When Branson and his wife first got married and raised their young family—daughter Holly and son Sam—the CEO of the expanding Virgin empire lived on a cramped houseboat in London’s Little Venice. Holly was born on the houseboat. The small square footage ensured that business inevitably mixed with family: deals were conducted in the same room where the kids were playing or watching TV. But Richard never asked them to turn the volume down.

As Holly recalls, “It was always family first.”

That sense of reimagining the workplace had a lasting effect on Richard, who has long encouraged work-life balance. But now a Virgin initiative, incubated in partnership with The B Team, is leading a much deeper dive to make the modern workplace more human.

The initiative, 100% Human at Work, is a consortium of companies—500 at latest count—that are exploring and sharing new ways to support people in achieving their highest potential.

And in a poetic full circle, the torch has been passed to Holly. “100% Human is my passion,” she says, “making sure that all of our people can be 100% themselves at work, 100% of the time.”

In this episode of 10x Bolder, you’ll also hear about Richard’s admiration for failures, including his own launch of Virgin Cola; how he was a climate skeptic until Al Gore showed up at his London flat for an impromptu breakfast lecture; and why Richard’s unquenchable belief that there is a solution for every problem—and his inability to turn people down—led to his Virgin Group nickname, “Dr. Yes.”

More Resources:

Branson Family Blog

New York Times: Richard and Holly Branson: A Father-Daughter Conversation

Entrepreneur: What Richard Branson Learned from His Seven Biggest Failures

100% Human at Work

GUESTS

Richard Branson

Holly Branson

Many of the 700 mobile-phone network phone operators are locked in sharp-elbowed competition with each other, so when Mats Granryd took over as director general of the GSMA, it wasn’t easy to get the operators to agree on much.

But Mats—a bridge builder since he intervened with bullies on the playgrounds of his Stockholm youth—was an early adopter of the Sustainable Development Goals, a.k.a. the SDGs. By using this international framework of global good, Mats was able to build an enormous, sustainable bridge through which the entire mobile sector could make a hugely significant commitment: getting the world’s mobile operators to agree to net zero emissions by 2030.

In this episode of 10x Bolder, you’ll also hear about: other ways the mobile industry can be a force for good; the importance of inclusion in the sector, and what Mats is doing to improve it; and the most critical business decision he ever had to make.

MORE RESOURCES

World Economic Forum: Report on GSMA’s Net Zero Initiative

Mobile Net Zero: State of the Industry on Climate Action (watch YouTube video of launch event)

Mobile World Live: GSMA Boss Gets Back Down to Business in Barcelona

GUESTS

Mats Granryd

Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, attended that disappointing climate conference in Denmark. She lamented how technical it was, and how it lacked humanity. She still recalls how the traumatized attendees felt like Copenhagen “survivors.”

Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican diplomat, also attended the ill-fated Copenhagen conference. The UN would later place her in charge of the UNFCCC, the agency that oversees the conference. But with the ravages of climate change worsening and the political will nonexistent, the pressure was on. The 2015 climate conference—COP 21 in Paris—seemed as doomed as Denmark.

In this episode of 10xBolder, you will hear how working together behind the scenes for five and half years, Christiana and Mary were able to cajole, pressure, negotiate, and otherwise lay the groundwork for the landmark Paris Agreement, perhaps the greatest demonstration of radical collaboration of our time. The agreement was signed unanimously by 196 UN Member States, which set in motion the largest effort to safeguard humanity’s future.

MORE RESOURCES

TED Talk: The Inside Story on the Paris Climate Agreement

Climate Just Collective: Women Leading the Climate Movement

International Science Council: Project Syndicate Talks with Mary Robinson on Climate Change and Her New Podcast

GUESTS

Christiana Figueres

Mary Robinson

Paul Polman’s life could have been completely different. His routes to the priesthood and medicine were blocked by circumstances outside his control. The stop in Cincinnati hardly conjured visions of a blockbuster business career. But this “accidental CEO” made the most of every opportunity, leaving behind proof of concept that sustainability and business success are not diametrically opposed ideas.

When he became CEO of Unilever in 2008, he fully committed to the idea of purposeful business. Paul was particularly irked by short-termism and the idea that capitalism created great wealth for some, but not for others. “You cannot have sustainable companies if you don’t have sustainable people,” he notes.

In this episode of 10x Bolder, you’ll also hear about his meandering path to leadership; how growing up with five siblings led to kitchen habits he maintains to this day; and his father’s less-than-welcoming reaction when Paul told him he was returning to Europe—with a new bride.

MORE RESOURCES

Imagine: Paul Polman Bio

NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, “Delivering Healthy Profits, People, and Planet,” Fireside Chat with Paul Polman

New YorkTimes: “He Ran an Empire of Soap and Mayonnaise. Now He Wants to Reinvent Capitalism”

GUESTS

Paul Polman