LEAD WITH WE reveals how brands survive in a crisis, thrive in a fast changing market, and accelerate growth in a challenging future.
Discover how the world's top companies and entrepreneurs are driving growth and impact that employees and customers now demand. What worked, what didn't and what you need to do to get everyone to build your business.
Your host, Simon Mainwaring, CEO of We First and New York Times bestselling author, dives deep with CEOs and CMOs to reveal the mindset and actions that put them ahead of the competition.
Whether you're a start-up, high growth company or large corporation, you'll learn how to build your reputation, increase employee productivity, and inspire customers to promote your brand. Engaging, entertaining and actionable, this is your chance to listen in and learn a lot about how business does well and does good.
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Latest Episodes
Engineering Cloud-Based Solutions to Climate-Based Challenges: Monica Batchelder, Chief Sustainability Officer at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
November 21, 2023
Technology has the power to transform our future. And that is more true today of IT, the cloud and AI than ever before. But how do you balance the power of technology with its environmental impact? And how do you leverage IT to move climate solutions further, faster? Better yet, how do you achieve that at scale and speed, given the timelines we’re working against? Monica Batchelder is Chief Sustainability Officer at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), a global edge-to-cloud company sharing passion and purpose through technology and innovation. In this episode, she explains how HPE leverages the power of IT, the cloud, and AI to not only become a sustainability leader, but also to empower companies of all sizes to do the same– and how you leverage sustainability commitments to be a growth, innovation, and impact driver at the same time.
Sparking a Transformation for Brand and Purpose: Linda Boff, Global Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at General Electric
November 7, 2023
Change is always a challenge, and for long-established corporations, the stakes are often incredibly high. Staying true to one’s values while navigating a constantly-changing business landscape requires adaptability, but also a concrete sense of your company’s authenticity and “true north”. Linda Boff is Global Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at General Electric, a world energy, aerospace, and healthcare leader.. In this episode, she explains how a global leader reimagines itself as three separate public companies, while still being an authentic expression of its long standing purpose and impact. And how from a communications point of view, you navigate such dynamic transformation in ways that infuse the company with new life and growth.
Solving for the Future of Work: Kim Dabbs, Global Vice President of ESG + Social Innovation at Steelcase
October 10, 2023
How we work could not be more important to the success of our companies. And more than ever, with the rising return to the office, the work environment is being reimagined to that end. So how can we redesign the spaces we work in to foster productivity, community, and growth? And how can we do that in a way that’s more responsible to our planet that’s suffering under the impact of the climate emergency? Kim Dabbs is Global Vice President of ESG and Social Innovation at Steelcase, a design and thought leader manufacturing innovative furnishings and solutions to help people do their best work in the many places where work happens. In this episode, she explains how we can all reimagine what and how we make to better serve the people in our companies and the planet we share, and how to join and accelerate a transformative movement that’s turning business into a force for good.
Global Infrastructure for a Sustainable Future: Faith Taylor, Global Sustainability & ESG Officer at Kyndryl
September 26, 2023
In this unique moment in human history, the climate emergency is increasingly defining our lives. While artificial intelligence is unlocking potential positive impact on a scale never seen before. So what does the future hold for us and our children? How will technology help us show up more responsibly to people and the planet? And what does that look like in practical terms– so that our individual efforts compound in ways that will course correct our future? Faith Taylor is the Global Sustainability and ESG Officer at Kyndryl, the world’s largest provider of IT infrastructure services, with a goal of powering human progress through strong, purpose-driven practices that deliver value to employees, customers, stakeholders, and communities. In this episode, she explains how IT infrastructure and AI can address your sustainability ambitions in ways that will serve your business, and how the power of collaboration and its ripple effect can ensure we address the climate crisis for all of our futures.
A Sea Change for Industry-Wide Sustainability Goals: Adam Brennan, Group Director, Sustainability at Thai Union Group
August 1, 2023
Not every industry is contributing equally to the climate crisis we face. But all can share an equal responsibility in crafting a better tomorrow. One company that is making big strides to transform its industry– and encouraging others to join them– is Thai Union Group, a global seafood leader with ambitious growth goals and a dedication to scalable green policies and innovation. In this episode, Group Director of Sustainability Adam Brennan discusses concrete actions that are being taken to better protect our oceans and the food sources they make possible. And how together we can transform the seafood industry to ensure a sustainable future for its workers, the industry, and our future.
Purpose-Driven Business by the Numbers: Kate Williams, CEO of 1% for the Planet
July 25, 2023
By now, almost everyone has realized that business is responsible for creating many of the challenges we face today, but also that business is uniquely positioned to solve them. The question is– How can business make a meaningful difference, but also in a sustained manner? How can you ensure the integrity of those actions and the impact they create? And how do you make sure that you do it in a way that is not only accelerated, but also scales to meet the challenges we face with equal force? Kate Williams is CEO of 1% for the Planet, a global movement, inspiring businesses and individuals to support environmental nonprofit solutions through annual membership and everyday actions. In this episode, she shares how companies can build their reputations, strengthen their culture, and drive sales by supporting the future of our planet– and how you can become part of a fast growing movement of companies that together are a force multiplier for positive impact.
Meet Your Host
Simon Mainwaring is the founder and CEO of We First, a strategic consultancy that accelerates growth and impact for purpose-driven brands. He is a member of the Advisory Council of Conscious Capitalism LA, the Advisory Board of Sustainable Brands, The Forbes Business Council, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London.
Simon was a finalist for Global Australian of the Year in 2015 and interim CMO at TOMS, received the MAKE CHANGE, ‘Conscious Leadership’ Award for 2016, a finalist for the Conscious Company Leadership Awards in 2017, and a Real Leaders Top 100 Visionary Leader in 2018. His company We First was included in Real Leaders list for the Top 100 Impact Companies in the United States for 2018 and a We First was a B Corps ‘Best for The World’ Honoree in 2019. He is a Jury Member of PRWeek’s ‘Purpose Awards’ in 2020 and a Jury Member at the Cannes Lions Festival for the Sustainable Development Goals in 2021.
Simon’s book, We First: How brands and consumers use social media to build a better world is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon bestseller. It was named an Amazon Top Ten Business Book, 800CEORead Top Five Marketing Book, strategy+business named it the Best Business Marketing Book of the Year, and Sustainable Brands listed We First as one of their Top Sustainability Books of the decade. It has been translated into Russian, Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean. Simon also writes of the popular ‘Purpose At Work’ blog in Forbes.
Simon is a sought after international speaker with engagements including the Cannes International Advertising Festival, Royal Society of Arts, SXSW, TEDxSF, NAB, Promaxbda, Conscious Capitalism, Necker Island with Sir Richard Branson, Aspen Institute, Sustainable Brands, SOCAP, 3BL, Social Good Summit, National Speakers Association, 1440 Multiversity, National Press Club, Harvard, USC, UCLA and the United Nations Foundation. He has delivered keynotes at Google, Coca-Cola, General Motors, VF, Samsung, VSP Global, Toyota, SAP, Gucci, JP Morgan Chase, Timberland, VW Group, the NHL, and Patagonia. He has presented at the Harvard Business School Association, UCLA, USC, University of Oregon and University of Chicago. He was interim CMO at TOMS, voted a Top 5 Marketing Speaker by speaking.com for 5 years in a row and featured on the cover of the National Speaker’s Magazine.
Prior to starting We First Simon spent 15 years as an award-winning writer, Creative Director, and Worldwide Creative Director at many of the world’s top creative advertising agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, Wieden & Kennedy, and Ogilvy working on brands such a Nike, Coca-Cola, Toyota, and Motorola, as well as consulting on dozens of F500 brands for leading advertising, production, and digital companies. He was the writer on the U.S. launch of the first three generations of the Toyota Prius, the largest national service campaign for the Entertainment Industry Foundation that brought together all four major TV networks for the first time in U.S. television history, and multiple award-winning campaigns for Nike. He has received over 60 awards at major advertising festivals including the Cannes Advertising Festival (Europe), the One Show (U.S.), the Clio’s (U.S.), the Kelly Awards (U.S), British Design & Art Direction Awards (U.K.), and AWARD (Australia), among others.
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