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Deep Purpose

Harvard Business School Prof. Ranjay Gulati

Deep Purpose is a series of captivating conversations with Harvard Business School Professor Ranjay Gulati and top global CEOs about how courageous leaders unlock potential, proving that vast performance gains–and vital social benefits–are the payoffs when firms get purpose right.

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  • 20 episodes
  • Updated June 22

Episodes20

Newest first
  • June 22 · 32 min

    Introducing 'HBS The Founder Mindset: The Curse of Optionality with Tim Ferriss'

    Today on Deep Purpose, we’re excited to share an episode from The Founder Mindset with Reza Satchu, the new podcast from Harvard Business School Foundry. Hosted by entrepreneur and Harvard Business School senior lecturer Reza Satchu, The Founder Mindset features in-depth conversations with founders, investors, and leaders about the mindset, judgment, and decisions that shape extraordinary careers and companies. On this episode, Reza sits down with Tim Ferriss — entrepreneur, investor, bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, and host of The Tim Ferriss Show — to discuss experimentation, calibrated risk-taking, and the importance of learning faster than the competition. Tim reflects on how fear-setting helped shape his decision-making, why he views most opportunities as experiments rather than permanent commitments, and how curiosity, unconventional thinking, and continuous learning have guided his career across investing, writing, podcasting, and entrepreneurship. The conversation also explores optionality, commitment, personal impact, and why founders must learn to trust both their judgment and their willingness to act under uncertainty. Listen to more episodes of The Founder Mindset with Reza Satchu and follow the podcast here: https://play.megaphone.fm/2gwuyq_gsiihi5s9mey3ka

  • May 9, 2025 · 55 min

    Introducing 'HBS Think Big, Buy Small' Season Two

    Today, we’re sharing a special episode from season 2 of Think Big, Buy Small, the podcast from my colleagues at Harvard Business School. Think Big, Buy Small explores an innovative approach to entrepreneurship: acquisition entrepreneurship. Through engaging conversations, this season delves into how to buy your own business, become your own boss, and scale it to new heights. In this episode, HBS professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff sit down with Nick Vandam, a former Army officer and elite athlete who took an unconventional path to business ownership by pursuing entrepreneurship through acquisition. Nick shares what it’s really like to buy and run a small business, the tough lessons he learned, and why this path might be more accessible than you think. Listen to the complete season 2 of Think Big, Buy Small, and follow the podcast today: https://link.chtbl.com/B2cH36AX?sid=deeppurpose

  • Dec 10, 2024 · 39 min

    Introducing 'Dealcraft: Insights from Great Negotiators'

    Today, we are sharing the first episode of the new podcast Dealcraft: Insights from Great Negotiators. Recently called a “best podcast of the week” by The Guardian, Dealcraft is hosted by my HBS colleague, Jim Sebenius, who is a renowned negotiation expert and author. The show features interviews with the world’s greatest dealmakers and diplomats (like Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman) on their most challenging negotiations. And each episode, Jim shares fascinating deal stories and distills useful insights for listeners to apply in their toughest deals and disputes. In this specific episode of Dealcraft, you’ll hear how music industry super-lawyer John Branca was able to negotiate for Michael Jackson’s ownership of his master recordings… an almost unprecedented feat at the time. To listen to other episodes, follow Dealcraft: Insights from Great Negotiators here: https://link.chtbl.com/3CG3TbHY?sid=DeepPurpose

  • Aug 5, 2024 · 57 min

    Introducing HBS Think Big, Buy Small

    This is a special episode from Think Big, Buy Small, the chart-topping entrepreneurship podcast from our friends at Harvard Business School. Think Big, Buy Small explores an innovative approach to entrepreneurship -- acquisition entrepreneurship -- with conversations on how to buy your own business, be your own boss, and get the financial benefits of your efforts through the approach of entrepreneurship through acquisition. In this specific episode, HBS Professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff chat with graduating Harvard MBA students about their thoughts on becoming entrepreneurs. Listen to more episodes of Think Big, Buy Small and follow the podcast here: https://link.chtbl.com/B2cH36AX?sid=deeppurpose

  • Mar 18, 2024 · 42 min

    Helena Foulkes: The Power of Asking “What Could Go Right?”

    Research has repeatedly shown that we are hard-wired to worry. Whether we worry about our own survival, our family and friends, or our future, it can seem like we spend much of our lives fixated on what could go wrong. In this episode, Helena Foulkes discusses how taking courage can be as simple as asking what could go right – a philosophy that has taken her from the helm of CVS Pharmacy and Hudson’s Bay Company to the campaign trail for governorship of Rhode Island.

  • Mar 4, 2024 · 39 min

    Behind the CEO Who Wants to “Keep Commerce Human”

    In our increasingly virtual world, it can feel like many of our lives take place remotely. When Josh Silverman took the helm at Etsy in 2017, however, he went against this technological grain, helping to usher in a new, distinctly human-centered purpose at the e-commerce company: “Keep Commerce Human.” In this episode spanning the course of his career, Silverman recounts the difficult choices he has made in keeping people at the center of business – and what following that ethos has meant for his personal and professional life.

  • Feb 26, 2024 · 38 min

    Global CEO of Chanel Leena Nair: Building the Courage to Lead

    Despite the decades of progress women have made in the workplace, they remain underrepresented in leadership positions at companies across the globe. Leena Nair, CEO of Chanel, is working to change that. Reflecting on her journey from rural India to London, Leena discusses how she developed the confidence necessary to usher Chanel into the future – one led by (many more) women.

  • Feb 12, 2024 · 43 min

    From the Frontlines to the C-Suite: How Penny Pennington Discovered Her Purpose at Edward Jones

    Few CEOs can claim that they started in entry-level positions at the companies they now lead. Penny Pennington is one of those few, rising from financial advisor to CEO and Managing Partner at Edward Jones. In this episode, Pennington reflects on how Edward Jones’ purpose – “to partner for positive impact” – motivated her personal and professional life and, nowadays, how she has been working to realize that sense of purpose for Edward Jones’ employees, clients, and the communities in which they live.

  • Feb 5, 2024 · 30 min

    What it Takes to Lead a Successful Turnaround in Health Care

    As a veteran leader in the healthcare sector, José (Joe) E. Almeida, Chairman, President & CEO of Baxter, has made a lot of tough decisions. He led the successful turnaround of the Illinois-based multinational by calling on leadership lessons he gained from his family in Brazil. Almeida says courage is not the absence of fear, but the determination to press on when times are difficult.

  • Dec 18, 2023 · 47 min

    Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach on Driving the Future of the Digital Economy

    What’s really in a payment? During his career at Mastercard, Michael Miebach has strived to understand how payment solutions make a difference in people’s lives, even before his appointment as CEO. In this episode, Miebach explains how he thinks through powering the economy in an increasingly digital (if uncertain) world and the leadership required to do so.

  • Dec 11, 2023 · 44 min

    How Anne Mulcahy Turned Xerox Around – and What Came After

    During the 2000s, Anne Mulcahy was faced with the seemingly unsurmountable challenge of saving Xerox, rising to the position of CEO after her predecessor had been unsuccessful. In this retrospective, Mulcahy discusses the leadership lessons she learned, the role she believes CEOs should play in today’s society, and how she’s defining her life post-Xerox.

  • Nov 27, 2023 · 38 min

    From Rags to (Shared) Riches: How James Mwangi Democratized Financial Access Across Africa

    James Mwangi made a courageous decision to leave a comfortable, big-city banking job to rescue Equity Building Society, a local financial institution on which Kenyan farmers and villagers depended. Under his leadership, the struggling firm transformed into a multi-national conglomerate (Equity Group Holdings) that now serves millions of customers across six African countries. Mwangi explains how he found the fortitude to fight for the financial futures of everyday people.

  • Nov 20, 2023 · 40 min

    Piloting Alaska Airlines with Compassion

    To pilot Alaska Airlines, CEO Ben Minicucci draws on his Italian immigrant roots and Canadian military training, which was put to the test during a tricky operation near the North Pole. Having first gained a reputation at the company as “the numbers guy,” Minicucci discusses how he has been evolving into a leader who cares deeply about Alaska Airline’s employees, customers, and the communities it serves.

  • Nov 13, 2023 · 23 min

    How Levi Strauss & Co.’s Harmit Singh Finds Purpose in Profit

    As the Chief Financial & Growth Officer of the Levi Strauss & Co. clothing brand, Harmit Singh makes tough decisions by sticking to a clear set of values that are well-aligned with the company’s larger purpose. He is inspired, in part, by Levi Strauss himself, who started selling his now-iconic jeans during the California Gold Rush and committed some of his first profits to a local orphanage. With this inspiration in mind, Singh reflects on how taking risks throughout his career has made him a more courageous, future-oriented leader.

  • Nov 6, 2023 · 36 min

    Making Global Sustainability Personal at Bühler

    The global food supply chain is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental challenges. Many companies avoid these issues or make token efforts to reduce their impact on the planet. But as CEO of the Swiss-based technology giant Bühler Group, Stefan Scheiber is mapping a courageous plan to combat food waste and climate change. He describes how he challenges his own company, its customers, and himself to face sustainability problems head-on.

  • Oct 30, 2023 · 35 min

    How Framebridge Founder Susan Tynan Managed Risk While Making an Impact

    Great business leaders are problem solvers. That’s what sparked Susan Tynan (Harvard Business School MBA 2003) to found Framebridge, a custom framing company. When Tynan couldn’t find a reasonably priced place to frame her beloved posters, she launched a business, which took off after years of hard work – and hard decisions. Tynan reflects on her learning journey, discussing how she managed the risks of entrepreneurship while aiming to make a lasting impact.

  • Oct 23, 2023 · 31 min

    Saving BlackBerry: CEO John Chen Explains How to Make the Hard Calls

    John Chen was hired to save an iconic smartphone company that ran out of juice. BlackBerry had gone from being a corporate world must-have to a global has-been. Chen says the key to turning Blackberry around was being prepared to make hard calls, even in midst of uncertainty. He says that, in business, the journey can be more important than the destination.

  • Oct 16, 2023 · 40 min

    Former Unilever CEO Paul Polman on Business as a Force for Social Change

    Paul Polman is the legendary former CEO of Unilever and a global leader in combating climate change and promoting corporate responsibility. Reflecting on his career during and after Unilever, Polman explains how a company can achieve robust financial performance while playing an active role in solving the most pressing challenges facing society today.

  • Oct 9, 2023 · 3 min

    Deep Purpose Season 2

    Harvard Business School Professor Ranjay Gulati is back with a new season of Deep Purpose. This time he’s exploring the qualities it takes to become a courageous leader, joined by a new lineup of top global executives. He’ll sit down to discuss each guest’s personal story and how it led them to make bold business decisions. The show shares key insights that illustrate why courageous leadership isn’t born from the absence of fear, but rather taking action in the face of fear.