Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer to Leaders: Put Your Phones Away and Listen to Employees episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 14, 2026 · 51 MIN

Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer to Leaders: Put Your Phones Away and Listen to Employees

from Harvard Business Review · host HBR

Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer to Leaders: Put Your Phones Away and Listen to Employees 10 Dec 2021 --- Brewer, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance and one of only two Black female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, says inclusion and equity are about making employees feel seen and heard. HBR editor in chief Adi Ignatius sat down with Brewer in this episode of our video series “The New World of Work” to talk about: • How inclusion and equity—making employees feel seen and heard—are just as important as diversity metrics • How to ensure that employees feel empowered and love where they work • The importance of learning a business thoroughly, even if it means a sideways career move. When Brewer accepted a lower-level position at Walmart when she left Kimberly-Clark as group president, some people questioned the move -- but she says she needed to start there to learn about retail. “I was in a learning mode, but I took a step back to get ahead,” she says. “That's when my career began to really explode.” This interview part of a series called “The New World of Work,” which explores how top-tier executives see the future and how their companies are trying to set themselves up for success. Each week, Adi will interview a leader on LinkedIn Live — and then share an inside look at those conversations and solicit questions for future discussions in a newsletter just for HBR subscribers. If you’re a subscriber, you can sign up for the newsletter here: https://hbr.org/my-library/preferences?movetile=newworldofwork. Follow us: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/ https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters #HarvardBusinessReview #FutureofWork #RozBrewer Copyright © 2021 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 14, 2026

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer to Leaders: Put Your Phones Away and Listen to Employees

0:00 51:43

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Harvard Business Review?

This episode is 51 minutes long.

When was this Harvard Business Review episode published?

This episode was published on July 14, 2026.

Can I download this Harvard Business Review episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!