WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.780 I want you to just imagine something for a second. 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:05.000 Okay. Imagine waking up, pouring your coffee, 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:07.740 checking the news, and seeing that you have just 00:00:07.740 --> 00:00:11.800 been named the absolute top CEO in America. That 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:13.820 is a pretty good morning. Right. And we aren't 00:00:13.820 --> 00:00:16.920 talking about, you know, an award from some random 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:19.239 magazine or a panel of out -of -touch critics. 00:00:19.699 --> 00:00:23.379 We were talking about Glassdoor. Oh, wow. Yeah. 00:00:23.789 --> 00:00:27.010 In 2021, out of all the massive tech giants, 00:00:27.230 --> 00:00:30.050 the global conglomerates, the flashy household 00:00:30.050 --> 00:00:32.649 brands. The ones everybody knows. Exactly. Out 00:00:32.649 --> 00:00:35.310 of all of them, the employees themselves, the 00:00:35.310 --> 00:00:37.750 people actually doing the work, voted you into 00:00:37.750 --> 00:00:40.770 that number one spot. That is wild. So the question 00:00:40.770 --> 00:00:42.189 is, how do you get there? What is the actual 00:00:42.189 --> 00:00:44.869 blueprint for that kind of universally respected? 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:48.240 leadership? It's a phenomenal question. And it 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:49.960 really gets right to the heart of what we're 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:52.359 going to explore today, because earning that 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:55.179 number one spot is never an accident. It certainly 00:00:55.179 --> 00:00:57.299 doesn't happen overnight or just because you 00:00:57.299 --> 00:00:59.979 have a charismatic personality. It requires a 00:00:59.979 --> 00:01:04.599 highly specific, very rare blend of adaptability, 00:01:04.859 --> 00:01:07.900 foresight and this ability to navigate incredibly 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:11.500 complex, volatile systems. Which brings us to 00:01:11.500 --> 00:01:14.120 the subject of today's deep dive. We are looking 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:17.280 at a single heavily detailed source today, which 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:19.680 is the Wikipedia article on Rich Lesser. Right. 00:01:19.859 --> 00:01:22.739 He's currently the global chair of Boston Consulting 00:01:22.739 --> 00:01:25.700 Group, which is widely known as BCG, and he served 00:01:25.700 --> 00:01:28.579 as their global CEO for nearly a decade before 00:01:28.579 --> 00:01:30.810 stepping into his current role. And that makes 00:01:30.810 --> 00:01:33.349 this a perfect case study for us because running 00:01:33.349 --> 00:01:35.530 a firm like BCG means you are essentially the 00:01:35.530 --> 00:01:37.909 consultant to the top executives in the world. 00:01:38.010 --> 00:01:40.530 You are advising the advisors. Exactly. You aren't 00:01:40.530 --> 00:01:42.150 just running a company. You are advising the 00:01:42.150 --> 00:01:43.609 people who run the world's biggest companies. 00:01:43.670 --> 00:01:46.170 Your product is literally business strategy. 00:01:46.450 --> 00:01:49.670 Yes. So the mission of our deep dive today is 00:01:49.670 --> 00:01:52.590 to really dissect the blueprint of modern executive 00:01:52.590 --> 00:01:54.730 leadership. We aren't just recounting a biography 00:01:54.730 --> 00:01:56.950 here. No, that would be boring. We want to take 00:01:56.950 --> 00:02:00.700 a hard look. at how someone successfully navigates 00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:04.079 a massive global firm through recessions, through 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:06.959 massive digital revolutions, and through unprecedented 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:10.439 global crises, all while keeping the people who 00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:13.259 work for them highly motivated. It's a massive 00:02:13.259 --> 00:02:15.240 undertaking. It really is. And welcome to the 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:17.000 conversation, by the way. We are so glad you 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:18.979 are joining us for this one because the mechanics 00:02:18.979 --> 00:02:21.979 of how this level of success actually works are 00:02:21.979 --> 00:02:24.270 just fascinating. They really are. And I think 00:02:24.270 --> 00:02:26.729 to understand how someone operates at that highest 00:02:26.729 --> 00:02:29.530 echelon of global business, we have to look at 00:02:29.530 --> 00:02:31.590 where their worldview was formed. The origin 00:02:31.590 --> 00:02:34.150 story. Right. The foundation of a strategist's 00:02:34.150 --> 00:02:36.629 mindset is usually built long before they ever 00:02:36.629 --> 00:02:38.849 set foot in a corporate boardroom. Let's start 00:02:38.849 --> 00:02:41.169 right there. Our documentation shows that Lesser 00:02:41.169 --> 00:02:43.289 grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 00:02:43.289 --> 00:02:46.469 1970s. Now, if you are familiar with American 00:02:46.469 --> 00:02:49.800 industrial history. You know that specific place 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:52.240 and that specific time carry a massive amount 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:54.479 of weight. An enormous amount of weight. The 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:57.879 1970s in Pittsburgh was defined by severe systemic 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:01.719 economic hardship. This was the era of the great 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:04.219 steel industry collapse. We aren't just talking 00:03:04.219 --> 00:03:06.620 about a temporary dip in the market. We are talking 00:03:06.620 --> 00:03:09.979 about the complete. decimation of an industry 00:03:09.979 --> 00:03:12.539 that was the absolute lifeblood of an entire 00:03:12.539 --> 00:03:14.699 region. It's just gone. Hundreds of thousands 00:03:14.699 --> 00:03:17.439 of jobs vanished, communities were fractured, 00:03:17.500 --> 00:03:20.680 and a once booming economic engine basically 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:23.360 ground to a halt. You have to imagine how witnessing 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:26.840 that shapes a future turnaround strategist. Seeing 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:29.139 firsthand what happens when an industry fails 00:03:29.139 --> 00:03:31.479 to adapt. Absolutely. If you grew up watching 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:34.379 giant, seemingly invincible corporations crumble 00:03:34.379 --> 00:03:37.400 into rust simply because they couldn't or wouldn't 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:40.009 keep up. with changing times, you probably develop 00:03:40.009 --> 00:03:42.569 a very healthy respect for innovation. Precisely. 00:03:42.710 --> 00:03:45.509 It strips away the illusion of permanence. You 00:03:45.509 --> 00:03:48.150 learn very early on that no organization is too 00:03:48.150 --> 00:03:50.270 big to fail if it stops paying attention to the 00:03:50.270 --> 00:03:52.569 world around it. It shifts your perspective from 00:03:52.569 --> 00:03:55.110 assuming stability to constantly looking over 00:03:55.110 --> 00:03:57.189 your shoulder for the next disruption. You realize 00:03:57.189 --> 00:03:59.389 that adaptation isn't just a corporate buzzword. 00:03:59.509 --> 00:04:02.830 It is a literal survival mechanism. Which... 00:04:03.099 --> 00:04:05.419 perfectly sets up his academic path. He goes 00:04:05.419 --> 00:04:07.240 to the University of Michigan and gets a bachelor's 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:10.319 degree, but he doesn't major in finance. No. 00:04:10.379 --> 00:04:14.080 Or economics or business administration. He gets 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:16.220 a degree in chemical engineering and he graduates 00:04:16.220 --> 00:04:19.980 summa cum laude. Impressive. And then he pivots. 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:22.420 He goes to Harvard Business School. gets his 00:04:22.420 --> 00:04:25.639 MBA, and is named a Baker Scholar, which is the 00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:27.720 highest academic honor you can get there. It 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:29.980 is a massive shift on paper, but if you look 00:04:29.980 --> 00:04:33.060 closely, it is a very telling one. Going from 00:04:33.060 --> 00:04:35.980 the hard sciences, specifically chemical engineering, 00:04:36.300 --> 00:04:39.540 to the heights of business strategy isn't as 00:04:39.540 --> 00:04:42.579 disconnected as it might seem to a casual observer. 00:04:42.899 --> 00:04:44.759 Okay, let's unpack this. Sure. Because this is 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:46.540 one of my favorite connections in his story, 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:48.879 but I have to admit, I was a little skeptical 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:51.220 at first. Think about what chemical engineering 00:04:51.370 --> 00:04:54.430 actually is. It's complex. It's the study of 00:04:54.430 --> 00:04:57.689 how complex reactions happen at scale. You are 00:04:57.689 --> 00:05:00.370 dealing with inputs, outputs, heat, pressure, 00:05:00.490 --> 00:05:03.529 catalysts, incredibly complex systems that have 00:05:03.529 --> 00:05:05.790 to be perfectly balanced to create a specific 00:05:05.790 --> 00:05:08.629 result without the whole thing blowing up. But 00:05:08.629 --> 00:05:11.889 chemicals follow strict physical rules. Human 00:05:11.889 --> 00:05:14.550 beings in corporate markets are notoriously irrational. 00:05:14.990 --> 00:05:17.730 So how does that engineering mindset actually 00:05:17.730 --> 00:05:21.220 translate to a boardroom? That is the exact right 00:05:21.220 --> 00:05:23.759 pushback to have. Humans are irrational, yes, 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:26.000 but organizations at scale actually function 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.220 very much like complex systems. An engineer doesn't 00:05:29.220 --> 00:05:31.740 look at a massive problem in panic. An engineer 00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:34.120 breaks the system down into its component parts, 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:36.819 identifies the bottlenecks or the friction points, 00:05:36.980 --> 00:05:39.740 and designs a more efficient process. Oh, I see. 00:05:39.819 --> 00:05:42.199 In corporate strategy, the inputs are capital 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:45.000 and talent, the pressure is the market competition, 00:05:45.259 --> 00:05:47.860 and you are trying to catalyze growth at a massive 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:51.410 global scale. He is taking the analytical objective 00:05:51.410 --> 00:05:54.790 systems thinking mindset of an engineer and applying 00:05:54.790 --> 00:05:57.149 it to organizational design. And he actually 00:05:57.149 --> 00:05:59.029 started his career doing the physical engineering 00:05:59.029 --> 00:06:01.449 work. He started out at Procter & Gamble as a 00:06:01.449 --> 00:06:03.110 product development engineer and group leader. 00:06:03.230 --> 00:06:05.470 Right. He was in the trenches making physical 00:06:05.470 --> 00:06:08.569 products work. It wasn't until 1988 that he joined 00:06:08.569 --> 00:06:11.870 BCG as a consultant. And 1988 was a very different 00:06:11.870 --> 00:06:14.769 time for consulting. That transition is where 00:06:14.769 --> 00:06:16.910 he really begins to apply that systems thinking 00:06:16.910 --> 00:06:20.620 to a much broader case. At BCG, he is no longer 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:22.839 just looking at how to manufacture consumer products. 00:06:23.060 --> 00:06:24.879 He's looking at the whole picture. He is looking 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:27.120 at entire corporate structures across multiple 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:29.660 industries. He is learning how the global economy 00:06:29.660 --> 00:06:31.879 connects. Let's track that climb, because he 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:35.019 doesn't just join BCG. He becomes instrumental 00:06:35.019 --> 00:06:39.000 to its structure. From 2000 to 2009, he was the 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:41.519 head of the New York Metro office system. A huge 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:44.639 market. In 2006, he gets elected to the firm's 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:48.399 executive committee. And from 2009 to 2012, he 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:50.779 serves as BCG's chairman for North and South 00:06:50.779 --> 00:06:53.740 America. His client work during this time was 00:06:53.740 --> 00:06:56.740 heavily focused on strategy, operations, leadership, 00:06:56.959 --> 00:06:58.939 and large -scale transformation. To give you 00:06:58.939 --> 00:07:01.040 some industry context here, the management consulting 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:02.959 world is dominated by what's known as the Big 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:06.040 Three. McKinsey, BCG, and Bain. Right. Often 00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:08.939 referred to as MBB. In this world, making partner 00:07:08.939 --> 00:07:11.779 is notoriously difficult. It's a strict up or 00:07:11.779 --> 00:07:14.339 out culture. You either get promoted or you are 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:17.779 asked to leave. A pressure. Extremely. So to 00:07:17.779 --> 00:07:20.040 not only survive that environment, but to rise 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:22.699 to the executive committee and run the Americas 00:07:22.699 --> 00:07:25.779 means you aren't just a good consultant. You 00:07:25.779 --> 00:07:29.180 are an exceptional leader of highly intelligent, 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:32.800 highly demanding people. He was the person companies 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:35.259 called when they needed to completely overhaul 00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:37.759 how they operated. He was doing the structural 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:40.500 engineering of massive corporations. But here's 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:42.339 where it gets really interesting. I found this 00:07:42.339 --> 00:07:45.569 next detail incredibly impressive. According 00:07:45.569 --> 00:07:48.370 to the timeline, Lesser played a pivotal role 00:07:48.370 --> 00:07:51.790 in helping BCG become the only global management 00:07:51.790 --> 00:07:54.029 consulting firm to grow strongly through the 00:07:54.029 --> 00:07:56.529 2008 recession. What's fascinating here is the 00:07:56.529 --> 00:07:58.569 sheer magnitude of that achievement when you 00:07:58.569 --> 00:08:00.310 consider the environment. It was a nightmare. 00:08:00.730 --> 00:08:03.509 Think back to 2008. The global financial system 00:08:03.509 --> 00:08:05.790 was essentially melting down. Companies were 00:08:05.790 --> 00:08:08.649 hemorrhaging money. Massive century old institutions 00:08:08.649 --> 00:08:10.990 were collapsing overnight. And the immediate 00:08:10.990 --> 00:08:13.009 reflex for almost every corporation on Earth 00:08:13.009 --> 00:08:15.910 was to slash budgets in a panic. Right. And historically, 00:08:16.050 --> 00:08:18.149 the very first budget they get slashed when a 00:08:18.149 --> 00:08:20.550 company is bleeding cash is external consulting. 00:08:20.850 --> 00:08:24.250 Right. The logic is. we can't afford to pay our 00:08:24.250 --> 00:08:27.269 own employees, we definitely cannot afford expensive 00:08:27.269 --> 00:08:30.730 strategy consultants. That is the prevailing 00:08:30.730 --> 00:08:33.950 logic everywhere. It seems impossible to grow 00:08:33.950 --> 00:08:39.139 a going bankrupt. Exactly. So for a major global 00:08:39.139 --> 00:08:42.620 consulting firm to not just survive, but to grow 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:45.580 strongly during that specific window of time, 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:48.559 it requires incredibly countercyclical thinking. 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:51.240 Let's define that for a second. When we say countercyclical 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:53.539 thinking, we just mean having the guts and the 00:08:53.539 --> 00:08:56.299 data to back it up, to invest and grow when the 00:08:56.299 --> 00:08:58.179 rest of the economic cycle is shrinking and everyone 00:08:58.179 --> 00:09:00.120 else is in full retreat, right? That's a great 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:02.769 way to put it. It means Lesser and his team were 00:09:02.769 --> 00:09:05.029 able to convince terrified executives that in 00:09:05.029 --> 00:09:06.970 the middle of a burning building, the one thing 00:09:06.970 --> 00:09:09.669 you absolutely should not cut is the architect 00:09:09.669 --> 00:09:11.750 who can help you rebuild. That's a great analogy. 00:09:11.990 --> 00:09:13.809 But how do you actually do that? You have to 00:09:13.809 --> 00:09:16.950 fundamentally pivot your value proposition. They 00:09:16.950 --> 00:09:34.960 went to CEOs and essentially said. Wow. They 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:37.360 shifted from we can help you optimize your margins 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:40.600 to we can help you architect your survival. It 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:43.539 requires extreme resilience and a deep understanding 00:09:43.539 --> 00:09:46.379 of crisis management, which brings up a great 00:09:46.379 --> 00:09:48.080 question for you to think about as you listen 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:50.929 to this. When your own industry faces a severe 00:09:50.929 --> 00:09:54.379 downturn, How do you pivot? Yeah. Where do you 00:09:54.379 --> 00:09:56.720 find that one counter -cyclical area of growth 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:59.259 while everyone else is panicking? It is the defining 00:09:59.259 --> 00:10:02.080 test of a leader. And navigating that 2008 crucible 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:04.700 successfully clearly proved something vital to 00:10:04.700 --> 00:10:06.980 the rest of the BCG partnership. Because in May 00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:09.679 2012, he was elected to succeed Hans -Paul Berkner 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:11.980 and became the global chief executive officer 00:10:11.980 --> 00:10:14.500 of Boston Consulting Group. A top job. He held 00:10:14.500 --> 00:10:17.519 that CEO role from 2013 all the way to 2021. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:20.059 And this is where we see the systems engineer 00:10:20.059 --> 00:10:24.299 fully take the helm. When he steps into the CEO 00:10:24.299 --> 00:10:26.919 role, he isn't content to just maintain a highly 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:29.740 successful firm. He completely rewires it for 00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:32.340 a new era. The metrics of his success during 00:10:32.340 --> 00:10:35.080 this period are staggering. Truly. Under his 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:38.580 leadership, BCG more than doubled in size, growing 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:42.100 to over 22 ,000 employees. But even more impressive, 00:10:42.299 --> 00:10:45.940 the firm tripled its revenue. Tripled? Tripling 00:10:45.940 --> 00:10:48.059 revenue at a company that is already a massive 00:10:48.059 --> 00:10:51.539 established global player is almost unheard of. 00:10:51.909 --> 00:10:54.049 You don't do that just by working your existing 00:10:54.049 --> 00:10:56.549 consultants harder. You do that by building entirely 00:10:56.549 --> 00:10:58.769 new engines of growth. And we know exactly what 00:10:58.769 --> 00:11:00.990 those new engines were. He fueled this massive 00:11:00.990 --> 00:11:03.610 growth by heavily investing in digital capabilities 00:11:03.610 --> 00:11:05.870 and advanced analytics. He understood that the 00:11:05.870 --> 00:11:07.710 future of business wasn't just going to be about 00:11:07.710 --> 00:11:10.309 traditional slide decks and qualitative boardroom 00:11:10.309 --> 00:11:12.850 advice. It was going to be won by data. Data, 00:11:12.889 --> 00:11:15.450 algorithms, and digital transformation. Now, 00:11:15.509 --> 00:11:18.169 digital transformation is one of those phrases 00:11:18.169 --> 00:11:20.230 that can sometimes just be a corporate buzzword. 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:22.919 But I love looking at these specific internal 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:25.360 units launched under his tenure because it shows 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:27.200 he wasn't just using buzzwords. He was building 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:31.960 serious infrastructure. First, there's BCG Digital 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:35.039 Ventures. This is described as a builder and 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:38.360 accelerator of digital businesses. Then there's 00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:41.159 BCG Gamma, an analytics and machine learning 00:11:41.159 --> 00:11:44.620 team. And finally, BCG Turn, which is a turnaround, 00:11:44.899 --> 00:11:47.539 restructuring, and transformation unit. Let's 00:11:47.539 --> 00:11:49.840 break down why these are so significant, because 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:52.259 this is the how behind tripling the revenue. 00:11:52.899 --> 00:11:55.080 Consulting historically was about brilliant people 00:11:55.080 --> 00:11:58.080 in suits delivering 100 -page reports. But Lesser 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:00.059 realized that a slide deck can't compete with 00:12:00.059 --> 00:12:02.759 a machine learning algorithm. No, it can't. BCG 00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:05.259 Gamma meant bringing in heavy -hitting data scientists, 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:08.159 coders, and AI experts. They weren't just advising 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:10.919 on data, they were building the models. BCG Digital 00:12:10.919 --> 00:12:12.919 Ventures was essentially a venture incubator 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:15.340 inside a consulting firm. They were actively 00:12:15.340 --> 00:12:24.039 helping legacy clients He transformed BCG from 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:26.240 a firm that tells you what you should do into 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:28.299 a firm that also brings the highly specialized 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:30.799 tools to help you actually build it. It's that 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.340 chemical engineer mindset, again, building the 00:12:33.340 --> 00:12:35.259 functional systems to handle the new reality. 00:12:35.700 --> 00:12:39.100 And then there is BCG Tern. Right, the restructuring 00:12:39.100 --> 00:12:41.799 unit. The best way to think about Tern is to 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:45.090 use a medical analogy. Standard strategy consulting 00:12:45.090 --> 00:12:47.370 is kind of like hiring a top -tier athletic trainer. 00:12:48.330 --> 00:12:51.129 You're already healthy, but you want to shave 00:12:51.129 --> 00:12:53.429 two seconds off your sprint time or optimize 00:12:53.429 --> 00:12:55.549 your diet. You want to go from good to great. 00:12:56.070 --> 00:12:58.529 BCG turn is like being wheeled into the emergency 00:12:58.529 --> 00:13:01.029 room where the trauma surgeon has to stop the 00:13:01.029 --> 00:13:02.929 bleeding before you lose the leg. That paints 00:13:02.929 --> 00:13:06.129 a picture. It is high stakes, rapid intervention 00:13:06.129 --> 00:13:08.169 restructuring for companies in deep distress. 00:13:08.840 --> 00:13:11.860 By building these distinct units, he diversified 00:13:11.860 --> 00:13:14.299 the firm's capabilities to meet entirely different 00:13:14.299 --> 00:13:17.539 client needs. Exactly. If you want a triple revenue, 00:13:17.740 --> 00:13:20.200 you have to offer entirely new, highly valuable 00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:23.139 services that your clients might not have even 00:13:23.139 --> 00:13:26.120 known they needed yet. But as we move into the 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:28.620 later years of his time as CEO, we see his focus 00:13:28.620 --> 00:13:31.480 broaden significantly. He doesn't just stay inside 00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:33.899 the corporate optimization bubble. He starts 00:13:33.899 --> 00:13:36.120 stepping very visibly into the role of a global 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:39.000 citizen. This represents a major shift in the 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.299 paradigm of what it means to be a CEO in the 00:13:41.299 --> 00:13:45.000 21st century. It is no longer just about maximizing 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:47.440 shareholder value or in a private partnership 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:50.720 like BCG, maximizing partner revenue. It becomes 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:53.000 about recognizing the deep interconnectedness 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:56.120 of global business, human society, and the environment. 00:13:56.429 --> 00:13:58.909 Because systemic risks to the globe are systemic 00:13:58.909 --> 00:14:01.330 risks to business. You cannot separate them anymore. 00:14:01.509 --> 00:14:04.070 The documentation outlined several major initiatives 00:14:04.070 --> 00:14:06.549 he spearheaded that go way beyond traditional 00:14:06.549 --> 00:14:09.269 corporate strategy. He oversaw the launch of 00:14:09.269 --> 00:14:11.350 the Center for Climate and Sustainability. He 00:14:11.350 --> 00:14:13.129 also launched the Southern Communities Initiative. 00:14:13.389 --> 00:14:15.769 Right. This was a major partnership between BCG, 00:14:15.889 --> 00:14:18.450 PayPal, and Vista Equity Partners, specifically 00:14:18.450 --> 00:14:21.240 aimed at advancing racial equity. These aren't 00:14:21.240 --> 00:14:24.000 just public relations moves. These are massive 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:27.379 resource heavy structural commitments. Creating 00:14:27.379 --> 00:14:30.100 a center for climate and sustainability acknowledges 00:14:30.100 --> 00:14:32.440 that climate change is the single biggest variable 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:35.299 that will affect global supply chains, resource 00:14:35.299 --> 00:14:38.480 scarcity and market stability in the coming decades. 00:14:38.620 --> 00:14:41.039 Absolutely. And partnering with major financial 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.940 and tech players to address racial equity shows 00:14:43.940 --> 00:14:46.259 an understanding that economic disparities are 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:49.600 deeply systemic issues that drag down the entire 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:52.820 economy. requiring serious, coordinated corporate 00:14:52.820 --> 00:14:55.919 action to solve. His influence expanded right 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:58.399 alongside these initiatives. He became the chief 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:00.419 advisor to the World Economic Forum's Alliance 00:15:00.419 --> 00:15:03.220 of CEO Climate Leaders. He was a member of the 00:15:03.220 --> 00:15:05.659 WEF's International Business Council. A lot of 00:15:05.659 --> 00:15:08.200 global reach. He accelerated BCG's investments 00:15:08.200 --> 00:15:10.700 in social impact through deep partnerships with 00:15:10.700 --> 00:15:13.259 the World Food Program, Save the Children, and 00:15:13.259 --> 00:15:15.820 the World Wildlife Fund. He was also on the board 00:15:15.820 --> 00:15:17.940 of directors of the Business Roundtable, where 00:15:17.940 --> 00:15:20.059 he took on the massive responsibility of chairing 00:15:20.059 --> 00:15:22.899 the CEO COVID -19 Task Force. You can clearly 00:15:22.899 --> 00:15:26.149 see the threat. From the 2008 financial crisis 00:15:26.149 --> 00:15:29.429 all the way to the COVID -19 pandemic, he continuously 00:15:29.429 --> 00:15:31.950 positions himself and his firm at the very center 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:34.730 of global crisis management. He is operating 00:15:34.730 --> 00:15:36.850 at the absolute intersection of business strategy 00:15:36.850 --> 00:15:39.759 and global survival. But stepping onto that global 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:42.840 stage also means navigating the incredibly complex 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:46.279 and often fraught world of politics. Yeah. And 00:15:46.279 --> 00:15:48.460 we have a specific documented timeline regarding 00:15:48.460 --> 00:15:51.519 this. Our source states that in December 2016, 00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:54.820 Lesser joined a business forum assembled by then 00:15:54.820 --> 00:15:57.519 President -elect Donald Trump. The purpose of 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.559 this forum was to provide strategic and policy 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:01.940 advice on economic issues. Right. The timeline 00:16:01.940 --> 00:16:04.679 then notes that in August 2017, Lesser and the 00:16:04.679 --> 00:16:07.879 other CEOs decided to disband the group. He is 00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:09.559 also currently a member of the president's export 00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:11.799 council. Yes. Now, I need to pause here for a 00:16:11.799 --> 00:16:13.620 second. It is really important to note, and just 00:16:13.620 --> 00:16:15.159 to be completely clear with you listening right 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:17.740 now, we are absolutely not taking any political 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:20.120 sides here. Not at all. Whether left wing or 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:22.820 right wing, we are not endorsing any political 00:16:22.820 --> 00:16:25.480 viewpoints, nor are we making any judgments about 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:27.519 Donald Trump, the advisory councils themselves, 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:30.179 or any of the political administrations mentioned. 00:16:30.659 --> 00:16:34.230 We are strictly. 100 percent. Just tracking the 00:16:34.230 --> 00:16:36.730 factual timeline of Rich Lesser's professional 00:16:36.730 --> 00:16:39.409 career as it is contained in the source material 00:16:39.409 --> 00:16:41.990 provided to us. And that is an important distinction 00:16:41.990 --> 00:16:44.049 to make, because if we connect this to the bigger 00:16:44.049 --> 00:16:46.009 picture, what we are really looking at is the 00:16:46.009 --> 00:16:49.610 evolving and often precarious role of the modern 00:16:49.610 --> 00:16:53.110 executive. Modern CEOs increasingly find themselves 00:16:53.110 --> 00:16:55.970 at the complex intersection of economics and 00:16:55.970 --> 00:16:59.269 highly polarizing global politics. If you go 00:16:59.269 --> 00:17:10.630 back 30 or 40 years, a CEO could. Right. If you 00:17:10.630 --> 00:17:13.859 are running a massive global entity. Every political 00:17:13.859 --> 00:17:16.980 decision, every tariff, every trade policy and 00:17:16.980 --> 00:17:19.240 every international agreement directly impacts 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:21.460 your business, your supply chain and your clients. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:24.200 You also have to have a seat at the table just 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:26.819 to know how to advise the companies relying on 00:17:26.819 --> 00:17:29.359 you to see around the corners. Exactly. When 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:31.099 a president elect or a sitting administration 00:17:31.099 --> 00:17:33.980 forms an economic advisory council, regardless 00:17:33.980 --> 00:17:37.019 of which political party is in power top, business 00:17:37.019 --> 00:17:39.059 leaders are almost always called upon because 00:17:39.059 --> 00:17:40.720 they're the ones who actually control the levers 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.329 of the economy. They're the ones. hundreds of 00:17:43.329 --> 00:17:45.880 thousands of people. That makes sense. But as 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:48.119 the timeline shows with the disbanding of that 00:17:48.119 --> 00:17:51.819 specific group in 2017, that proximity to politics 00:17:51.819 --> 00:17:54.859 is a very difficult tightrope to walk. CEOs have 00:17:54.859 --> 00:17:57.160 to balance their civic duty to advise on economic 00:17:57.160 --> 00:17:59.920 policy with the social, ethical and political 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:02.319 expectations of their global workforce, their 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:05.019 diverse client base and the broader public. It 00:18:05.019 --> 00:18:07.779 is a highly delicate, heavily scrutinized balancing 00:18:07.779 --> 00:18:11.519 act of societal diplomacy. It really is a completely 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:13.500 different job description than it used to be. 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:16.059 You aren't just a business operator anymore. 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:19.380 You're expected to be a statesman, a crisis manager, 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:22.680 and an economic advisor on a global scale. And 00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:25.099 the weight of that level of responsibility is 00:18:25.099 --> 00:18:27.480 immense. Which brings us to the present day. 00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:30.339 Just to round out the personal details provided 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:32.819 in our background material, Lesser is married 00:18:32.819 --> 00:18:35.130 and has three children. And as we mentioned at 00:18:35.130 --> 00:18:37.849 the very beginning, as of 2021, after an incredibly 00:18:37.849 --> 00:18:40.589 eventful and transformative run, he transitioned 00:18:40.589 --> 00:18:43.549 out of the CEO role, became the global chair 00:18:43.549 --> 00:18:47.190 of BCG. A huge legacy. So what does this all 00:18:47.190 --> 00:18:49.460 mean? When we look at this entire blueprint we've 00:18:49.460 --> 00:18:51.180 laid out today, from witnessing the collapse 00:18:51.180 --> 00:18:53.660 of the steel industry in Pittsburgh, to applying 00:18:53.660 --> 00:18:55.859 chemical engineering systems thinking to corporate 00:18:55.859 --> 00:18:59.400 structures, to surviving the 2008 financial meltdown, 00:18:59.500 --> 00:19:02.039 tripling a massive firm's revenue through heavy 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:05.180 digital innovation, and navigating global climate 00:19:05.180 --> 00:19:08.059 initiatives and political task forces, the main 00:19:08.059 --> 00:19:10.700 takeaway is incredibly clear. Lesser's career 00:19:10.700 --> 00:19:13.759 shows us that modern success is absolutely not 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:16.710 about defending the status quo. It is about engineering 00:19:16.710 --> 00:19:20.170 continuous, deliberate transformation. I couldn't 00:19:20.170 --> 00:19:22.390 agree more. The organizations and the leaders 00:19:22.390 --> 00:19:24.910 that survive over the long haul aren't the ones 00:19:24.910 --> 00:19:27.329 who try to build the thickest walls to keep change 00:19:27.329 --> 00:19:29.890 out. They are the ones who build the most adaptable 00:19:29.890 --> 00:19:32.950 internal systems to harness that change. And 00:19:32.950 --> 00:19:35.009 this raises an important question, a final thought, 00:19:35.069 --> 00:19:37.089 freedom all over as we wrap up our discussion 00:19:37.089 --> 00:19:39.890 today. Let's hear it. Given how much time Rich 00:19:39.890 --> 00:19:42.029 Lesser spent on things like climate alliances, 00:19:42.309 --> 00:19:45.109 international COVID task forces and presidential 00:19:45.109 --> 00:19:47.690 advisory boards, has the fundamental definition 00:19:47.690 --> 00:19:51.109 of a CEO prominently changed? As we look to the 00:19:51.109 --> 00:19:53.269 future, are the top business leaders going to 00:19:53.269 --> 00:19:55.349 be hired more for their capacity for societal 00:19:55.349 --> 00:19:58.049 diplomacy and their ability to manage unprecedented 00:19:58.049 --> 00:20:01.069 global crises than their ability to simply optimize 00:20:01.069 --> 00:20:03.609 a supply chain or balance a spreadsheet? It's 00:20:03.609 --> 00:20:06.470 a fascinating question. And looking at the blueprint 00:20:06.470 --> 00:20:08.430 we just unpacked, I think we might already know 00:20:08.430 --> 00:20:12.019 the answer. The job has changed. and the leaders 00:20:12.019 --> 00:20:14.859 have to change with it. Thank you so much for 00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:16.799 joining us and exploring this with us today. 00:20:16.859 --> 00:20:19.339 We love taking these deep dives with you, and 00:20:19.339 --> 00:20:20.480 we will catch you on the next one.