Advertise on podcast: C-Speak: The Language of Executives

Sponsored Content by PNC Bank: On the latest episode of PNC C-Speak, Jay Bernhardt, Ph.D., president of Emerson College, shares leadership and communication lessons from his career journey through academia. He discusses the four pillars of Emerson’s strategic vision as part of its Extraordinary Emerson 2030 plan. Bernhardt also explores how higher education organizations can navigate disruption and leverage artificial intelligence responsibly. “Even in an era where technology is going to support and make possible things we couldn’t do before…human imagination, human communication, human creativity (are) still at the core, at least at Emerson, of all the things that we believe in and do,” says Bernhardt. Subscribe to C-Speak so you never miss an episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Download a transcript of this episode here.

Sponsored Content by PNC Bank: The latest episode of PNC C-Speak, called Money, Markets and Momentum: Decisions Leaders are Making Now, features Amanda Agati, chief investment officer for PNC, alongside Katherine Craven, executive vice president for administration and finance at Babson College, and Yvonne Hao, chief operating officer and general partner of Flagship Pioneering. Together, they discuss how executives can make confident decisions despite market volatility, policy uncertainty and rapid technological change. “This is a time for decision-makers to lean in,” Agati says. “You can’t be a passive bystander in this kind of an environment.” The conversation also covers the signals shaping investment and capital allocation and the importance of balancing immediate demands with long-term goals. Subscribe to C-Speak so you never miss an episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Download a transcript of this episode here.

Sponsored Content by PNC Bank: On the latest episode of PNC C-Speak, Yvonne Hao, chief operating officer and general partner of Flagship Pioneering and former Massachusetts secretary of economic development, discusses her unconventional leadership journey — from startups and private equity to public service and life sciences. Hao shares her philosophy of “paranoid optimism” and how it helps drive progress. The conversation also explores Flagship Pioneering’s unique model for innovation, the potential of AI and why Hao views mistakes as “two-way doors.” Subscribe to C-Speak so you never miss an episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Download a transcript of this episode here.

On this episode of C-Speak, Alastair Bell, president and CEO of Boston Medical Center Health System, discusses BMC’s history and mission as an academic medical center serving underserved communities. He also explores the operational, financial and policy complexity of leading a mission-driven nonprofit focused on health equity. “Trying to think about how to create an environment for all of the people that are part of BMC Health System to show up, do their best work against our mission and maintain a trust as we navigate some difficult choices,” Bell says. Subscribe to C-Speak so you never miss an episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode of C-Speak, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks covers the company’s 160-year history, its core businesses and the “Playing to Win” strategy focused on inspiring a lifetime of play. He highlights how Hasbro balances legacy with growth and details what the future looks like for the toy company. “Our core KPI is what we’ve termed ‘delight,’ and it’s the number of people that we’ve reached in the past year with a play experience and hopefully brought a smile to their face. Last year we estimate we delighted about 1.1 billion people,” Cocks says. Subscribe to C-Speak so you never miss an episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe to C-Speak so you never miss an episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. In this episode of PNC C-Speak, Amanda Agati, chief investment officer for PNC’s Asset Management Group, discusses how PNC’s culture led her back to the company, adopting a servant leadership mindset when moving into managerial roles and the challenges of what she calls “purple haze” policy uncertainty. “I do think we’re setting ourselves up for a really strong multi-year period, and investors need to be mindful of that in terms of portfolio positioning. It’s easy to deviate from long-term plans [with all the uncertainty],”Agati says.

Subscribe to C-Speak so you never miss an episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. In this episode of PNC C-Speak, Patrick Gilligan, president and CEO of Point32Health, discusses leading the nonprofit health and well-being organization that serves commercial, Medicare and Medicaid markets. Gilligan also touches on using AI to improve administrative efficiency and provider-plan collaboration and the need for industry stakeholders to reconnect and reduce waste to address affordability. “There is a lot of efficiency near term on AI, but I think long term it can really improve the overall experience [for the doctors and patients], and that’s my goal,” Gilligan says.

Subscribe to C-Speak so you never miss an episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. In this episode of PNC C-Speak, PNC Bank President Mark Wiedman reflects on his first year in his role and how he approached learning the ins and outs of a large coast-to-coast bank. He discusses his goal to build a national bank with big-bank capabilities delivered at a local level and the challenges and opportunities that AI brings. “[What’s been critical to] PNC’s success is the culture. We win as a team. We’re local. We care about the bank, about the communities we’re in, about each other. Those are important values to me, but they’re also pretty unusual,” Wiedman says.

In this episode of PNC C-Speak, Saskia Epstein, senior vice president for client and community relations at PNC Bank, discusses her journey from the nonprofit sector to banking. She shares her focus on employee engagement, social impact, business development and brand communications. Epstein also highlights PNC’s long-standing commitment to early childhood education as a core community focus and the work she helps advance through her leadership in community relations. “There is an incredible need for a wide diversity of opportunity for early learning and family-based care is providing an expansion to the options. [In-home childcare] also creates self- sustaining business opportunities for individual entrepreneurs,” Epstein said. Powered by PNC Bank. Download a transcript of this episode.

In this episode of PNC C-Speak, Dr. Kirk Taylor, CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, discusses his path from neurology and more than 25 years in global drug development to public-sector leadership. He highlights trends shaping the life sciences sector, including AI and machine learning, talent competition, speed to commercialization and the importance of federal and state funding. “The concept that everyone’s talking about is AI,” Taylor says. “Taking control of it, as opposed to it taking control of us, will help with drug development and job creation. It will impact everything, but I hope in a positive way.”

Subscribe to C-Speak so you never miss an episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. In this episode of PNC C-Speak, Demond Martin, CEO and co-founder of WellWithAll, shares his career and leadership journey, including stops at the Clinton White House, Harvard Business School and Adage Capital. He discusses how his experiences led to WellWithAll, a health and wellness company that donates 20% of profits to health equity initiatives. “WellWithAll, it’s a Newman’s Own 2.0, if you will, where we take 20% of our profits of everything that we sell and use it to help society in those areas around health equity that are so desperately needed in the moment,” says Martin.

Subscribe to C-Speak so you never miss an episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. In this episode of PNC C-Speak, Stephen Kramer, CEO of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, discusses the mission and growth of Bright Horizons as the largest provider of employer-sponsored childcare. He shares insights into the challenges employers face with childcare, the impact of COVID-19 on early childhood education and his journey with entrepreneurship. Powered by PNC Bank. Download a transcript of this podcast.

In this episode of PNC C-Speak, Jon Bernstein, regional president for PNC Bank New England, turns from host to guest as he’s interviewed by Boston Business Journal Market President and Publisher Carolyn Jones. They discuss Bernstein’s career journey at PNC Bank, as well as his commitment to furthering early childhood education. Bernstein also provided advice for the next generation of leaders. “The best in the world are the best at something because they’re always finding ways to get better. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, there are ways to get better. You need to maintain that curiosity and that exploration and that passion,” Bernstein says. Listen to hear more about: - PNC’s growth in the New England region (0:45) - The bank’s efforts to improve early childhood education (6:38) - Bernstein’s appointment as chair of the Mass Business Roundtable (11:37) - What Bernstein wishes for Boston (18:14)

In this episode of PNC C-Speak, Ming Min Hui, executive director of the Boston Ballet, shares her journey from a ballet-loving child to a Wall Street banker and ultimately to Boston Ballet. She discusses the importance of merging business acumen with arts management, the mission-driven aspects of her work, and how the Boston Ballet influences the community through education and accessibility. “Because it is a nonprofit and it’s a mission-fulfilling organization, we can keep at the center of everything we do a real focus on pushing the boundaries of dance forward,” Hui says. “Really taking the risks of innovating and investing in these large-scale artistic works that are not necessarily commercially driven.” Listen to hear more about: How Hui’s career went from Wall Street to ballet (0:53)The involvement of Boston Ballet in the community (7:58) The ways the Boston Ballet is shaping Boston’s cultural landscape (15:10) What’s next for the Boston Ballet (21:47) Download a transcript of this episode.

In this episode of PNC C-Speak, Christophe Weber, president and CEO of Takeda Pharmaceuticals, discusses the company’s global footprint and its mission to deliver life-transforming medicines worldwide. Weber shares his leadership perspective, emphasizing the importance of cultural agility and value-driven operations. “Our mission is to deliver life-transforming medicines. When we develop new medicines — which is a very hard mission — we really aim for that medicine to be made available across the world for all patients,” Weber says. Listen to hear more about: - Takeda’s approach to ‘caring leadership’ (4:33) - How Takeda’s corporate social responsibility program unites all employees (8:46) - Where Takeda believes AI can make a difference (12:10) - Why Takeda moved its headquarters to Massachusetts (15:00) Download a transcript of this episode.