more about this worsening problem and how it impacts economies and communities. He also explains how data and artificial intelligence are being leveraged in new ways to draw insights from sources such as from shipping reports, photos, supply chain data and victim impact statements to tackle this issue in a way that’s never been...
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Protect employability, not just jobs: Adecco exec on effective coaching and upskilling
Meet The Leader
Staffing giant president Christophe Catoir of Adecco got an early start at the firm as an intern. He’s had a front-row seat to how work has evolved since. He shares the insights from the firm’s annual skilling report, giving compelling statistics on the percent of workers globally trained in AI so far and what’s needed to keep workers both engaged and employed as upskilling cycles accelerate. He also shares his thoughts on how leaders in remote and hybrid workplaces will need to re-evaluate how they coach and train teams, how apprenticeship thinking can help, and how his own career...
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‘I’ll show you a real leader’ - Platon, the photographer of power, on finding humanity in all of us
Meet The Leader
Platon has made over 20 Time magazine covers with his portraits of people such as Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George Clooney, Silvio Berlusconi, Mohammed Ali, Adele and Sinead O'Connor. But he has also photographed people who are the opposite of famous and powerful - and recently published a book called The Defenders: Heroes of the Global Fight for Human Rights - which contains work done over 15 years around the world telling the stories of refugees and other oppressed people. He tells us what makes a true leader, and how the meaning of a photograph can change over time, and...
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The 'triple strength' leaders must develop to drive a sustainable future: OMV CEO
Meet The Leader
How can we live more sustainably? OMV's Alfred Stern takes us through the big innovations the Austrian energy and chemicals company has in progress, including a geothermal heating project that will help to decarbonise Vienna by 2040. But he also shares the bigger tactical pieces that must be in place for real change, from updating mundane practices like permitting to continually educating staff (from execs to those in the field) on topics like measuring methane and ways to curb emissions. This former research scientist who got his start in academia also shares what his background taught him...
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The ‘inevitable’ caregiving cost nightmare: One young founder's story and solution
Meet The Leader
Lily Vittayarukskul was a college student at just 14 and on track for a career in aerospace engineering. However, an aunt’s cancer battle later upended those plans, wreaking havoc on her family and their finances. The experience inspired her to launch the AI-powered startup Waterlily, helping people better predict expenses for getting older, including eldercare or assisted living, costs most don’t realize aren’t fully covered by either health insurance or Medicare. In this talk, Lily wades through the mounting data showing how super-ageing societies will struggle to afford long-term care...
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What you might get wrong about progress - lessons for leaders: Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker
Meet The Leader
Renowned Harvard cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker studies the big questions facing human nature: Why do we fight? What helps us get along? How do we understand the world around us? His research has uncovered an insight we might not expect – that humanity is doing better than we might think. Despite host of major challenges that still exist, from geopolitical unrest to climate change, data shows that humans today live longer, face fewer wars, and live more comfortable lives than in preceding generations. He explains why a better understanding of progress and its uneven nature can help us...
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Ballet changed Misty Copeland’s life. How it could shape a new generation of leaders
Meet The Leader
How can we recognize potential and unlock it? Misty Copeland was the first Black woman to be promoted to principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. But as a child she almost quit after her first class – until an early teacher convinced her to return. Misty talks to Meet The Leader about the ways dance changed how she navigated life and how it taught her key skills such as resilience, empathy and curiosity. She shares how she uses her perspective and experience to found the Misty Copeland Foundation and develop a free afterschool program that reinvents how dance is taught to bridge...
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Understanding spatial computing -- and how leaders can prep for the next tech shift
Meet The Leader
Spatial computing will extend computing beyond screens. In the process it could change how we communicate and interact with technology as a whole -- transforming how we work, how we learn, how we preserve memories, and even what can be owned (with issues like virtual air rights highlighting new business opportunities and regulatory challenges). Future Dynamics founder and spatial computing expert Cathy Hackl will share what to expect and what's needed to scale this field further (or what could hold it back). She'll also explain how companies and leaders should be preparing and reveal the...
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How ‘positive masculinity’ can bridge gender gaps - and improve men's and women’s lives at work and home
Meet The Leader
Masculinity is having a moment. Leveraging it - in the right way - can help men and women succeed while bridging the gender gap both at work and at home. Gary Barker is the founder of Equimundo, a non-profit dedicated to research and solutions that help bring men into connected, equitable, caring versions of manhood. He shares the insights gleaned since this organization’s founding more than a decade ago – a group that has collected the largest dataset on men, masculinity and gender equality and that publishes the only global report on men’s involvement in parenting and care work. He...
info_outlineLooking for a new read? Something that will make you sharper in 2025 or something for that hard-to-buy-for person on your list? Or maybe you just want closer access to the ideas shaping today's brightest changemakers. No matter the reason, look no further than our annual books roundup, an episode collecting books that have transformed how some of the top global leaders manage teams, get inspired and motivated, shift mindsets and more. This year's recommendations include fresh takes on classic business books, histories, time-honored works of literature, and new favorites that can change how you build and lead.
Leaders and their book selections:
Leader: Alexi Robichaux, CEO, BetterUp
Book Selection: Boyd Varty's Liontracker’s Guide to Life: https://boydvarty.com/book/the-lion-trackers-guide-to-life/
Leader: Mark Lundstrom, CEO, Radia:
Book Selection: Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt's The Goal: https://www.tocinstitute.org/the-goal-summary.html
Leader: Sahil Tesfu, Chief Strategy Officer, Essity
Book Selection: Mark Manson's The Subtle Art of Not Giving a ****: https://markmanson.net/not-giving-a-fuck
Leader: Christopher Oakes, CEO, Reefgen
Book Selection: Cal Newport's A World Without Email: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/575655/a-world-without-email-by-cal-newport/
Leader: Brad Smith, President, Microsoft
Book Selection: Brian Merchant's Blood in the Machine: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/brian-merchant/blood-in-the-machine/9780316487740/?lens=little-brown
Leader: Serge Raemaekers, CEO, ABOLOBI
Book Selection: Jim Collins' The Flywheel Effect: https://www.jimcollins.com/concepts/the-flywheel.html
Leader: Ritu Narayan, CEO, Zum
Book Selection: Clayton Christensen's The Innovator’s Dillemma: https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Revolutionary-Change-Business/dp/0062060244
Leader: Jordan Justus, Automotus
Book Selection: Matt Ridley's How Innovation Works: https://www.mattridley.co.uk/books/how-innovation-works/
Leader: Catalina Cock Duque, founder, Fundacion mi Sangre
Book Selection: Otto Scharmer's Leading from the Emerging Future: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/575194/leading-from-the-emerging-future-by-otto-scharmer-and-katrin-kaufer/
Leader: Christophe Catoir, President, Adecco
Book Selection: W. Henry Gilbert's Homo erectus: https://www.ucpress.edu/books/homo-erectus/hardcover
Leader: Kara Alaimo, Professor and author, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Book Selection: Kate Manne's Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny: http://www.katemanne.net/down-girl.html
Book Selection: Mikki Kendall's Hood Feminism: https://www.amazon.com/Hood-Feminism-Notes-Movement-Forgot/dp/0525560548
Book Selection: Caroline Criado Perez's Invisible Women: https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Women-Data-World-Designed/dp/1419729071
Leader: Jonathan Reckford, CEO, Habitat for Humanity
Book Selection: J. R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings Series: https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Picture-Trilogy-Extended/dp/B000654ZK0
Leader: Florian Hoffman, Founder, The Do
Book Selection: Voltaire's Candide: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19942/19942-h/19942-h.htm