World Reimagined

Meet Yusra Mardini:  When the Syrian civil war broke out, Yusra Mardini and her sister fled. Eventually finding refuge in Germany, Yusra reignited her passion for swimming, joining the newly formed Olympic Refugee Team. Now, she’s at the helm of the Yusra Mardini Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing access to sports and education for refugee communities around the world.     In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Yusra about how she navigates challenges, leads by example and builds organizations that last.      Notable Timestamps    2:40 Olympics     5:20 Leading for others    9:40 Having your leadership tested    13:45 Building organizations that last    Resources Referenced     Epstein, D. J. (2019). Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. New York, Riverhead Books.    Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   For more information on this episode’s guest please visit:   Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast    

Innovation always requires some level of risk. For leaders, this means taking the right risks and knowing when to walk away. How do leaders make decisions when the outcome is uncertain?  How do they create a culture that promotes innovation and enables risk taking?   In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Annie Duke, Cognitive Scientist, Decision Strategist, and Author of Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, and Paul Misener, the VP of Global Innovation Policy and Communication at Amazon about the process of decision-making and innovation in uncertain conditions.   Resources:   Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts, by Annie Duke   Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, by Annie Duke   “If we are not failing ever, we are not trying hard enough; we are not being innovative enough.” — Paul Misener, VP of Global Innovation Policy and Communications at Amazon   “There's a time-accuracy trade-off when we're making decisions. The more time we take, usually, the more accuracy we're going to accrue. The less time we take, the less accuracy we're going to accrue.” — Annie Duke, Author of Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, Decision Strategist and Former Professional Poker Player   Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   For more information on this episode’s guest please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast  

Great leaders recognize that it takes more than talent to build a winning team. The culture and cohesion of a team can make or break it. It’s up to leaders to cultivate an environment that empowers people and promotes growth and opportunity.  In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Daniel Coyle, Award-Winning New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code, The Culture Code and more and Vlatko Andonovski, Head Coach of the U.S. women’s national team, about the secrets of creating a world-class team.  “Performance in business is actually a learning contest." - Daniel Coyle, Award-Winning New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code, The Culture Code and more “I think that’s what drives me, the challenge to do something that has never been done before.” - Vlatko Andonovski, Head Coach of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team Resources:   Books by Daniel Coyle Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl   Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   For more information on this episode’s guest please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast  

In this bonus feature, World Reimagined is turning the table on its host, Gautam Mukunda. Interviewed by his good friend, General Stan McChrystal, Gautam discusses the inspiration behind his newest book, Picking Presidents, shares what leadership means to him, and reveals who his ultimate hero is. Gautam also gets a second chance at answering the presidential history question that ended his reign on the TV show Jeopardy! many years ago.   Resources:   The Face of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme, by John Keegan Picking Presidents: How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World, by Gautam Mukunda Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay   “If you want to solve a problem about leadership, the presidency is uniquely fertile ground.” — Gautam Mukunda, Author of Picking Presidents & Host of The World Reimagined Podcast   Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   For more information on this episode’s guest please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast  

Today’s changing world faces continuous social, economic, and environmental challenges—from disease to natural disaster to war. The leaders stepping up to solve these issues possess deep ambition, vision, and skills to bring their ideas to life. In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley and Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry and Esther Duflo, Ph.D., Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT and Nobel Prize Winner in Economic Sciences. Together, they discuss how great leaders can pioneer breakthroughs and effectively enact change—from discovery to implementation. Resources:  Poor Economics by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo Good Economics for Hard Times by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo “There are so many things I kind of wish I had known early in my career, but the big ones for me are, first and foremost, that each person is an individual and has their own sets of passions, strengths, weaknesses, desires.” – Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley “Try to avoid micromanaging people. You get much more done if you can trust someone to run with it.” - Esther Duflo, Ph.D., Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT  Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   For more information on this episode’s guest please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast

While technology is a key driver of advancement and disruption, technology itself does not produce innovation. It’s the people that make it possible—and the leaders who aren’t afraid to take risks, admit when they’re wrong, and face failure head on. In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Josh Wolfe, Founding Partner and Managing Director of Lux Capital and Mike Pell, Envisioneer and Director at the Microsoft Garage in NYC about how leaders should approach and encourage innovation, and lead employees in a technology-driven world. “I like to say that chips on shoulders put chips in pockets, in part because it is often predictive of somebody that is going to be relentless against adversity.” – Josh Wolfe, Founding Partner and Managing Director of Lux Capital “Tech enables amazing, incredible new things we could never do before, but it's always, for me, the people part that is far more interesting and far more powerful.” – Mike Pell, Envisioneer, Director, The Microsoft Garage - NYC Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com For more information on this episode’s guest please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast

Research shows that strong comradery and collaboration among coworkers is essential for building successful organizations. And in today’s world of hybrid work, it’s perhaps more important than ever. It’s up to leaders to create a culture that prioritizes these positive co-working relationships and fosters employee engagement. In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Ben Michealis, Co-founder and CEO of the group.io, and Kevin Delaney, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Charter, about how leaders can build successful teams in this new world of work. The duo discusses the importance of bringing humanity to work, while maintaining boundaries between work and personal life. “The quiet quitting and Great Resignation are diagnostics on businesses.” — Kevin Delaney, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of Charter “So much of the problem is we get into these sorts of momentary, transactional relationships where it's just about what is the transaction, as opposed to the larger picture, which is the broad relationship of how do we, how are we relating to one another long term?” - Ben Michaelis, Co-Founder and CEO of Group.io Resources: Sleeping with Your Smartphone: How to Break the 24/7 Habit and Change the Way You Work, by Leslie A. Perlow The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com For more information on this episode’s guest please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast

Laughter not only feels good, but it’s good for your mental and physical health. It reduces stress, promotes creativity, and helps people feel more connected. It can also help make you a more effective leader.    In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, co-authors of Humor, Seriously, and Joey Zwillinger, Co-founder and CEO of Allbirds about why and how leaders should use humor to unite and motivate employees and improve their work culture.   “You often hear people suggest that great leaders tend to be vulnerable leaders. I think that humor can be such a great tool to unlock vulnerability.” — Joey Zwillinger, Co-founder and CEO of Allbirds   “Humor is this powerful way to get serious things done. I think part of it is upending this deeply ingrained cultural corporate belief that humor and seriousness are at odds.” — Naomi Bagdonas, Lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and Author of Humor, Seriously   “Creativity and humor are inextricably linked.” — Jennifer Aaker, General Atlantic Professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and Author of Humor, Seriously Resources:   Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life (And how Anyone Can Harness It. Even You.) by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas   Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   For more information on this episode’s guest please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast  

Whether you’re looking to climb a mountain in sub-zero temperatures or reverse decades of economic hardship, leading in impossible situations requires stepping outside your comfort zone. How can leaders create a culture that encourages people to bring all their strengths to the table? How can authentic and vulnerable leadership inspire a team to work together to achieve the impossible? In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Vivian James Rigney, President of Executive Coaching firm Inside Us LLC and the author of Naked at the Knife-Edge and Deborah Wahl the Global CMO of General Motors about what it really takes to defy the odds and accomplish larger-than-life goals.   “This word: vulnerability. This is a strength, and it's a strength to want to be curious, it's a strength to ask for help.” —  Vivian James Rigney “I think failure has so many negative connotations in business life. No one wants to fail, but yet it's the failures that drive us to the most incredible successes.”— Deborah Wahl    Resources: Naked at the Knife-Edge: What Everest Taught Me about Leadership and the Power of Vulnerability by Vivian James Rigney   Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   For more information on this episode’s guest please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast   Learn more about TDAmeritrade: https://www.tdameritrade.com/ https://www.tdameritrade.com/tools-and-platforms/trader-offering.html

Effective communication and meaningful candor are the backbone of success for most teams, but they don’t come naturally – these skills have to be learned. In order to drive this success, leaders must create a culture of learning within their organizations. What are the tactics leaders can implement to achieve that learning culture? How can you become a leader that cultivates an environment of open feedback?   In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Amy Edmondson, Harvard Business School’s Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, about how and why leaders should strive to create a culture of psychological safety in the workplace.   “You're trying to create an environment where people are able and aware to keep learning. That that's just recognized as essential…I think we're very much in a culture of knowing rather than a culture of learning.” — Amy Edmondson     Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   For more information on this episode’s guest please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast   Learn more about TDAmeritrade: https://www.tdameritrade.com/ https://www.tdameritrade.com/tools-and-platforms/trader-offering.html

Disrupting an industry takes more than just new ideas and a desire to shake things up. It takes vision, passion, and relentless innovation. And sometimes it means more than just changing the business landscape; it means changing people’s minds. How can leaders harness disruption to build a business that creates change? How can they convince customers to come along for the ride?   In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Airbnb Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Nate Blecharczyk and Founder and CEO of CoderBunnyz, Samaira Mehta about the challenges associated with changing people’s perceptions to create industry-defining disruption.   “It's important to use those mistakes and those failures as building blocks and reapply them to create a path that will lead you to success.” — Samaira Mehta   “If you’re persistent enough to keep trying, then all that learning will pay dividends in the long run.” — Nate Blecharczyk     Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   For more information on this episode’s guest please visit:   Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast   Learn more about TDAmeritrade:   https://www.tdameritrade.com/ https://www.tdameritrade.com/tools-and-platforms/trader-offering.html

As a leader, transparency can be a tricky topic to navigate. It’s often framed as an end-goal -- an inherent good that all leaders should aspire to -- but full transparency just isn't possible in most industries. So, how should leaders think about transparency in the workplace? How can they use it to motivate and inspire their teams? When should they share, and why?   In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with GitLab’s co-founder and CEO Sid Sijbrandij and the Deputy Managing Editor of the New York Times Rebecca Blumenstein about how being intentional with transparency can result in authenticity, honesty and openness in workplace culture.   “Companies that are more forthcoming about their challenges and their problems generally fare much better.” — Rebecca Blumenstein   “What’s really important is that we’re transparent by default. So, things are public by default unless we have a good reason not to do that.” — Sid Sijbrandij       Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   For more information on this episode’s guest please visit:   Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast   Learn more about TDAmeritrade:   https://www.tdameritrade.com/ https://www.tdameritrade.com/tools-and-platforms/trader-offering.html

In our increasingly complex world, leaders have to manage more challenges, stakeholders, and scenarios than ever before. To grow an organization amidst all of this, how can leaders create a proactive profile that enables them to manage in a constructive way? How can they put people first, without sacrificing growth, and still be remembered as an impactful leader?   In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with founder of ConantLeadership and former CEO of Campbell Soup Company, Doug Conant, and the CEO of Edelman U.S., Lisa Osborne Ross, about how a leader’s ability to orchestrate an organization with integrity, empathy, and confidence can leave an enduring contribution.   “The more you sharpen your leadership skills it’s amazing how much better your gut gets.” — Doug Conant   “If you put people first, profitability follows.” — Lisa Osborne Ross     Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   Literature Referenced:   Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t, by Jim Collins   For more information on this episode’s guest please visit:   Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast   Learn more about TDAmeritrade:   https://www.tdameritrade.com/ https://www.tdameritrade.com/tools-and-platforms/trader-offering.html

Our regrets influence the way we engage and interact with the world. Having the ability to reflect and learn from these moments gives us the perspective to better lead while understanding the context, experiences and feelings of others. How can leaders reflect on these defining experiences and moments of regret to make them more empathetic leaders? How can empathy help leaders become more effective?   In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Daniel Pink, author of five New York Times bestsellers, including The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward, about how leading with trust and empathy can transform workplaces and change how we see the world.   “In the architecture of regret, people tend to regret inactions more than actions.” — Daniel Pink   “You don’t want to be the leader you had. You want to be the leader you should have had.” — Daniel Pink   Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   Literature Referenced:   The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward, by Daniel H. Pink Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel H. Pink The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins     For more information on this episode’s guest please visit:   Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast   Learn more about TDAmeritrade:   www.tdameritrade.com www.tdameritrade.com/tools-and-platforms/trader-offering.html

In today’s era of uncertainty, trust has never been more important. This presents an opportunity for organizations and leaders to step up on important topics to drive change and foster meaningful connections with customers, employees, and communities.   In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda is joined by Jeremy Skule, Chief Strategy Officer at Nasdaq and Guy Kawasaki, Chief Evangelist at Canva and former Chief Evangelist at Apple to discuss how to build brand trust through authenticity, transparency, and integrity.  “Building up trust takes decades, years, at least. Losing trust can happen in a matter of seconds.” — Jeremy Skule   Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   Literature Referenced: Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, by Robert D. Putnam   For more information on this episode’s guests please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast   Learn more about TDAmeritrade: https://www.tdameritrade.com/ https://www.tdameritrade.com/tools-and-platforms/trader-offering.html

Good leaders change their organizations. Great leaders change the world. But even the best leaders, committed to making the world a better place, can face an uphill battle with constant, expected tradeoffs between purpose and profit. How can leaders navigate purpose, profit, and impact? How can they drive change in the world while also unlocking long-term, sustainable value for stakeholders? In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with purpose-driven leaders Nate Mook and Vincent Stanley on the importance of storytelling for inspiring change and accelerating impact within organizations and the world more broadly. Nate Mook is a tech entrepreneur, storyteller and documentary producer who now serves as the CEO of World Central Kitchen, a non-profit NGO dedicated to providing nutritious food to people in the wake of natural disasters. Vincent Stanley is the co-author of "The Responsible Company" and Patagonia’s Director of Philosophy. “The way you tell a story also becomes, in a way, the strategic discipline of the company.” — Vincent Stanley “If you really want to look at systems change and changing the world for the better, and addressing major, major challenges that we all face right now, you have to think bigger. And I think that's really about making people connect with those stories of why you are there.” — Nate Mook Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com For more information on this episode’s guests please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast Learn more about TDAmeritrade: https://www.tdameritrade.com/ https://www.tdameritrade.com/tools-and-platforms/trader-offering.html    

Today’s increasingly digital world brings with it possibilities to create a more inclusive and accessible global economy. But, unless action is taken to enhance digital inclusion, the world may become more divided than ever before. In this episode, Host Gautam Mukunda speaks with two leaders dedicated to digital inclusion who explain how to earn people’s trust and create a more inclusive world. Ajay Banja is the Executive Chairman of Mastercard, after serving as President and CEO for almost 10 years. Under his tenure, Mastercard launched a program to bring 500 million people across 80 countries into the global financial system, and one billion by 2025. Bhaskar Chakravorti is the Dean of Global Business at the Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts, the author of The Slow Pace of Fast Change, and a former partner at McKinsey. I think companies can set their examples and can lead by what they do...In totality, I think companies, corporations, need to start thinking about what role they play in the community they live in. And...to start putting real volume to the idea of doing well and doing good at the same time.” — Ajay Banga “A combination of our inherent desire for stories, narratives, and personalities and the media's need to continue to reinforce that, our notion of trust has been intimately tied, not just by the functions and companies but by the leaders themselves.” — Bhaskar Chakravorti   Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   Literature Referenced: The Slow Pace of Fast Change: Bringing Innovations to Market in a Connected World, by Bhaskar Chakravorti   For more information on this episode’s guests please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast

While the benefits of AI are undeniable, it’s not yet clear exactly how it will define the role of tomorrow’s leaders. In this episode, Host Gautam Mukunda speaks with two industry leaders with unique vantage points on how AI is transforming the world around us and redefining the future of leadership. Shawn Bice is the president of Products and Technology at Splunk, the world’s first Data-to-Everything platform designed to remove the barriers between data and action. And, Nick Beim, partner at Venrock, is one of the world’s leading investors in AI, software, and fintech and is also on the Board of the Council on Foreign Relations. “The AI revolution will force a philosophical reexamination of how we make our most important decisions in different spheres of society... It's almost as if by encountering a new form of intelligence, we learn more about ourselves and become more conscious and deliberate about how we make decisions.” — Nick Beim “I think leaders that have emotion where they understand mood, or relationships, and how they’re interacting with others is great. To me, a machine is going to have an incredible IQ, but I don’t know that it’s going to have EQ. That’s where I think that real limitation comes in.” — Shawn Bice   Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   For more information on this episode’s guests please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast  

The healthcare industry is one of the largest and most consequential sectors in the United States—but it’s also one of the most complicated. This unique complexity makes it challenging for the operational change and innovation the industry desperately needs in order to better serve citizens. In contrast, the inherently innovative tech sector is not only a huge component of the U.S. economy, but it also plays a pivotal role in accelerating change across all other industries. In this episode, Host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Les Funtleyder and Dr. Raj Garg about what leaders can learn from combining the fast-paced innovations in tech with the cautious and deliberate rhythms of the healthcare industry. Les is a portfolio manager at E Squared Capital Management, and the author of Healthcare Investing, and he sits on the boards of Applied Therapeutics and Acalis. Dr. Raj Garg was the former President and CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, he was also one of the most trusted advisors to CEOs of the world’s largest healthcare companies during his time as senior partner in the healthcare practice at McKinsey. He is a doctor and attorney and serves on the boards of Health AI 360 and the National Spine and Pain Centers. “What I would actually predict is that the next couple of decades are going to really be an age of biology, and an age of technology and healthcare that will cause pretty fundamental shifts.” – Dr. Raj Garg “The biggest [healthcare] challenge from my perspective is that people don't like change, especially in systems that have been in place for a really long time.” – Les Funtleyder Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   Literature Referenced: Healthcare Investing: Profiting from the New World of Pharma, Biotech, and Health Care Services, by Les Funtleyder   For more information on this episode’s guests please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast  

Leaders can’t surpass the achievements of the past by sticking to the ways of the past. They must continuously challenge the status quo to inspire teams to break new ground and achieve new possibilities. Few organizations embody this approach to leadership as well as NASA. In this episode, Host Gautam Mukunda speaks with NASA’s Chief Flight Director, Holly Ridings about how to build a diverse culture of collaboration, innovation, and disruption. She also discusses how to lead through insurmountable challenges and inspire teams to reach new heights. Holly was the lead flight director for Expedition 16 and SpaceX Dragon. In her current role, she is responsible for the safety and success of human spaceflight at NASA. “I’m always pushing the envelope because in my opinion, as leaders of human spaceflight we have to disrupt ourselves in order to stay ahead and be relevant in terms of leadership. If we are not disrupting ourselves then how do we lead the industry through all of the transitions and changes?” — Holly Ridings Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com   Literature Referenced: The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe Columbia Accident Investigation Report   For more information on this episode’s guests please visit: www.nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast