Masters of Scale: Rapid Response
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Real-time wisdom from business leaders in fast-changing situations — covering the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. These fast, focused interviews with CEOs are the in-the-moment counterpoint to the timeless episodes in the classic Masters of Scale podcast. Hosted by Bob Safian, former editor in chief of Fast Company.
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Top 10 Masters of Scale: Rapid Response Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Masters of Scale: Rapid Response episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Masters of Scale: Rapid Response for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Masters of Scale: Rapid Response episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Make mistakes to make progress, w/GM's Gerald Johnson
Masters of Scale: Rapid Response
03/03/22 • 33 min
General Motors’ Gerald Johnson shares the process and progress of trying to accomplish two daunting goals: an all-electric vehicle future, and to become the world’s most inclusive company. One thing that Johnson, the Executive Vice President of manufacturing and sustainability, has learned: “If you're not making mistakes, you're not making progress.” He adds that progress requires us to embrace being uncomfortable — and to learn from it. Johnson, who is a pastor as well, also discusses why he believes work-life integration is more realistic than work-life balance.
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Rebooting global crisis response, w/ONE Campaign CEO Gayle Smith
Masters of Scale: Rapid Response
04/30/22 • 32 min
Gayle Smith is the CEO of the ONE Campaign, the advocacy group founded by U2’s Bono — and last year, she was tapped by the U.S. State Department to coordinate America’s COVID response and vaccine distribution globally. Her experience both inside and outside government gives her a distinctive outlook on how business can and should help on humanitarian issues, from Ukraine dislocation to climate change. She also shares lessons about effective advocacy: tactics pioneered by ONE that can be useful to any organization trying to generate impact.
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com
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On the ground in Ukraine, w/Mercy Corps’ Tjada D'Oyen McKenna
Masters of Scale: Rapid Response
03/10/22 • 27 min
Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, the CEO of Mercy Corps, an NGO on the front lines of the Ukrainian crisis, provides an inside look on how they’re helping address the needs of refugees. Mercy Corps began scenario planning well in advance of Russia’s aggression, and they’re now deploying food, cash, and social services to those in need. She also cautions about potential negative impacts elsewhere, as troubles in Ukraine pull resources from other struggling populations.
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Announcing the Masters of Scale Summit
Masters of Scale: Rapid Response
02/23/22 • 12 min
Go to summit.mastersofscale.com to learn how to join a pantheon of scale leaders gathering in San Francisco Oct. 18-20, 2022 at the Masters of Scale Summit. The early confirmed stage program includes the likes of Bill Gates, Tyra Banks, Satya Nadella, Arianna Huffington, Ted Sarandos, Mellody Hobson, and more. The event is uniquely designed for both executives in the room and their teams back home — offering a beautifully filmed, hosted livestream that will empower your team to bring new ideas to life. You can apply to attend in-person as either a general applicant or early-stage leader, as well as purchase livestream packages for your team at summit.mastersofscale.com.
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Why brands must take a stand, w/Wieden+Kennedy's Colleen DeCourcy
Masters of Scale: Rapid Response
11/19/20 • 36 min
Legendary ad agency Wieden+Kennedy pioneered some of the most successful campaigns in history. But 2020 has raised the stakes for companies—and fundamentally changed how advertising works, W+K President Colleen DeCourcy tells us. Even as her own business adapts to financial and cultural strains, DeCourcy and her team have been guiding brands from Nike to Coca-Cola to Uber in selecting the right messages in a turbulent world. Meshing an economic goal with an emotional message has never demanded more creativity. Brands should take a stand, she argues, but not on everything.
Want to learn more about Wieden+Kennedy's work with Nike? Check out our episode with Nike founder Phil Knight: http://listen.mastersofscale.com/PhilKnight_WK
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A virtual-first workplace, w/Dropbox's Drew Houston
Masters of Scale: Rapid Response
11/12/20 • 31 min
In-office engagement or remote flexibility? We don't need to choose, says Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston. Facing the biggest shift in work habits in half a century, Houston has embarked on a radical experiment to reimagine how work gets done. The company's recently announced Virtual First plan dedicates all in-office activity to creative, team-based efforts, rebranding its offices as Dropbox Studios. Individual work will happen offsite, either at home or a self-chosen co-working space. Project teams set their own schedules. The unique opportunity of this moment, Houston says: How do we make work better? Yes, he admits, remote work feeds Dropbox's business, which now includes a collaboration with Zoom as part of a re-thought product roadmap. If Dropbox is going to design for the future of work, says Houston, then its own workforce needs to live in that future, right now.
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When your business disappears overnight, w/Marriott’s Arne Sorenson
Masters of Scale: Rapid Response
10/22/20 • 29 min
95% of your business disappears. What do you do? Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson recounts how the travel industry drastically changed last spring, with hotel bookings all but disappearing overnight. In the midst of his own battle with cancer, Arne has spent the year balancing the needs of his workforce against those of his partners; having blunt but critical conversations; and empowering his team to make tough decisions. He has wise words about the role of business leaders in times of social unrest, including how to think about who you speak for – and when to speak up. Arne admits the hotel industry will take years to recover. That hasn't dimmed his personal belief that travel matters more than ever.
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Pandemic Planning, Phase Two, w/Dr. Bon Ku (Jefferson University Hospital)
Masters of Scale: Rapid Response
11/05/20 • 34 min
With Covid-19 cases surging, businesses may be forced into a new wave of adjustments. Will the crisis-management tactics of spring and summer be successful as winter unfolds? Dr. Bon Ku, an ER physician at Jefferson University Hospital and director of the Health Design Lab, returns to the podcast to share what he’s seeing as we enter a new season and how we might respond. His proposals for health care delivery – about both heightened vigilance and creative shifts to financing, supply chains, digital tools, etc. – provide a bracing wake-up call. While doctors and hospitals have gotten much better at information sharing, testing, and treatment, Dr. Ku warns that without significant change we might be looking at a devastating period ahead.
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Your company is a citizen – it can act like one, w/Baratunde Thurston
Masters of Scale: Rapid Response
10/01/20 • 40 min
The pandemic, social unrest, the U.S. election – everything affects your team and your business. And the stakes are only getting higher. How do you address race and diversity? Should your business take a stand in the upcoming election? What role should your company play? If you're debating how political to get right now, this is your must-listen. We're talking with writer / thinker Baratunde Thurston on how companies can show up as citizens – citizens with the potential for outsize impact. Baratunde is host of the podcast "How to Citizen with Baratunde", and an advisor to business leaders through these times.
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Lessons of Omicron, w/Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome Trust
Masters of Scale: Rapid Response
01/20/22 • 28 min
Sir Jeremy Farrar is UK’s pre-eminent scientific authority on Covid-19 and the chief executive at the research foundation Wellcome Trust. He joins Rapid Response to discuss the latest learnings of the Omicron variant – and offers a framework for reacting to the uncertainty. Farrar, whose research specializes in infectious diseases, also shares the two most important leadership lessons he’s learned during the pandemic: find time for yourself, and take warnings seriously. “Humanity often finds ways of going through some really bad periods to get to a good place. And I think we're going through a bad period at the moment,” Farrar says.
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com
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FAQ
What is the most popular episode on Masters of Scale: Rapid Response?
The episode title 'Crisis lessons from inside the ER, with Dr. Bon Ku' is the most popular.