This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the heartfelt conversation, Nick shares about his unusual background and how that gives him an advantage. We talk about how he maintains a harmony between work, family, and health – while living in London and leading his team based on the west coast of the US. Listen to this one for some practical tactics on how to structure your day and when and where to draw boundaries.

You can find Nick at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasmcquire/

In the interview, Nick shares

• my route through to where I’m at, uh, at the moment,  has certainly been a kind of a meandering path through a number of different opportunities and challenges
• mindfulness works for me is as long as I’ve got that structure and it’s communicated well with the team that and everyone understands and we’ve got a mutual respect for that, it works.
• if you can have those transparent discussions and there’s flex on either side. I think it ultimately, that’s the place you want to get to and that transparency and respectful approach to your colleagues, I think is so important.
• the big changes that happened in my life and career as a result of setbacks ultimately turned to be really good things.
• The temptation and the visceral reaction is quite natural, is to be downbeat and to be a little bit oh my goodness, you know, what’s happening, type of, uh, reactions. 
• But I think in the long run, kind of hold onto the point that actually these tend to be really positive events, cuz you’ll be able to, it’ll take you onto, you’ll either trampoline into another area.

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

Gerbert is the COO & co-founder of Venly.io based in Belgium. In the interview, we spoke about the importance of culture when working remotely. Gerbert shares the lessons they learnt when they went fully remote and the practical things they do to listen, share, and strengthen human relationships, even when they have employees from 15 different countries. We also talk the most difficult time for them when they had almost ran out of money, and how they persevered and come out on the other side of the struggle.

You can find Gerbert at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerbertvandenberghe/

In the interview, Gerbert shares

• So we ran out of money while still building a company. We worked like nine months without any salary.
• it was quite painful because after working two years together with these people, we were very close to them. We were fond of them. We went together on skiing trips. Um, so yeah, that was quite painful 
• if you believe in your vision and you have some proof of the market that, that your product fits the market, I think you just have to keep going and pushing and not give up because of some setback
•  I used to be involved in every aspect of the business. Um, I used to be much closer to technology and to product while I’m not really involved on that anymore. So the bigger the company grows, they’re less involved in every, um, department in nitty gritty detail.
• my goal is to make me myself obsolete in the company,
• I make sure I have enough sleep, so I’m well rested and I love to go to the golf club and hit some balls.

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, we talk about learning from different cultures, how people’s expectations from leaders have changed in the last few years, and how you can be both loving and empathetic towards your people while at the same time holding each other accountable for our responsibilities as a team/company.

You can find Eva at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/evapoppe/

In the interview, Eva shares

• experiences in a different country make you humble. 
• You learn so much about yourself as much as you learn about other cultures.
• people are expecting different things from leaders
• it’s crucially important that you can have a joke from time to time. 
• the good thing is that I’m a very positive person
•  I’ve been working in the tech industry for more than a decade now, and I’ve figured already that in the tech industry, there are not as many females.
• Getting out of your comfort zone, you learn so much about yourself, about others, about empathy. It makes you humble. Um, which I think is very important because You’re no better than others.
• I think it is very important if you talk to people from, like other views who give you like an outside view on where you’re at because you’re in your own zone a lot of times you can, um, then not see left or right.
• So if someone is coming in and kind of puts a little bit into the right in into the right context. It helps tremendously. 

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, Maria shares the role curiosity has played in her life to bring her where she is today. We talk about the fear of failure, how often people perceive her as being scary, and how she deals with that by sharing and being open about her own imperfections and vulnerabilities.

You can find Maria at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariapennanen/
• https://twitter.com/PennanenMaria

In the interview, Maria shares

• a feature that’s missing from many of these kind of evaluation programs or let’s say coaching workshops, is that they focus on the individual. And I realized that you have to always think about the whole team.
• my driver has always been curiosity,
• I think my mistake was always that. Mixed up empathy with sympathy and didn’t understand that actually empathy is that you just have to understand that they, people have the right to think what they want about things And you don’t have to agree with that. And for me, that was really a, you know, big Aha moment.
• what would you do if you couldn’t fail? And I think we have all probably, inside of us this fear of failing that we are not, I don’t know whether we are not good enough
• sometimes it’s very hard to, to admit that, okay, now it’s time to just to stop and let the company go down.
• it makes us just human
• you can’t force people
• I’m told that I’m very scary
• I meditate every morning, 20 minutes and I do write this kind of thing called Morning paper. Which is like, just like a, brain flow on the paper, whatever is in your mind, or, and sometimes, of course, new ideas come that, that you want to use. 
• Exercising, I think keeping yourself fit is very important.
• Less is more

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, Violetta shared her journey from being an academic researcher to an entrepreneur, and what she has learned along the way. She shares how her background in linguistics, neuroscience, psychology, and game-theory all come together in her role as a leader of her organisation. She also shares her journey from being a quiet shy kid to someone who loves being on stage today.

You can find Violetta at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/meanceo/
• https://cadchain.com/
• https://www.femaleswitch.com/

In the interview, Violetta shares

• I’m the kind of person who thought that I would never become an entrepreneur.
• I actually have, uh, five high education degrees. I’ve really enjoyed studying my whole life.
• at some point, after I think a year and a half I realize that I’m, I’m burning out because, uh, I’m working nonstop.
• As an entrepreneur, you always think, Oh my God, I, there’s so much more that needs to be done. 
• Why am I not moving? Why are we so slow? And now I realize that if I continue in that rhythm my whole life, then I’m, you know, I’m not gonna be able to run for much longer. 
•  if I look at myself like four years ago and now these are two totally different people
• If I remember myself, uh, at school, I was, always trying to keep quiet. And now I love being on stage
• sometimes you need to. Allow yourself to express all those negative emotions, because if you keep them inside of you, you’re gonna explode at some point
• Hopefully one day I will be able to switch from wartime CEO to a peacetime ceo.

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, Patrick shares how moving to a foreign country forced him to step out of his comfort zone and start from scratch. At the same time, he shares how he has learned to come in with a very clear intention, asking questions, and geting started from day 1 when starting in a new job – which he feels is very similar to moving countries.

You can find Patrick at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickstrauss/

In the interview, Patrick shares

• it is very hard to find good people that embrace change quickly
• there are so many opportunities for organizations to get it and do it better
• be very open and resilient against the feedback that you get
• I think my main message really to everybody is to embrace change. Don’t be afraid of it. Um, change does not always have negative or bad things attached to it.
•  the biggest challenge is finding the right people that, understand and want to go the same way.
• Listen more rather than talk.
• You don’t have to be the centre of attention.

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, Anastasia shares about her meditation practice and how that helps her maintain a grounded sense of balance as she deals with being a women entrepreneur in a world where there are not many. She also shares about her vision for women leaders, and how she is driven by curiosity and yet how she has learned to accept and move on while taking huge risks as an entrepreneur.

You can find Anastasia at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasia-petrova-24504073/
• http://social-butter.com/

In the interview, Anastasia shares

• I am result oriented and I really want to see the input of my actions. 
• you learn to accept because sometimes you plan something in a very perfect ideal, uh, way. In a perfect ideal world that doesn’t exist
•  I was basically locked in my comfort zone and right now I feel like I get bored if there is no risk. 
• this mission is more emotional, . It lays really deeply to my heart
• as soon as you understand who you are, you understand what you’re doing and you start to value what you’re doing. And if you value what you’re doing, I mean, this is exactly the ground you’re talking about
• Fear is blocking the potential always. For me, it was always fear like, uh, procrastination and fear. are Connected. 
• So if you are afraid, like I think fear is actually lays in the very basis on each and every negative feeling that you can have on top of it.
• fear lays always in the very like root and then it can mutate in all sorts of like, procrastination or, um, I dunno, grief or any other like, bad feelings that you might have, but in the root is always fear. 
• So what I can say is that it is important to realize that fear blocks your potential.
• So as soon as you recognize it, you start to get even angry because as if you feel that there is something that is blocking you, you know, and at that moment you will start to actually release this fear a little.

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, Sudh shares how growing up in a small town in India in a family of entrepreneurs inspired him to start his own company. We also talk about moving to a big city like Singapore and yet not being intimidated by that. He shares the big risks he has taken as an entrepreneur, and how he was rejected by some companies for a job which turned out to be a blessing as those companies are his customers now.

You can find Sudh at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/sudh8/
• https://impress.ai/

In the interview, Sudh shares

• that one of the biggest responsibilities in our business is to our customers
• we put focus on new customers, new sales to existing customers. And all of this meant that we were able to retain a hundred percent of our customers
•  it became really sustainable. We had nothing to worry about in terms of keeping our employees well rewarded, so we didn’t have to do mass layoffs, uh, to achieve that. We didn’t have to cut bonuses or salaries
• Wealth is created during bear markets and harvested during bull markets. 
• You start to get this realization when you get older, that your younger years are not going to come back and the equation starts to change.
• the challenge is how do you grow into what is needed to take the company to the next stage?
• All the companies that I applied to a job for, um, are now our customers. All of them. Absolutely all of them. So that’s been. One of the things that make me feel like a winner,

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In this interview, Dinesh very humbly shares his story in his own unique down-to-earth way. He shares about being inspired as a teenager to starting his own company which grew quite fast, and then facing difficulties or challenges in his second startup, and how that changed him as a person and made him a better entrepreneur. He also shares how his father and also MS Dhoni – the former Indian cricket captain has influenced his personality.

You can find Dinesh at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/dineshjuneja/
• https://twitter.com/dineshjuneja

In the interview, Dinesh shares

• So patience is a virtue I’ve developed over a period of, and I think that really stuck with me very strongly.
• we are investing a lot is in building a strong second line of command
• I think I have more failures than successes as a person, and I think it’s true for anybody who is relentless
• I think the biggest advice is always to think why you started up in the first place.
•  this journey has been really beautiful, has been very rewarding

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, Marc shares his background and how he got some early wins which build confidence very early in his career. He also shared how he now pays it forward by helping those on his team get some early and easy wins. We also talk about the importance of celebrating small wins, measuring the process, the role of honesty and transparency in leadership, and why change is often hard but not impossible.

You can find Marc at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcmunier/

In the interview, Marc shares

• If you trust people with the information, nobody judges you.
• Celebrate the small wins. Celebrate the stages towards the end objective
• I’m a fundamental believer in the goodness of people. So I believe that people given the right information will make the right choice
• I always say that you can change behaviours, but you can’t change nature.
• As a citizen, we’ve got a responsibility to do more and so to help combat the effects.
• The way that I cope with that stuff is I kind of think worst-case scenario. So I go, Well look, if I in option A, if I carry on doing this and it completely implodes. You know, probably not gonna starve. I’ll have to go get another job, which will hurt my ego. But I’ll probably be. Um, but I would’ve done my best, I suppose.
• I love a soppy movie or a soppy series.
• If people aren’t willing to accept you for the way that you are, then that’s just kind of okay. That’s their problem
• I’m a massive believer in getting outside and just kind of breathing the air, getting away from the city
• Your brain needs that time to relax.

This is the Can’t Stay Silent series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

For most of my life, I have kept my voice buried beneath layers of fear and insecurity. In each episode of this series, I will find the strength to express myself from the bottom of my heart.

These short episodes will be filled with honest reflections, simple stories and metaphors, and some gentle provocations – all to help you Deploy Yourself in your own life.

Together, we’ll discover how we can create a world where all of us can show up as leaders. So, if you are ready to allow the leader in you to bravely listen to my call of leadership, join me on Can’t Stay Silent.

You can find more about me & the Deploy Yourself School of Leadership

• https://deployyourself.com/
• https://www.deployyourself.com/podcast/
• https://deployyourself.com/newsletter
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumit4all/
• https://twitter.com/sumitgupta4all
• https://www.youtube.com/@leadership-sumit
• https://www.tiktok.com/@sumitguptacoach

Show Notes

•  life Is the balance. between making things happen. And letting them happen.
• The moment we try to force or the moment anybody, or anything tries to force something. It creates friction.
• Nobody likes resistance. When we push people, they push back. 
• We can create anything which we are creating as leaders with or without force. And that is something I think, which is the balance between making things happen and letting them happen. 
• You cannot force music. You have to let it flow.
• If a musician is trying to force. The music. Or if a singer is trying to force the singing, it loses its beauty.
• Trying to control something or somebody’s always create friction because it is not natural. 
• You must learn to use the right leverage at the right time. You must learn to use the right action. At the right time. Or do the right thing. At the right time. Which is not forcing against anything, which is natural.
• You cannot force yourself to fall asleep. Now sleeping is as natural. As it can be. Everybody sleeps. But you have to let yourself fall asleep. Everything else works the same way.
• It doesn’t mean that you do not do anything or it is wrong or bad to do something. But you identify actions, would you use leverage or which flow with the natural flow of things and then you take them.
• And it is only when you stop trying to go to sleep, that you can fall asleep. And it is only when you stop trying to play. Beautiful music that the beautiful music. Can actually flow or happen through you. The best musicians are not who can play the fastest or the most number of hours in a day. The best are those who let the music flow through them. And let their action and their bodies be guided by that flow.
• Just because letting anything be or letting something happen is so uncomfortable for us to be there with our own self in silence and solitude. That we try to fill that gap with forcing something and that creates a  whole lot of problems on the outside.
• It is only in silence and in solitude with yourself that you can understand. What is yours to make happen? What is it that calls you? And what is it that deeply matters to you? 
• we can let go of wanting to be somewhere else. Where we are right now. Right. The whole point of music. Is what you are listening to right now, not what you are going to listen to five seconds or five hours in the future. The whole point of dancing is the dance itself. Not to get somewhere else.. So wanting to be anywhere else is forcing an idea. 
• this is a paradox, right? By trying to make things happen. We actually make it difficult for them to happen. 
• Stop taking things too seriously all the time. And it is only by stopping to take something too seriously that we can be serious. About doing the best that we can in any given moment. 
• For your commitment to be strong. You have to hold it firmly, but not too tightly. 
• There is no forcing or pushing when you’re fully committed to something. Your commitment has its own flow. Once you commit to something, it has its own flow. Just like everything else in nature. 
• We forget that work can be musical too, because work is nature and nature is musical just by its own nature. We forget that politics can be musical too. We forget that the biggest debates or social issues of our time. Can also be like music and nature. 
• Let it happen. Learn to use the right action at the right time. Learn to use the right leverage. At the right time. 

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, Ian shares multiple stories about the lessons he has learnt as a leader. We talk about getting fired from multiple roles and how that shaped him as a leader. We speak about the difference between hiring the best people and getting the best out of people, and how he found out that everybody expects respect first of all from their leaders and organisations.

You can find Ian at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianfishwick/

In the interview, Ian shares

•  I believe that you don’t train people by sticking them in a classroom
• And I think people make the mistake of saying, let’s hire the best people. I get that everybody wants the best people, but what I say is, get the best out of people.
• We all have bad days. Let’s not pretend that I’m fantastic and I’m fantastic every day. It’s a bit like being a footballer. It doesn’t look like that. You need constant motivation and help, so the same people can be good, better an average. 
• I feel good about what I do, I’ll probably do a great job
• keep it really simple. Treat other people the way you want to be treated yourself, and you’re not gonna go very far wrong.
• those who get into management positions who then start to love the authority of it. You’ve lost it, you’ve lost it completely. 
• the higher you get in an organization, the more likely there are to be restructures

   

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, Philip shares his background in statistics and finance, and how that allows him to be a better entrepreneur.  He also shares how being the youngest of five boys while growing up in his family has helped him have a high-risk tolerance and a spirit of competitiveness. We also spoke about the challenges that come with a startup growing very fast, and how he likes to run to calm and clear his system of stress to be able to make sound decisions.

You can find Philip at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnstonphilip

In the interview, Philip shares

• The essence of finance is predicting the future.
• I would say that I have an extremely high-risk tolerance. 
• Growing fast is stressful, but it’s also very exciting.
• What I do is I try and run on the day that I’m having the mania so that it kind of clears my system of these like endorphins
• I’m quite into standup comedy and podcasts
• Standup comedy makes you about 500 times better at public speaking.
• You can hack this whole entrepreneurship game. It doesn’t need to be as hard as it looks

   

This is the Can’t Stay Silent series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

For most of my life, I have kept my voice buried beneath layers of fear and insecurity. In each episode of this series, I will find the strength to express myself from the bottom of my heart.

These short episodes will be filled with honest reflections, simple stories and metaphors, and some gentle provocations – all to help you Deploy Yourself in your own life.

Together, we’ll discover how we can create a world where all of us can show up as leaders. So, if you are ready to allow the leader in you to bravely listen to my call of leadership, join me on Can’t Stay Silent.

You can find more about me & the Deploy Yourself School of Leadership

• https://deployyourself.com/
• https://www.deployyourself.com/podcast/
• https://deployyourself.com/newsletter
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumit4all/
• https://twitter.com/sumitgupta4all
• https://www.youtube.com/@leadership-sumit
• https://www.tiktok.com/@sumitguptacoach

Show Notes

• Can we get on the same side and talk about the challenge together, rather than sitting on opposite sides of their table and holding, holding onto our positions? 
• And I think what leads us to hold onto our positions is our fear of failure – that we do not want to face that we can fail, and that fear of failure leads and keeps us stuck in these endless conversations.
• Simply because of the fact that we are unable to deal with that we might fail, it leads to a mess on the surface. 
• There is nothing wrong with being scared of losing a position or disappointing those who support you but it keeps you away from playing fully on the outside. It keeps you away from having the real conversation on challenging yourself and others as well and talking about real stuff rather than getting lost in intellectual conversations.
• If you practice any martial art you will know that, uh, hesitation will get you killed. if you practice any sports. Hesitation will make you lose. , but this is what we are doing. our fear of failure and inability to deal with the mess inside is suffocating us from the inside, but also keeping us stuck on the outside.
• There’s nothing wrong with being scared and terrified, but to hide it, to not be okay with it is taking us nowhere.
• I must say I was terrified and I still am, but I’m not afraid of acknowledging it. I’m not going to let it stop me. I’m not going to let it hold me in a position and not see things from the other side as well. And I’m, I might fail as an entrepreneur. I might fail as a professional, I might fail in my career as a CEO, I might fail as a coach, as a father, as a husband, as a parent, as a friend, I might fail. But so what? I mean there is, there’s a world beyond I, right?
• I might fail, but what is better is playing a half-life is that acceptable? Certainly to me, it is not
• We would all be crawling if children would behave as adults behave. These days. If children would be afraid of falling, we would all be crawling
• This is how you get to any success, not by trying to be safe and hesitating, but by being fully willing to fail. The way you get to success is not by trying to be safe and hesitating but by being fully willing to fail, fully willing to fail is a precondition for your full commitment to whatever that you’re trying to achieve.
• Otherwise, you are always keeping one foot behind.  and you cannot take a leap of faith. You cannot take a jump if your one foot is still on the ground.

   

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, Steve shares how travelling around the world as a child has shaped him into a curious and open person. He also spoke about the challenges of working with people of different cultures and how he learned to compromise and look for win-win solutions, and yet doing that without compromising on his foundational set of values.

You can find Steve at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevemidgley/

In the interview, Steve shares

• I was blessed to work on every, literally every continent of the world.
• Fortune had favoured me and I didn’t have any debt in my life.
• I’m a straight shooter. I’m very, you know, I believe authentic and transparent
• You have to be prepared. To stand up for what you believe in
• Sometimes you have to stick to your principles and it might mean that you have to step out, and that’s not pleasant, right? But that comes with the territory.
• You have to be extremely resolute and resourceful and make sure that you’re managing your own energies
• I have a personal dream, uh, to build a charity that will fundamentally change underprivileged children’s lives.
• I think navigating, uh, the ambiguity at the moment is extremely challenging.
• You’ve gotta let your team see the human side of you, uh, as much as possible.

   

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, Marius shares about his childhood and how growing up in a family of 6 siblings set him up for learning continuously and leadership. We also spoke about the very critical role of purpose to keep everyone together in an unpredictable environment.

You can find Marius at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariusciavola/

In the interview, Marius shares

• Coming from a considerably large family, you can imagine that I had to fight for what I wanted or what was ours
• I’ve learned that the best way to learn is actually to teach
• When you create that environment people will not shy away from speaking their mind
• you’re entering an area of unknowns and you’ve gotta be comfortable with the uncomfortable
• you’ve gotta have trust in yourself and trust in the people that you are surrounded by
• What keeps us together is that common purpose
• The fear comes when you have an environment that’s commanding and controlling
• We don’t fail twice on the same thing. We don’t make the same mistake twice
• Some of the challenges we face are also self-inflicted
• You need to say no to so many things more often than you say yes to. But those things that you say yes to, you know you wanna do them really well, and that will help you stand out 
• I prefer to be the serving CEO than the commanding CEO.

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In a very candid and honest conversation, Bharani shares his life and how we wanted to shape his own destiny – even as a child. We spoke about growing up seeing your parents struggle, and how that teaches you to make the best out of what you have. He also shares how entrepreneurs must learn to change and shape their role as the company grows.

You can find Bharani at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/bharanidharanviswanathan/

In the interview, Bharani shares

• Somehow in my childhood days, I got this inspiration and deep motivation to shape my own destiny.
• my only philosophy to make the best out of what you can
• whatever you have, make the best out of it. when you don’t have much privilege and opportunities, you have to learn to make the best out of it and accept what you have.
• when you come from a lesser privileged background and when you suddenly get into a world full of opportunities and life, you will be overwhelmed. Um, and it’ll not be easy to adapt.
• You don’t have to do everything in one stretch
• you have to let go of a few things so that other people can take it forward and run while you can focus back and, uh, look at the big picture and take your time. So, it is very counterintuitive. It is not easy for people to let go
• it’s a very difficult journey to go through, you know because you will have an innate fear that, uh, nobody in the company will be able to operate at your level, right? As a human being. Most of us fall in that trap. Uh, but it’s important to realize that, et cetera. Otherwise, you are on a treadmill constantly. 
• It’ll be uncomfortable, but please go through it.
• I have invested in myself to understand more about myself. 
• I completely agree with this because money and title are hygiene, but people want purpose and culture and values beyond that.
• it’s important that you have some breathing space to reflect upon what is happening, otherwise, you are constantly Reacting to the world.
• Don’t worry about the outcome because you are given everything. The best will happen. Trust the process.

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, Thomas very humbly shares his experience as an employee and how his journey to CEO has been. He talks about his family, balance, and a very different look at leadership. I am sure everybody who listens to this will be left deeply touched and moved.

You can find Thomas at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-van-eeckhout-b0b9ab2/
• https://easi.net/en

In the interview, Thomas shares

• I joined the company back in 2006 as an internal sales officer and made my way throughout the organization and took on the role of CEO three years ago. 
• I noticed that the more ambitious I was, the better my results became so, so quite fast. I started to work quite hard. Um, and I still believe that if you want to achieve something, you have to put in, you have to put in the work so that there is no secret 
• We really have a default YES Culture, whereas I think most of the companies have a default NO culture.
• we allow people to take ownership over their career and they can basically chase their dreams. And that’s something what I had the opportunity to do as well. 
• We need to create a context where people can be successful, a context, where people can actually be happy at work. 
• They have to have a vision. Um, we have to. Indicate where we want to be next year in three years, in five years and in 10 or 15 years
• It’s 50% or even more 60 or maybe 70% is about communication. You need to repeat and repeat time after time again. What we want to achieve, who we want to be as a company, why we want to do what we are doing where we want to end up with that strategy becomes more and more important.
• We need to have, as a company, we need to have a personality. People, both potential customers and candidates, people that, that might come to work with us. They really have to feel in what way we are different from other companies.
• We have 115 shareholders, 115 colleagues who are working at Easi that have decided to invest in the company, to basically become a co-owner of the company, which is something we want to continue. 
• The main challenge is to stay true to who we are
• I want every colleague. Who joins us needs to strengthen the culture we have. I want to be I want to have a company with the strongest culture possible. I want that or my dream is that  That’s the reason our customers have to work with us because they feel the difference 
• It’s about consistently putting our words into practice. We really need to practice what we preach
• I’m a father of two daughters. And it’s my responsibility to raise them as the people that I want them to be, um, in this world. And in order to do that, I need to balance Easi with the time I spend with my family and doing the things that allow me to do those first things in the best way possible. So I need to make sure that I sleep enough, that I do enough sports, that I remain, uh, healthy and fit as well.
• I believe culture can be managed. It can it, it should be managed.
• I might be a CEO at Easi. Whenever I’m at home  I forget the CEO part and I’m just doing whatever my girls want me to do. . Um, so I’m not very I don’t have much authority at home. I basically just try to raise. I try to raise girls that I’m proud of.
• The way I see it, the CEO is not the most important person in the company. That is, uh, that, that’s something that I’m very much convinced of.
• Whenever I experienced pressure, it was always pressure that I invented myself

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, we talk about entrepreneurship as a mindset and whether entrepreneurs are born or made. We talk about the transition from a functional or technical role to working with people, which every entrepreneur has to learn at one point. He shares the importance of appreciating people, self-awareness, and to have a healthy relationship with standing out from the crowd.

You can find Karl at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlwfeilder/
• https://www.karlwfeilder.com/

In the interview, Karl shares

• Entrepreneurs are born and not made
• You could probably make a natural entrepreneur a little bit better, but I’m not sure you can train them from scratch. 
• My PhD thesis is that, um, entrepreneurism is an undiagnosed spectrum disorder. Uh, a little bit like autism or one of the other, um, psychological trades.
• My parents, uh, my mom and my stepfather, uh, in the end, took three jobs each in order to pay for me to get through school. Um, this led me to really, really want to succeed, but I think I had that natural drive.
• Rubbing shoulders with people that had got lots and lots of money when we didn’t, made me aspire to have more than I would’ve normally aspired for.
• It’s more about appreciating the people that are around you. And it’s definitely about enjoying the. Um, the destination, growing a company and then selling it.
• The growing is where all the fun is and, uh, that’s almost always about the people that you either work with as customers, as suppliers, or as your colleagues in the business. 
• The thing about building a business is always about the people, and you’re gonna need to employ some people that maybe have different skill sets from you and therefore different ways of communicating. But that still means you need them in the business, and you’ve gotta be able to identify your own weaknesses and recruit people that complement those.
• The thing about being an entrepreneur is you really got to believe in yourself. Um, in many ways being a CEO and being an entrepreneur are similar in that they’re both very, very lonely jobs. 

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the interview, we discuss how growth and growing hurts, and why is it important to be aware of that. He also shares the importance of staying balanced and having the support of a coach, and taking small breaks, and taking the right steps at the right moment when it comes to fast growth.

You can find Gernot at the below links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/gernotschwendtner/
• https://www.wegrow.company/

In the interview, Gernot shares

• Growing hurts. So this is something I think it’s important to accept it and be aware of it. 
• It is important to stay balanced.
• We did one very useful exercise for ourself. We killed the company mentally, right? So we went through that process and said, What if, you know, like what would still be left? And we discovered a lot of network know how, personal assets, experience et, et cetera. So we could easily scale. Again, that set us mentally free and gave me a lot of freedom in saying like, Okay, now let’s buckle down all hands on deck.
• Yoga and meditation help me in a way where I can recognize my own stress level. So I become aware of it and I can try to let it go, or sometimes I need to live through it. And sometimes I had meetings where I need to get up and say, Excuse me, I really have to take a break now. And then I take, uh, five minutes, walk around the block, do the breathing, and then I come back and I say what I did, and we laugh about it.
• I can be like spiralling out of into the future and I’m, or around the other street corner and. I became aware in that moment of a pattern. So this is a strength but also a weakness. So what helps me is I need to have people around me who can help me keep the connection with the team and sometimes shake me and say like, Hey, Gernot um, the team needs that, has those issues, whereas I’m mentally maybe already a year or two years ahead.
• Fear is natural reaction, right? There are also some good things in it, um, in a way. That might make you aware of risks that you were not aware, but fear is one of the worst, uh, counselors if you make decisions based out of fear. They will never, never never be good decisions. You run away from things or you avoid things or whatsoever. 
• What helps me is, um, is a technique that I also learned in the last couple of years is it’s called shadow light on your fears or look at the monster under your bed, right when we were afraid, uh, maybe as kids that there was a monster, your bed, and then maybe our parents put the nightstand lamp and looked with you together.