132: Lorna Davis, part 1: C-suites and B-corps
This episode is longer, but full of inside views at a leverage point of leadership and the environment. Consulting firms and business schools wish they had access to global corporate leaders at the frontier of change like Lorna. We spoke in-person about multinationals she’s led across the globe. And she takes on one of the longest personal challenges of any guest so far.
Lest you think the conversation was all about mega-corporations, we also talked about vegetables and leaders reduced to tears on seeing what environmental values they could have acted on but had put off too long and felt the consequences.
Lorna has influenced big, global business, helping shift Danone USA to become a B-corp, working directly with the CEO of the company that made about $30 billion last year with over 100,000 employees.
What’s a B-corp? What difference does it make? Lorna will explain everything, largely from her personal, inside experiences. I’ve known about B-corps since studying them in business school over a decade ago. Lorna makes things clearer and more engaging from her experience.
The shift in corporate structure is huge, likely a systemic change to capitalism enacted voluntarily by capitalists, not government. I find it intriguing. Even if you know about B-corps, hearing her inside view will — I don’t know any other way to say it — blow your mind. It’s one of the greatest signs of hope and expectation of success I’ve seen.
She also shares her story about changing from wanting to win the rat race but not achieving it to living by her values and succeeding more.
Read the transcript.