Leadership Matters

Explore McKinsey’s exclusive interviews with leaders whose ideas and insights shape the world of business.

Moderna’s path to vaccine innovation: A talk with CEO Stéphane Bancel

October 2021 – Moderna’s delivery of a COVID-19 vaccine comes on the heels of revolutionary science that may accelerate innovation across the industry well into the future.
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Author Talks: Indra Nooyi on leadership, life, and crafting a better future

– The trailblazing former CEO of PepsiCo discusses the events that shaped her life and offers a blueprint for work–family conundrums.
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Keeping McDonald’s ‘relevant’: An interview with CEO Chris Kempczinski

– Soon after Chris Kempczinski became CEO, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the restaurant chain suffered the worst quarter in its history. But under his leadership, recovery—and growth—are once again on the horizon.
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Taking stock: Catching up with Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman

– How has the global market exchange remained relevant to its stakeholders after 50 years? By embracing changes in technology, society, and the economy and by meeting customers’ needs with innovation.
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LEADERS ON SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability and health are top of mind for today’s grocery retailers: An interview with Frans Muller
– Ahold Delhaize’s president and CEO explains how the Belgian grocer has prioritized employees’ mental health, leveraged digital personalization tools to help consumers make healthy and sustainable food choices, and connected with the community through local initiatives.

CEO Interview: CDPQ invests in climate action
– Charles Emond oversees more than $291 billion in investments around the world. He wants to see real action on climate change.

‘Bring the problem forward’: Larry Fink on climate risk
– The physical impact of climate change will lead to a major capital reallocation, says the head of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.

LEADERS ON STRATEGY

Shattering the status quo: A conversation with Haier’s Zhang Ruimin
– Having built Haier into a global powerhouse, its CEO now wants to overthrow 100 years of organizational orthodoxy.

James Manyika speaks with Richard Haass about businesses as ‘global entities’
– “We’ve got to expect that we’re going to be in a world of greater, not less, geopolitical turbulence,” explains the author of The World: A Brief Introduction.

LEADERS ON DIGITAL AND INNOVATION

A digital-business builder: An interview with the CEO of Allianz Direct
– What does it take to build scalable new businesses inside of an older, more established company? Bart Schlatmann is building one now.

Unleashing developers’ full talents: An interview with Twilio’s CEO
– Jeff Lawson talks about software’s growing digital supply chain, the future of flexible work, and the origins of both his communications-platform company and his new book, Ask Your Developer.

The Committed Innovator: An interview with Anjali Sud, CEO of Vimeo
– When a marketing executive discovered an unexpected market opportunity, she disrupted the company’s original business—and became CEO in the process.

Building a digital New York Times: CEO Mark Thompson
– Thompson looks back on an eight-year tenure that has transformed a 170-year-old news brand into a global, digital-subscription-first powerhouse—and at what lies ahead for its new leadership.

In disruptive times, the power comes from people: An interview with Eric Schmidt
– As we enter a new golden age of technological innovation, nurturing talent will become more critical, according to the former chairman of Alphabet.

An interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
– CEO Satya Nadella talks about innovation, disruption, and organizational change.

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