Summary

(03:43) Observing different business teaching styles in UK vs US

• Different class sizes

• More lectures at Oxford University

(05:13) Working with Henry Mintzberg ‘ a rebel in the business management field

• They met at McGill University

• He is still in touch with Henry

• Why it’s harder to become a name in your field today

(09:43) A sign that we’re moving away from top-down management strategies

• Karl has been in conversation with 70+ CEOs since that start of the pandemic

• Karl’s interview with Air France’s CEO Ben Smith

• ‘The job of CEO management is to not have the ideas, but to spot the good ones’

(12:01) What changes we can expect to see with senior leadership in the post-pandemic world

• There will be a more humble approach to not having all the answers

• Flexible working terms

• Emergent strategies and listening more

• Exploring how to encourage creativity in a ‘Zoom world’

• Meaningful business travel

(15:48) Understanding ‘reverse mentoring’

• Younger people are ahead of older generations because of their technological understanding

• ‘The world is much more uncertain, therefore I need to keep on learning’

• Being open to feedback

• Why you should never be the smartest person in the room

• Listening is an integral part of being a good CEO

(23:24) The role of humility and authenticity in leadership

• ‘How do I stay authentic without being a jerk?’

• Allowing people’s values and rootedness to manifest at work

• The research that supports that we do better business if we are more authentic at work

(27:14) On introversion and extroversion

• It’s a response to stimulation

• We’re partly wired to be introverts or extroverts, but it’s something developed over life too

• Karl’s tips for taking breaks as extroverts

• ‘Anyone is interesting for 30 minutes if you find their passion’

(33:29) Traits in introverts that need to be more leveraged at work

• From his interviews with C-Suite executives: 40% are extroverts, 40% are introverts and 20% are ambiverts

• Strengths of being an introvert: listening, connecting the dots and not jumping to conclusions

• Why leaders need to be a bit of both, aka ambiverts

(41:59) Why we struggle to sit in silence

• Growing up with his Finnish mother and learning about the ‘Finnish silence’

• Indiginous silence: ‘being close to the creation and more time communing with nature’

(44:52) Learning to become more ambivert

• In life you learn when to step back

• Over time we become less extreme introverts or extroverts because we calm down

(49:21) The role of charisma in leadership

• Charisma is more valued in the US than Canada

• Learning from Justin Tredeau’s charisma when Karl knew him prior to his presidential career

• ‘If you believe you bring value to a table, it brings a sense of presence’

• The power of quiet authority

• Charisma can often become too much about the ego than the purpose

• The feeling of speaking with Bill Clinton

(54:09) On classifying people through their personality types and tests

• Humans are inherently complex

• There are so many lenses we can look through when analysing humans

• ‘We should get to know people as human beings’

(57:49) Learning from female leaders

• ‘It’s not so much as female leadership, but good leadership’

• We all need to learn from each other: different generations, sexes, etc.

• ‘We have much to learn from the people we ignore’

(01:01:10) What will the main challenges be with engagement at work, post-pandemic?

• Recovering from high stress levels and exhaustion from working from home

• As a leader, simply ask your colleagues: ‘how are you doing?’

• Caring leadership style

• Have a focus on purpose

(01:05:00) Working with people across 5 generations

• Many policies are more aligned with older generations and need to be reviewed

• Have a culture of flexibility

• We live in a post-truth society

(01:09:46) How to future-proof your organisation

• Listen more and be ready to learn

• Use your responsibility and make decisions after listening respectfully to your staff