Meet The Leader

How do you focus on what matters most in a distracted and noisy world? In this special Meet the Leader episode, leading thinkers and adventurers share practical ways to reclaim your attention and sharpen your focus so you can spend your time on the right priorities. Their strategies and approaches for leaders will help you refresh your thinking, make better decisions and prevent distraction from turning into burnout.
Leaders will learn to:
Rethink the first and last things you do each day to sharpen your attention
Craft a "to-feel list" to clarify priorities and make days more meaningful
Better appreciate the present to take control of your attention
Think 'like an ancestor' to help you think beyond the short term
Featured voices include human flourishing expert and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt; writer and three-time cancer survivor Suleika Jaouad; blind adventurer Hiro Iwamoto and navigator Doug Smith; Nia Tero CEO Aulani Wilhelm; and Buddhist monk Shoukei Matsumoto. Together, they explore attention management, focus, deep work, reflection, long-term thinking and improving leadership in a distracted world.
Subscribe to Meet the Leader on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform for more practical leadership insights.

Related episodes:

How to Face Uncertainty and Take Action: Lessons from a Blind Sailor's Pacific Crossing
- Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ypxt89hm
- Read here - Transcript:  https://tinyurl.com/2jrpf9km
- Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwKVbh71_QY   
The Attention Crisis: How leaders can fix focus and happiness in an AI Era - Psychologist Jonathan Haidt
- Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/3zyur7s5
- Read here - Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc45ccc3
- Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bXp43TMMAI
Suleika Jaouad: Harnessing Creativity and Curiosity to Lead Through Uncertainty
- Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/5dck884j 
- Read here - Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/bdh8ax4y
- Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex-SlEoDaIw&vl=en

How can leaders move forward when pressure is high and the way is not clear?  Blind adventurer Hiro Iwamoto and his 'seeing eye Doug" guide Doug Smith sailed across the Pacific in 55 days, from San Diego to Fukushima. The two share key strategies for leaders in taking action despite uncertainty and what's needed to pick the right partners to make impossible projects a reality. Hiro also shares how he stays calm in moments of extreme adversity, like when whale sank his boat during an earlier attempt leaving him in a life raft for 11 hours amid five-metre waves.
Key takeaways:
Courage means moving forward without waiting for 100% information.
Find people who can solve problems, not just point them out
How thinking in the present can prevent panic and enable decision-making
Hiro is an adventurer, keynote speaker and the first totally blind person to sail across the Pacific. Doug had no previous sailing experience but became Hiro's crewmate and navigator for that extraordinary trip. Their lessons on crisis leadership, teamwork, overcoming fear and innovation can motivate any leader during difficult moments.
Recorded January 2026 at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. 
About this episode:
Hiro: https://hiros-choice.com/

Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/hiro-iwamoto-blind-sailor-lessons-fear-decision
Related Episodes: 
Nick Thompson, The Atlantic: Why one CEO sets 'non -goals' - and what ultramarathons taught him about focus and mental toughness
Watch here - YouTube: https://youtu.be/Xh9PLsyptgA

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/bdbrspj7

Read here - Listen: https://tinyurl.com/mtdhe37w

Adam Grant: Future leaders won't succeed without this key trait 
Read here - Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/fbym95jy

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ys2dtftj

Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVVIpttzUA

Entry-level jobs provide a special window into the wider changes we'll see to job design and skill development. In this episode of Meet the Leader, Peter Brown of PwC explains how entry-level roles are transforming and breaks down new research on what employers really want from entry-level workers now. He also shares how these roles can continue to serve as training grounds for career skills like collaboration, critical thinking, and relationship building and why a thoughtful redesign of these roles will be key to future leadership development. Top names from our Chief People Officer community also share the advice new grads need to know in a fast-changing job market.
Key takeaways:
The most dire headlines about entry-level jobs are not yet backed up by data.
Employers are increasingly prioritizing applied experience and skills over degrees alone.
Employers are expecting more 'seniorized' skills earlier.
New grads should focus on outcomes rather than tasks and look for ways to build human skills on purpose.
Peter Brown is PwC's global workforce leader and a co-author of the World Economic Forum report Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Entry-Level Work. Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, the future of work, and the biggest trends shaping business. This is the third episode in a 3-part series on AI and jobs.
 
About this episode:
PWC: Pwc.com

Report - PWC 
AI 2026 Jobs Barometer
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/ai/ai-jobs-barometer.html

Hopes and fears
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/workforce/hopes-and-fears.html

Report - World Economic Forum
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Entry-Level Work: A Framework for Safeguarding and Reinventing Early Career Pathways: https://www.weforum.org/publications/artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-entry-level-work-a-framework-for-safeguarding-and-reinventing-early-career-pathways/


Related episodes - AI and Jobs Series:

AI and Jobs series: Upskilling's 'Messy Middle' and Fixing the Skills Mismatch
Listen here - Spotify:  https://tinyurl.com/2vddb3k3


Read here - Transcript:  https://tinyurl.com/2fnuacsz
AI and Jobs Series: What one company stopped doing - an HR exec shares lessons shaping the future of work
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/49xjtnyj

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/27fjhud8



Other related episodes: 
AI 'workslop' is a leadership problem. Here's how to fix it
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2mxkzwc3 

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4evh8yk6 

Watch here - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTAbIqqAf4Y 

How to Lead People Through AI Change: Questions to Ask from a Transformation Expert
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ykk9r7hb

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/yc2azrwv

Watch here - Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/yyv24pvd

New research shows many labor markets face a skills mismatch, not a talent shortage. And in the 'messy middle' of the AI transformation, that mismatch will be harder for leaders, workers and hiring managers to ignore as they build future-ready teams. To compete, companies will need to focus on skills-based hiring to ensure worker capabilities reflect what rapidly evolving roles require. In this episode, Maria Flynn, CEO of non-profit Jobs for the Future, explains why skills, not degrees will be the currency of the future workplace, and why education and workforce systems built for the past are struggling to keep pace with AI-era job shifts. She shares changes needed in how workers are trained, assessed, tested and hired. Flynn also discusses the importance of designing quality jobs in all sectors and how worker voice and agency matters in both AI training and implementation and how this can reduce turnover, strengthen AI adoption, and close gender gaps.
Key takeaways:
• What is the skills mismatch - and what hiring managers need to understand to build their teams
• How skills-based hiring can expand across hiring, advancement and talent management
• Why successful AI adoption needs worker input, better job quality and inclusive workforce design
Part two of our three-part AI and Jobs series. Subscribe to Meet the Leader for more conversations on leadership, AI, skills and the future of work. 


About this episode:
Jobs for the Future: https://www.jff.org/

Research - JFF:
JFF AI for Workers & Learners Survey: https://info.jff.org/ai-for-workers-learners-2026-survey
JFF American Job Quality Study: https://www.jff.org/idea/the-american-job-quality-study/


Research - World Economic Forum:
Report: 2026 Chief People Officer Outlook, World Economic Forum:  https://www.weforum.org/publications/chief-people-officers-outlook-may-2026/


Related episodes - AI and Jobs Series


AI and Jobs series: How entry level jobs are changing in an AI era


Read here - transcript:  https://tinyurl.com/mpfnc822

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/3b2wzccw


AI and Jobs Series: What one company stopped doing - an HR exec shares lessons shaping the future of work
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/49xjtnyj

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/27fjhud8



Other related episodes:
AI and Jobs Series: What one company stopped doing - an HR exec shares lessons shaping the future of work
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/49xjtnyj

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/27fjhud8



AI 'workslop' is a leadership problem. Here's how to fix it
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2mxkzwc3

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4evh8yk6

Watch here - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTAbIqqAf4Y

How to Lead People Through AI Change: Questions to Ask from a Transformation Expert
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ykk9r7hb

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/yc2azrwv

Watch here - Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/yyv24pvd

As AI grows more powerful and takes on more rote work, what should humans stop doing? Fertility benefits company Progyny took on this question as a company to re-evaluate routines and norms and how AI might help work evolve. Chief Human Resources Officer Cassandra Pratt shares how teams there are using AI to reduce rote work, rethink job design, improve meeting culture and give people more time for the human side of work that machines cannot do, such as building trust and strengthening relationships. The first in a three-part AI and Jobs series.

Key takeaways:
The importance of clear goals and prep during AI implementation
How the "Start, Stop, Continue" framework from author Barry O'Reilly can reduce burnout and sharpen execution
How to turn teams into superfans of your company and business to strengthen engagement
What fluid job design will look like in the years ahead - and how to help teams navigate it

About this episode:
Progyny: https://progyny.com/

Book: Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results, Barry O'Reilly 
Report: 2026 Chief People Officer Outlook, World Economic Forum:  https://www.weforum.org/publications/chief-people-officers-outlook-may-2026/


Related episodes - AI and Jobs Series
AI and Jobs series: Upskilling's 'Messy Middle' and Fixing the Skills Mismatch
Listen here - Spotify:  https://tinyurl.com/2vddb3k3


Read here - Transcript:  https://tinyurl.com/2fnuacsz


AI and Jobs series: How entry level jobs are changing in an AI era


Read here - transcript:  https://tinyurl.com/mpfnc822 

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/3b2wzccw 


Other related episodes:
AI 'workslop' is a leadership problem. Here's how to fix it
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2mxkzwc3 

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4evh8yk6 

Watch here - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTAbIqqAf4Y 

How to Lead People Through AI Change: Questions to Ask from a Transformation Expert
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ykk9r7hb

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/yc2azrwv

Watch here - Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/yyv24pvd