Rethinking Leadership

In this episode of Rethinking Leadership, Roemer Visser speaks with Anil Seth, professor of neuroscience and one of today’s leading thinkers on consciousness. Known for his TED Talk Your brain hallucinates your conscious reality, Seth brings a neuroscientific perspective to a question that quietly determines leadership success: why do leaders with similar intelligence, experience, and intent achieve very different outcomes?

In this episode of Rethinking Leadership, I sit down with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a renowned neuroanatomist and author of "Whole Brain Living." We explore her transformative journey following a brain hemorrhage that shifted her perspective on leadership. Dr. Taylor emphasizes the importance of recognizing the four distinct characters within us, each linked to different brain functions. By understanding and balancing these characters, leaders can enhance their emotional intelligence, creativity, and decision-making capabilities. This episode challenges you to rethink how you engage with your own brain and those you lead, fostering a more holistic approach to leadership in today's complex world. Tune in for insights that could redefine your leadership style.

In this episode of Rethinking Leadership, I welcome Dr. Barry Posner, a renowned leadership expert and co-author of the best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge. We delve into the evolving landscape of leadership, emphasizing that while the essence of leadership remains constant, our understanding of it must adapt to modern challenges. Dr. Posner shares insights from his extensive research, highlighting the five practices of exemplary leadership that empower individuals across various organizational levels. We explore the importance of behavioral approaches in leadership and how effective leaders foster connections with their teams. Join us as we uncover how to lead with authenticity and heart, ensuring that every leader feels empowered to make a difference.

In this episode of the podcast Rethinking Leadership, Roemer Visser speaks with Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School and author of The Fearless Organization and Right Kind of Wrong, about what is required of leaders in a world defined by uncertainty and interdependence.

They discuss how many of today’s senior leaders were shaped in environments where problems were predictable and expertise could reliably determine the “right” answer. That era, Amy notes, has passed. “The taken-for-granted mental models that many leaders grew up with just don’t work in a highly uncertain context.”

In this episode, Roemer Visser speaks with Jeroen De Flander, strategist and Managing Director of the Performance Factory, about why so many strategies fail. Not in design, but in execution. As De Flander explains, the focus of most organizations is in the wrong place: “All the energy and focus has been going to strategy formulation.” His research shows that the real challenge lies in behavior and leadership: “Forty to sixty percent of the strategy gets lost during execution.”

De Flander describes a major mismatch between where leadership attention goes and where the real pain is in organizations. Strategy often looks strong on paper, but translating it into daily decisions is where it breaks down.