'Eating radishes' That is how, according to Matt Dixon, many 'doer-sellers' experience selling their services. People do not become management consultants, executive coaches, accountants, lawyers, or engineers to sell. However, for those working in professional service firms or independently, selling is an integral part of their role. At the same time, professional sales processes are changing. More and more professional services are sourced through RFPs, and buying committees are replacin...
Why do people want to become CEO in the first place?" That was one of the first questions I posed to Ty Wiggins during our interview for the Leadership 2.0 Podcast. After all, the statistics are sobering: The turnover of CEOs is at an all-time high: from 9.2 years in 2018 to 7.6 years in 202250% of all CEOs reported feelings of lonelinessThe average workweek of CEOs is more than 60 hours[^1]Burnout is a reality for 71% of CEOs[^2]Being a CEO comes with immense responsibility. CEOs are ...
I have always been quite cynical about ESG and CSR initiatives from companies. They always struck me as 'Do as I say, not what I do'. My favorite examples include a 'Big Oil' company preferring suppliers with a 'green' supply chain, a Financial Services companies directly contributing to the Euro crisis but giving their employees an afternoon off to paint schools in derelict areas 'to give back to society', companies that started 'recalibrating' their DEI efforts in the aftermath of the last...
'We live in the most Generationally Diverse Demographic' (Rebecca Robins). Unfortunately, generational differences are often seen as a source of problems - sometimes misunderstood, and exaggerated by social media.. However, what would happen if we saw Generational Differences as Opportunities instead of Issues? This is precisely the topic of the book 'Five Generations at Work: How We Win Together, For Good' by Rebeca Robins and Patrick Dunne. In the 30th episode of the Leadership 2.0 podc...
In many organizations Learning & Development (L&D) is seen as a 'Nice to Have'. Unfortunately, this is often reflected their (bland) L&D offerings, which, more often than not, are generic and fail to address the strategic issues organizations need to address However, what would happen if organizations truly would treat Learning & Development as a strategic instrument? In the 29th episode of the Leadership 2.0 podcast, I interview Nick van Dam about 'The Strategic Value of Le...
Many people in the workplace wrestle with combining their ethical and spiritual convictions on the one hand, and what they feel is required of them to progress their careers or simply to stay in their roles. For people who experience this tension and want to address it, 'Heroic Leadership - Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World' by Chris Lowney. ' will be a great read! Chris Lowney, is a one-time Jesuit seminarian, who currently chairs the board of CommonSpirit H...
Most of us are acutely aware of the gap between how our organizations aspire to operate and the everyday reality of working within them. In 'Badly Behaved People', executive coach Zena Everett describes many highly recognizable real-world cases illustrating how this discrepancy can manifest itself—and how it can be addressed. What I especially like about this book is how Zena Everett makes complex psychological concepts accessible (without oversimplifying them) and demonstrates how they can ...
Even though, for years, we have had a vast array of change management theories and methodologies at our disposal (Kotter, Lewin, Kubler-Ross, Bridges, ADKAR, etc.), it still proves to be very hard for us as leaders and consultants to implement real, sustainable change (transformation). Most change projects fail (70% according to McKinsey), or end with a superficial victory declaration, after which the organization often falls back to 'the way we DID things here'. 'Why is that?' T...
Most organizations use complex tools and processes, and are often supported by external consultants to analyze and (re) shape their culture. When I heard Manuela Staub on a seminar describing the pragmatic, inclusive, and effective way the leadership team at Zurich Airport approached their culture change program (in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic!), I immediately knew I wanted to interview her for my Leadership 2.0 podcast... In our conversation, we discussed the following topics: 00:00 ...
In this episode I interview Deborah Perry Piscione about her latest book: ‘Employment Is Dead: How Disruptive Technologies Are Revolutionizing the Way We Work’, which she wrote together with Josh Drean. The central theme of this book is that traditional employment models are becoming outdated due to the evolving needs and expectations of the modern workforce, facilitated by disruptive technologies. This will lead to the end of the traditional employment model, as well as the tra...
Ralph Schonenbach is a serial entrepreneur with over two decades of global experience, as well as an author. His work centers around developing and nurturing relationships. In this episode of the Leadership 2.0 podcast we talk about his latest start-up, Meerkat.ai, as well as about his book 'Relationships matter'. In this conversation, we touch on the following topics: Why relationships matterWhy his latest start-up is called 'Meerkats.ai'The value Meerkats.ai delivers for clientsExample o...
The image of the banking industry has been severely tarnished by the financial crisis (2007-2008), which led to increasing regulatory and compliance demands. At the same time, the industry is experiencing emerging competition from FinTechs, evolving business models, and disruptive technologies. In light of these challenges, I recently spoke with Ralph Hamers, to explore his views on what effective leadership in the banking sector entails. In our conversation, we touched on the following topi...
‘We want to help candidates to move from jobs they like, to jobs they love’ - Victor Akwunwa. The commoditization of human capital in recruitment processes leads to unsatisfactory outcomes for the companies and the candidates concerned. For companies, recruitment has become a volume game where KPI’s have replaced quality. For candidates because the unique value they can bring to organizations is not acknowledged in traditional recruitment processes. I recently had a conversation with Victor...
There are some companies I deeply admire, and On, the Swiss sports and apparel brand is definitely one of them! Not only do they make amazing products and have an extremely powerful brand, they also have a unique company culture. For this reason, I was thrilled to sit down with Alessandra del Pino, Head of Engagement & Talent Growth at On, to discuss the company culture of On, or, as Alessandra describes it, their 'secret sauce'. During our conversation, we covered the following topics:...
‘Everyone who wins nowadays is challenging the Shareholder Value Maximization doctrine’ This is just one of the powerful and thought-provoking statements Professor Michael Pirson (Fordham University - Gabelli School of Business) made when I interviewed him about 'Humanistic Management'. In the last decades, the shortcomings of the neo-liberal economic order in our society have become clearer than ever (e.g. the credit crunch, climate change, and wars). An increasing number of people want t...
'A transformational read that every leader of today needs'. These were the words Head Judge, Jacq Burns used when she announced that 'Leader As Healer', written by Nicholas Janni was selected as the overall winner for the 2023 Business Book Awards. The book argues that, given the current challenges our society faces, we need a new leadership model. Our current leadership model is one where we see great leaders as warriors 'on the battlefield of relentless competition', who drive action, purs...
Twenty years ago, in 2004, Shell was hit by the reserves scandal. In the midst of this crisis, the board asked Jeroen van der Veer to become CEO and navigate the company out of this crisis. Recently Jeroen wrote a book titled 'Van A naar B - Lessen in leiderschap' ('From A to B - Lessons in Leadership'), in which he reflects on these, and other experiences during his long career (which also included for instance being the chairman of the supervisory board of ING during the financial crisis)....
With the publication of his bestseller 'HR Champions' in 1997, Dave Ulrich signaled the potential for HR functions to develop themselves from administrative functions into mission-critical ones for the business (my words—not Dave's!). Dave Ulrich is the Rensis Likert Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan and a partner at the RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations and leaders deliver value. During our conversation, Dave and I disc...
'I defy anybody to be energized by most appraisal systems I have seen in my career' - Sally Bibb Most HR professionals and line managers (present company included!) are used to focusing on the 'development areas' of their staff. The idea is to take the areas of strength for granted and to actively work on their weaknesses to foster their professional development. The question is, however, how effective this is, and which business opportunities we miss, by not building on the strengths of ou...
The statistics are sobering, not only do 49% of external executive hires end in failure within 18 months, but internal moves prove to be challenging as well. For instance, 40% of internal job moves involving high potentials also end in failure. Besides the fact that these failures often have a traumatic impact for the individuals involved, the costs for the organizations are huge. Not only in terms of imago and hiring costs but, more importantly, in terms of opportunity costs. To find out wh...