Meet The Leader

In this episode of Meet the Leader, five founders share books that have helped them navigate leadership, innovation and uncertainty — from Isaac Asimov's Foundation to The Purpose Driven Life, Brotopia and Typhoon. Their recommendations reveal lessons about resilience, purpose, AI, fundraising and leading through change. 
What you'll learn:
Why a learning mindset matters in an AI-driven future.

How purpose can keep founders going through startup crises.

Why finding the right investors can matter more than chasing Silicon Valley capital.

Books referenced in this episode:
Kian Katanforoosh, Founder Workera
Recommendation: Asimov's Foundation series
Sam Yang, Founder, Xander Kardian: 
Recommendation: A Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
Sarah Fleischer, co-founder/Managing Director, tozero
Recommendation: Hard Things About Hard Things, Marc Andreessen
Emily Bodoin, CEO and Chairman, Pure Lithium Corporation
Recommendation: Brotopia by Emily Chang
Jeremy Allaire, CEO and Founder, Circle
Related Episodes
How to upskill for an AI Age: Workera CEO Kian Katanforoosh
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He's building 'gas stations' in space. How it can drive the space economy - Orbit Fab
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Meet the startup building the first commercial space station - Axiom
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What do you do when life changes in an instant—and the future you expected disappears? Advocate, activist and author Katie Piper explains how she rebuilt her life after surviving an acid attack on a London street at 24 driven by a man she'd briefly dated. The ordeal lead her to rethink her purpose, eventually founding a burn-rehabilitation charity and helping survivors like herself reframe "Why me?" as "What now?" It's a special conversation about resilience, personal reinvention and leading through adversity.
You'll learn:
-Why real confidence comes from knowing you can adapt and recover
-The importance of accepting situations as they are, and releasing expectations
-How to see challenge as a way to recommit to your purpose
-How acceptance, discomfort and a self-authored identity can help you start again
-Why vulnerability and empathy are strengths in leadership
Katie Piper is a bestselling author, television presenter and founder of the Katie Piper Foundation, which supports burn survivors through rehabilitation. She is also a survivor of male violence and an advocate for people with burns and visible differences.
This conversation explores resilience, purpose, trauma recovery, inclusive leadership and turning pain into purpose. Follow Meet the Leader on YouTube, Spotify or podcast apps, and subscribe for more conversations with people shaping the world

This interview was recorded in January 2026 at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos Switzerland.
About this episode
Read - Book: Beautiful, Katie Piper: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0091940761?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback
Watch - Davos 2026 session: Scars of Survival: How I Rebuilt My Life: https://www.weforum.org/meetings/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2026/sessions/scars-of-survival-how-i-rebuilt-my-life/
Connect - Foundation: https://www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk/


Related episodes:
How to Face Uncertainty and Take Action: Lessons from a Blind Sailor's Pacific Crossing
Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ypxt89hm
Read here - Transcript:  https://tinyurl.com/2jrpf9km
Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwKVbh71_QY   

How to Focus on What Matters Most: 5 Leaders' Effective Strategies
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Nick Thompson, The Atlantic: Why one CEO sets 'non-goals' - and what ultramarathons taught him about focus and mental toughness
Watch here - YouTube: https://youtu.be/Xh9PLsyptgA
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Suleika Jaouad: Harnessing Creativity and Curiosity to Lead Through Uncertainty
Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/5dck884j 
Read here - Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/bdh8ax4y
Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex-SlEoDaIw&vl=en

How do you focus on what matters most in a distracted and noisy world? In this special Meet the Leader episode, leading thinkers and adventurers share practical ways to reclaim your attention and sharpen your focus so you can spend your time on the right priorities. Their strategies and approaches for leaders will help you refresh your thinking, make better decisions and prevent distraction from turning into burnout.
Leaders will learn to:
Rethink the first and last things you do each day to sharpen your attention
Craft a "to-feel list" to clarify priorities and make days more meaningful
Better appreciate the present to take control of your attention
Think 'like an ancestor' to help you think beyond the short term
Featured voices include human flourishing expert and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt; writer and three-time cancer survivor Suleika Jaouad; blind adventurer Hiro Iwamoto and navigator Doug Smith; Nia Tero CEO Aulani Wilhelm; and Buddhist monk Shoukei Matsumoto. Together, they explore attention management, focus, deep work, reflection, long-term thinking and improving leadership in a distracted world.
Subscribe to Meet the Leader on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform for more practical leadership insights.

Related episodes:

How to Face Uncertainty and Take Action: Lessons from a Blind Sailor's Pacific Crossing
- Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ypxt89hm
- Read here - Transcript:  https://tinyurl.com/2jrpf9km
- Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwKVbh71_QY   
The Attention Crisis: How leaders can fix focus and happiness in an AI Era - Psychologist Jonathan Haidt
- Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/3zyur7s5
- Read here - Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yc45ccc3
- Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bXp43TMMAI
Suleika Jaouad: Harnessing Creativity and Curiosity to Lead Through Uncertainty
- Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/5dck884j 
- Read here - Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/bdh8ax4y
- Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex-SlEoDaIw&vl=en

How can leaders move forward when pressure is high and the way is not clear?  Blind adventurer Hiro Iwamoto and his 'seeing eye Doug" guide Doug Smith sailed across the Pacific in 55 days, from San Diego to Fukushima. The two share key strategies for leaders in taking action despite uncertainty and what's needed to pick the right partners to make impossible projects a reality. Hiro also shares how he stays calm in moments of extreme adversity, like when whale sank his boat during an earlier attempt leaving him in a life raft for 11 hours amid five-metre waves.
Key takeaways:
Courage means moving forward without waiting for 100% information.
Find people who can solve problems, not just point them out
How thinking in the present can prevent panic and enable decision-making
Hiro is an adventurer, keynote speaker and the first totally blind person to sail across the Pacific. Doug had no previous sailing experience but became Hiro's crewmate and navigator for that extraordinary trip. Their lessons on crisis leadership, teamwork, overcoming fear and innovation can motivate any leader during difficult moments.
Recorded January 2026 at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. 
About this episode:
Hiro: https://hiros-choice.com/

Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/hiro-iwamoto-blind-sailor-lessons-fear-decision
Related Episodes: 
Nick Thompson, The Atlantic: Why one CEO sets 'non -goals' - and what ultramarathons taught him about focus and mental toughness
Watch here - YouTube: https://youtu.be/Xh9PLsyptgA

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/bdbrspj7

Read here - Listen: https://tinyurl.com/mtdhe37w

Adam Grant: Future leaders won't succeed without this key trait 
Read here - Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/fbym95jy

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ys2dtftj

Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVVIpttzUA

Entry-level jobs provide a special window into the wider changes we'll see to job design and skill development. In this episode of Meet the Leader, Peter Brown of PwC explains how entry-level roles are transforming and breaks down new research on what employers really want from entry-level workers now. He also shares how these roles can continue to serve as training grounds for career skills like collaboration, critical thinking, and relationship building and why a thoughtful redesign of these roles will be key to future leadership development. Top names from our Chief People Officer community also share the advice new grads need to know in a fast-changing job market.
Key takeaways:
The most dire headlines about entry-level jobs are not yet backed up by data.
Employers are increasingly prioritizing applied experience and skills over degrees alone.
Employers are expecting more 'seniorized' skills earlier.
New grads should focus on outcomes rather than tasks and look for ways to build human skills on purpose.
Peter Brown is PwC's global workforce leader and a co-author of the World Economic Forum report Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Entry-Level Work. Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, the future of work, and the biggest trends shaping business. This is the third episode in a 3-part series on AI and jobs.
 
About this episode:
PWC: Pwc.com

Report - PWC 
AI 2026 Jobs Barometer
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/ai/ai-jobs-barometer.html

Hopes and fears
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/workforce/hopes-and-fears.html

Report - World Economic Forum
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Entry-Level Work: A Framework for Safeguarding and Reinventing Early Career Pathways: https://www.weforum.org/publications/artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-entry-level-work-a-framework-for-safeguarding-and-reinventing-early-career-pathways/


Related episodes - AI and Jobs Series:

AI and Jobs series: Upskilling's 'Messy Middle' and Fixing the Skills Mismatch
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Read here - Transcript:  https://tinyurl.com/2fnuacsz
AI and Jobs Series: What one company stopped doing - an HR exec shares lessons shaping the future of work
Read here - transcript: https://tinyurl.com/49xjtnyj

Listen here - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/27fjhud8



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AI 'workslop' is a leadership problem. Here's how to fix it
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How to Lead People Through AI Change: Questions to Ask from a Transformation Expert
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