Charles Plant, creative director at Material Minds, has spent most of his life helping companies improve their ability to implement strategies.

One day he realized something: nothing he did mattered if the company lacked leadership. "It's leaders that are holding back companies," he says.

In this episode of the BusinessCast, Plant talks to Robert Gold about the new approach this revelation inspired. In the knowledge economy, your return on investment comes from people. Plant says companies need to optimize their "return on people" in the same way as they optimize their return on investment in, say, the manufacturing of a product.

How do you become the type of leader who engages people and produces productive employees?