CEOs, activists and more share the work and life advice they're grateful for

Caroline Casey, The Valuable 500: "Yes, you have great vision and ambition, but remember 80% is good enough."

I was like, "What?

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: Welcome to Meet the Leader, a podcast where top leaders share how they're tackling the world's toughest challenges.

Today, in a special compilation episode, we share the advice that shaped top leaders --and the words of wisdom they're most grateful for.

Subscribe to Meet the Leader on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

And please take a moment to rate and review us. I'm Linda Lacina from the World Economic Forum, and this is Meet the Leader.

Cass Mao, Halo: Fear is fine, fear is information. It is an experience. But it doesn't have to be a decider of your actions.

Linda Lacina: None of us have all of the answers, but we're lucky that if we're open to it, we can learn from other people's experiences and help be better prepared -- and less surprised - the next time a big challenge comes our way.

In nearly every interview I do, I ask leaders about the advice that they're grateful for. Not the advice that they think that they're supposed to share, or the words that they saw on a coffee cup that morning.

I ask about the words that help them zig when they might have zagged. The words that were hard to hear in the moment, but that shaped who they are as a leader, a colleague, and a person.

I am lucky to have a wealth of leaders from which to choose for this episode. Leaders who have been generous with their time and their lessons learned.

And whether you are getting started in your career or have a few years under your belt, I'm sure their words will be a comfort and help you be all the stronger and the wiser.

We'll get started with Leif Johansson.

Leif recently stepped down as non-executive chairman at AstraZeneca this April. After more than a decade at the UK drug giant and nearly five decades in science and technology.

He shared an anecdote that will make you smile: of Leif as a young man frustrated with the shape of progress. You might see yourself in young Leif or in the colleague that set him straight.

Leif Johansson, AstraZeneca: I had a leader once, very strong leader, and when I was a young man, I had a job that was not so easy. So I came to him and, and I told him everything that I felt was wrong with, with what people had done earlier than that.

And I said, this is wrong. You know, this is obviously wrong. Why we shouldn't be doing this way, et cetera. And, and he became quite aggravated because we had been responsible for most of that. He said, you know, Leif, when when you start thinking more than half of the population around you are idiots, then start thinking which part of the world you might belong yourself.

I remember that. And that that takes me out of being too critical. It takes me more out of being part of, and let's now decide what we want to do for the future rather than be critical of the past.

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: He also shared the advice he would give himself if he could go back to the start of his career.

Leif Johannsen, AstraZeneca: I would probably acknowledge that I've had a sense of adventure in my life in, in not hesitating to switch industries or companies or even technologies and sciences.

There are a couple of times where I probably, if I, with what I know now, could have said, you could have done that even more. And you obviously enjoyed what you were doing so you could have done it even more. So that's probably a good piece of advice. Be a little adventurous and try things out.

Linda Lacina: Marie-France Tschudin is President of Innovative Medicines International and Chief Commercial Officer at Novartis. She explained to me at the January Annual Meeting about the importance of taking people with you and why that often overlooked concept is critical in building momentum with your team. Here's Marie-France.

Marie-France Tschudin, Novartis:I actually got a piece of advice when I was fortunately early in my career from one of my professors at IMD.

And he said in a very, particular context, which I won't talk about today -- but it was a very specific situation. And he said to me, if you don't take people with you, you can have the best product, the best strategy, the best leadership, and nothing will happen.

And so that stayed with me actually for the past, over 25 years. And I apply that. I try to think about, are people with me? Is the team -- Does the team get it? When you transform or you make a change, do the teams really truly understand why it is that we're doing that.

When you invest the time in making sure that people can and will and are willing to come along with you, that goes a long way.

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: And how do you know that the team has got it? What tells are there that leaders can look for?

Marie-France Tschudin, Novartis: Well, my cue on that is we usually have Q and A sessions, and if, the questions are really tough and hard, then you’ve got to go back. And when the questions start getting actually incredibly constructive, then you say, “Okay. They've got it.” But as long as people are giving you a -- and you've got to obviously open up for that -- but as long as people are asking you to repeat it because they don't understand it or they're critical of it, you've got to go back and say the same thing again and again and again. You've got to really explain it, and you have to stand in front of people. And repeat it again and again and again.

So, whether it's a change in strategy or a transformation, and Novartis very recently has gone through a tremendous change. And I've spent an disproportionate amount of time in front of the team saying, “This is why we're doing it. This is why it's important, and this is what we've got to look forward to in the future.”

And be present. You have to be present. In times of change, the worst thing you can do is not be there.

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: Caroline Casey is the founder of The Valuable 500, the world's largest global collective of businesses working together to end disability exclusion worldwide.

She faced her share of tough moments when building and growing her organization to what it is today, a collective that represents 22 million employees in 64 sectors. Here's a piece of advice that she has always been grateful for.

Caroline Casey, The Valuable 500: One thing that was very uncomfortable advice given to me was by Bill Mitchell. He was the one of the former CEOs of Arrow, which is like a Fortune 200 company.

And he was mentoring me, and he said "Casey." Cause he used to call me Casey. "Yes, you're a system thinker. Yes, you have great vision and ambition, but remember 80% is good enough."

I was like, "What? But it has to be perfect." And he just meant, if you want to scale change, if you want system change, 80% is good enough.

Perfection is what gets in your way. Get out of your way. Get out of your own way.

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: Nicola Mendelson is the Head of the Global Business Group at Meta. We talked at the Annual Meeting about a range of topics including a Meta initiative to drive female entrepreneurship and the Follicular Lymphoma Foundation, a group she started after her own diagnosis with this incurable blood cancer.

We'll get to her advice in a second, but first I want to set the stage with an example of her ingenuity. How Nicole's team used tech to stay connected during COVID until a vaccine for immunocompromised people was developed.

Nicola Mendelsohn, Meta: One of the consequences of having something like a blood cancer was that the vaccines didn't actually work on people like me.

And so not only I, but my family, had to be very careful in terms of who we came into contact with. And actually for about 18 months, we really didn't see anybody else. And so I'm unbelievably grateful, one, to the scientists that eventually made a drug called Evusheld by AstraZeneca that was created for immunocompromised people so we could get back out and about.

But two, that I could leverage technology. And I think if we think about what the pandemic would've been like without all the access to technology that we have, it would've been very difficult.

And then you add on top of the, you know, Meta had created the Quest, which is a much more immersive experience where you can harness VR and we have a product called Horizon Workrooms, where you can actually go in and have a virtual meeting.

So my team is a global team, so we can come from all over the world. And it's so much more immersive to sit around a table to ideate together. When you look left and somebody's talking to the left, everybody looks in that direction. You really have that feeling of presence when you're together. So yes, my weekly meetings through the pandemic were held in our virtual VR workrooms, dressed as avatars.

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: Grappling with COVID, work, life, and her diagnosis was not easy, and that leads us to two pieces of advice that helped Nicola and could help anyone during very challenging times.

Nicola Mendelsohn, Meta: This one's a fun one, which is that you can't cry and whistle, so sometimes it can all get a little bit much, and if you whistle, I promise you, you can't cry at the same time.

But the other one is, an Eleanor Roosevelt quote actually, which is, do the things you think you cannot do.

Because when you do those things, you know, they're terrifying. But that's when you learn the most. That's when you push yourself, and then when you look back, you go, yeah, I did that, and I was proud.

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: Cassandra Mao is the Chief Strategy Officer at Halo Car, a startup based in Nevada that has built technology allowing it to remotely drive cars.

Sure, it saves you from needing to drive to a rental counter, but it also increases the accessibility of transportation and helps tackle the over consumption of automobiles.

Cassandra worked in nonprofits and impact investing before coming to Halo Car and the advice she's most grateful for is helpful for anyone looking to shift sectors or roles or take any new leap at all.

Cass Mao, Halo: I think I've been very lucky in my life to -- and this is a funny way to say it -- but I've always felt like I deserve to be where I am. I felt like I work hard and I have something to offer. And I think that that's been incredibly valuable because people have treated me like I deserve to be where I am.

And so I think we have conversations all the time about imposter syndrome and I just have been lucky to not have a huge issue with it. I think the advice is like feel the fear and do it anyway, right? Fear is fine. Fear is information is an experience. But it is, doesn't have to be a decider of your actions.

And so I really enjoy experiences where I feel very uncomfortable and I lean into them. I actually seek them out because I think when you're uncomfortable, it's often a signal that you're doing something new and doing something new is the first step to growing, right? And so I think feel the fear and do it anyway.

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: Ponsi Trivisvavet is the CEO at Inari, a company gene editing seeds to help ensure more sustainable farming. Her tip is a reminder to give more to others, a way that can ground you and motivate you at the same time, I'll let Ponsi explain

Ponsi Trivisvavet, Inari: So, the reality of life, I don't know how you feel about it, or when you feel like, things are so fulfilling, it's actually when you help others. That stays beyond just yourself.

So it's personal motivation that you can make others to be better. It's actually long lasting then you're not just helping yourself to become successful – it’s about helping others to be successful. It's fulfilling personally. If you start to practice it, it is something that stays with you. And, I get motivated by that. I get energy by that. I would recommend that just do it and it's fulfilling.

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: Melonie Parker is the Chief Diversity Officer at Google. Her role is focused on building a culture that works and making sure every Google employee feels included. She shared a tip with our team that isn't strictly a piece of advice shared with her, but it is a shift in how she navigates the workday and one that made a dramatic impact for her.

Hopefully, it's a tip that can help you do your part to feel more authentic at work and to build a more inclusive team. Here's Melonie.

Melonie Parker, Google: I identify as a black woman and for a very long time in my career I did what was called code switching, where I checked a part of myself at the proverbial door. I took the part of myself that I thought would be acceptable in corporate America. That was how I navigated the work.

And then on my way out the door, I picked it up. My vernacular changed and I was able to embrace all of me outside of that.

But I will tell you when I made the switch and I no longer did that anymore, my experiences were richer and deeper because I didn't have to leave part of me behind to be accepted.

I do think that our workplaces should be safe havens that we can bring the best of who we are into them. I think innovation is better. I think we work better together and I think we accomplish the business strategy faster.

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: Blake Scholl didn't share advice so much as a life lesson that he is grateful for one that has helped him transform again and again.

He is a self-described ad tech guy from Groupon and Amazon who founded Boom Supersonic, a startup dedicated to supersonic aviation with flights twice as fast as what's offered today.

He credits his pivot to his passion for learning and also to his understanding that skills acquired in one area of life can be applied in surprising ways and to outstanding effect.

Here's Blake on an early experience that drove this idea home for him, when he left high school early -- realizing it had nothing left to teach him

Blake Scholl, Supersonic: I think people underestimate what they can learn and what they can teach themselves if they are motivated and focused.

I was very fortunate as a kid, my parents sent me to some really awesome summer camps. I hated my normal run-of-the-mill Midwestern US school experience. But I would go to these summer camps where I'd like learn to program or I'd learn how digital circuits worked. And like that stood in my mind as this is what it really means to learn. This is exciting. I'm around people who feel like my peers.

And so Carnegie Mellon had this really visionary program where you could apply as a, a junior in high school, write an essay on why, you know, you're kind of done with high school and then they would throw you in as a freshman if they bought your essay. And I feel incredibly fortunate to have stumbled across that opportunity and been able to take advantage of it.

It's a lesson that I feel like plays forward in my life. Like I don't have the resume to build supersonic airplanes. I'm a software engineer by training. I'm like the ad tech guy from like Amazon and Groupon.

But I spent a year kind of just teaching myself the fundamentals of airplane design and airplane economics, and it turns out I can learn that. And I think a lot of people have a very self-limiting mindset that is normal in our culture of, oh, you go to school and that's where you pick your field, and then you become an expert in something and then your expertise just gets more and more and more narrow.

And that's certainly a model that can work. But my experience is that skills and capabilities are very changeable. Knowledge is changeable, but passions are not. And it's much more powerful to follow your passions and let your knowledge and skills follow where your passion takes you.

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: Nazanin Boniadi is an actress you might know from shows like How I Met Your Mother, or Rings of Power, or even the movie Iron Man. She's also an activist dedicated to democracy and human rights issues in her native Iran. She talked to my colleague Robin Pomeroy about the words of wisdom her mother gave her that have acted as a guiding light for her ever since.

Nazanin Boniadi: My mother told me early on to compromise on everything but my dignity. So I've sort of always anchored not only my activism in that, but my life. I think, It's really important to extend an olive branch and talk things through and try to reach a middle ground and, and compromise on everything, but not your dignity

Linda Lacina, Meet The Leader: And that was the advice top leaders are grateful for.

Thanks so much to them, and thanks so much to you for listening. A transcript of this episode and my colleague's episodes, Radio Davos and the Book Club Podcast is available at wef.ch/podcasts. This episode of Meet the Leader was presented and produced by me with Juan Toran as studio engineer, Taz Kelleher as editor and Gareth Nolan driving studio production.

That's it for now. I'm Linda Lacina with the World Economic Forum. Have a great day.