-: Hi, everyone, this is Miki Tsusaka from Davos.
I'm here today with Ruba Borno, a fabulous alum of BCG.
Hi, and so glad to see you today.
-: Good to see you as well, Miki.
It's really exciting to be here.
-: You may have noticed with BCG this year,
we're talking about Winning the '20s,
as now, we've entered the next decade to come.
I wondered if you had any of your favorites
in terms of our writings and the things we're talking about
that are requirements for Winning the '20s.
-: So, the one that resonates the most with me
and also happens to coincide with the theme at Davos,
which is about stakeholder capitalism,
but the way that I think you phrased it
is "sustainable value for business and society."
-: Indeed. -: And that, to me, has been
really powerful in the last few days,
because every single leader here
has taken that message of responsible leadership
and how do we create business value
while at the same time improving society?
They've taken it to heart, and they're talking
about how businesses are going to work
with the public sector and nonprofits
in order to drive change and improve
the collective benefit to society,
and that's just been an incredible shift to see.
You know, previous themes have focused
on industrial revolution and other kind
of big industry trends.
This one's really focusing on personal leadership
and how does business actually mobilize
and change the world to develop progress on the SDGs.
-: Yes, I've been here a few times,
and I do think that this year feels very special
in that regard, but one of my favorite pillars
in Winning the '20s is also on the topic of diversity
and how that drives innovation and resilience.
I know you've done a lot of work on that in your company.
There's a lot of it at Davos.
Any thoughts you'd like to share about that?
-: It's a great topic of passion for me as well,
and it was something that I did get a chance
to work on at BCG and also something
that we're carrying forward at Cisco quite a bit.
If we, the way that we think about diversity at Cisco
is actually full-spectrum diversity,
so it's not just gender, it's also ethnic.
It's also ability.
For example, 15% of the world's population is disabled.
That's probably one of the largest minority groups
on the planet, so thinking about full-spectrum diversity
and enabling all of those people
to bring their best selves to work.
Now, in order to do that,
you can't just let momentum take its course.
You really have to do things in a deliberate way
and ensure that we are actually actively recruiting
that talent and making sure we're cultivating them
on their journey with sponsorship, not just mentorship,
but actual sponsorship throughout their career.
-: So, if you think more broadly about leadership
in the '20s, any thoughts on, you know,
maybe beyond diversity, what leaders need to do
to lead from the front?
-: We've recently become a key sponsor for Global Citizen,
which is hoping to eradicate poverty.
The goal is to eradicate poverty by the year 2030.
We're also taking an active role in homelessness.
So, San Jose, which is where Cisco's headquarters are,
Santa Clara County has one of the largest
homelessness rates in the United States,
which is really unfortunate for a tech hub,
and so we're actively supporting that.
In India, and tied to disability, for example,
we are continuously promoting
not only education initiatives,
but also connectivity initiatives.
One thing that we found is that there's one
and a half billion people across the world
that are not connected to the internet.
If you bring those people that are offline online,
it can promote the world GDP by $6.7 trillion.
That is where good for the world and communities
actually does good for business,
and that's the cycle we hope to see and hope to support.
-: And on a personal level,
any specific leadership resolutions or personal resolutions
in terms of Winning the '20s?
-: My biggest resolution personally
is actually getting back to the human.
I feel like we are so focused
on operational effectiveness, driving efficiency.
I'm a tech optimist, and I can't wait for the next phase
of innovation to come in and for technology revolutions,
but we also have to think about the individual,
and so my personal goal is to make sure
that I'm thinking about myself and having some sort
of work/life blend, and the reason that that's important
for a leader is that your teammates look up to you
and think, "Do I need to actually give up myself
to be in that role?"
And the answer is no.
You can be yourself.
You can bring your best self while at the same time
not just being a singular-dimension person
who is just working all of the time.
-: Any special memories about BCG?
I know you've left a few years ago,
but you were saying it feels like a long time ago,
but it's been about five years, I guess.
Any stories to share?
-: So many, I mean, some of my best friends are still at BCG,
and it continuously will hold a wonderful place
in my heart because--
-: You can come back anytime. (Miki and Ruba laughing)
-: You've got amazing, ambitious people
who are so intellectually curious, and that environment
is probably one of the most stimulating environments
I've ever been in, but I will say something that ties
to my personal goals is, that holds a special place
in my heart for BCG, is that my father was sick
for a few months, and BCG supported me during that time,
allowed me to do my work and client-facing work
all using videoconferencing technology from the hospital.
So, I was able to be there for my family but also continue
to do intellectually stimulating work and also continue
to add value to the firm, and that support is so invaluable,
and it's something that I will always remember and hope
to extend no matter what team I'm leading.
-: Well, thank you for sharing that,
and thank you so much for chatting with us today.