In this second episode of our Voices of CEO Excellence interview with Ken Frazier, the former executive chairman and CEO of Merck candidly reflects on how he managed past crises. Frazier discusses his decision-making process around the litigation trial concerning Merck’s pain-relief drug Vioxx, and how his employees ensured that a potentially crippling cyber attack did not stop production of critical medicines. He also speaks about how his most important advisor, his wife Andrea, has kept him grounded.  Frazier spoke with Vik Malhotra, former chairman of McKinsey’s Americas region and co-author of last year’s New York Times bestseller, CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest and Steve Van Kuiken, a former leader in our Life Sciences Practice and global leader of McKinsey Technology.  Listen to other episodes in our Voices of CEO Excellence series: Blackstone’s chairman, CEO, and cofounder, Stephen Schwarzman Morgan Stanley’s chairman and CEO, James Gorman Join our LinkedIn community of more than 89,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore our collection of Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com Take a masterclass with 67 of the world’s highest-performing CEOs and order your copy of the New York Times bestseller, CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.  See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

As CEO of Merck, Ken Frazier gained the respect of his employees, shareholders, and the broader community - both through the company’s performance during his 11-year tenure and also through his handling of several tests of his leadership. Now Merck’s former executive chairman, he recently shared how his experience growing up during the Civil Rights Movement shaped his career, how he ensured that science stayed at the core of Merck’s mission, and how he sees business’s role in society. In this, the first of two new episodes Frazier recorded for our Voices of CEO Excellence series, he spoke with Vik Malhotra, former chairman of our Americas region and co-author of last year’s New York Times bestseller, CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest and Steve Van Kuiken, a former leader in our Life Sciences Practice and global leader of McKinsey Technology.  Listen to other episodes in our Voices of CEO Excellence series: Blackstone’s chairman, CEO, and cofounder, Stephen Schwarzman Morgan Stanley’s chairman and CEO, James Gorman Join our LinkedIn community of nearly 90,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore our collection of Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com Take a masterclass with 67 of the world’s highest-performing CEOs and order your copy of the New York Times bestseller, CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.    See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Congratulations, you’re a new CFO—now hit the ground running with these seven key mindsets and practices that effective CFOs adopt from day one. Joining Sean for this episode is Andy West, the global co-leader of McKinsey's Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice, Ankur Agrawal, a partner based in our New York office who leads our CFO and Capital Markets Practice in the Americas, Christian Grube, a partner in our Munich office, and he leads our CFO and Capital Markets practice across Europe, and Lauren Cooks Levitan, the CFO of Faire, a global wholesale e-commerce marketplace. Articles mentioned in this episode:  Starting up as a CFO The evolution of the CFO The Bias Busters Collection  The new CFO mandate: Prioritize, transform, repeat Join our LinkedIn community of more than 89,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.comSee www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

What does purposeful growth look like in the retail sector? In this episode, McKinsey’s Brian Gregg speaks with two former senior executives at Nike, Christiana Shi and Stuart Hogue, about the strategies that enabled them to lead productive teams in the retail sector. The conversation touches on the importance of nurturing talent, building diverse teams, and identifying opportunities for individual and organizational growth. We are sharing today’s episode as part of an ongoing collaboration with our Growth, Marketing, and Sales Practice on the topic of growth strategy.  It is also the second episode of the Practice's new podcast called C-Suite Growth Talks, which will feature conversations with leading executives about how they are successfully choosing growth, by aligning around a shared mindset, strategy, and capabilities.   Links:  Episode transcript C-Suite Growth Talks podcast Mckinsey.com article: 'Choosing to grow: The leader’s blueprint' Join our LinkedIn community of more than 89,000 members and follow us on Twitter at @McKStrategy. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com  See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Today's episode comes directly from our recent European M&A Conference in London, which we co-hosted with Goldman Sachs. Sean spoke with the global leaders of our M&A practice after the conference to get their read on the climate for mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. Mieke Van Oostende is a senior partner based in Brussels whose client work is focused on financial institutions, and Jake Henry is a senior partner in Chicago who previously co-led our work in life sciences. Join our LinkedIn community of more than 89,000 members. Explore more Inside the Strategy Room episode transcripts on McKinsey.com If you would like to receive alerts on our latest insights, you can sign up at McKinsey.com/scf See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information