February 25, 2026

Jurie Strydom: Leading the Old Mutual Reset

41 minutes

Jurie Strydom is the newly appointed Group CEO of Old Mutual, one of South Africa's most iconic financial institutions, who took an unconventional path to the top — stepping out of a portfolio NED life and back into the fire.

He unpacks the surprisingly low-stakes experience of interviewing for the CEO role with a board he already sat on, the whiplash of going from a considered portfolio life to a full-throttle executive role within days, and his near-obsessive focus on accelerating decision-making as the primary unlock for organisational speed.

With characteristic directness, Jurie is candid about what he hasn't gotten right - including work-life balance in the first six months - and reflects on the deeper philosophy that job satisfaction must come from impact, not the size of the title.

Jurie and Debbie discuss:

Decision velocity as a cultural weapon. Jurie's central conviction is that slow decision-making is the organisational cement that freezes momentum — and that leaders can reclaim speed by distinguishing reversible "two-way doors" from irreversible ones, and by giving people genuine license to act without always asking permission.

Leading from the inside out. Whether addressing culture change, cost discipline, or strategy, Jurie returns repeatedly to the principle of cascading ownership downward, letting people solve problems themselves, rather than imposing corporate formulas from the top.

Redefining leadership ambition. In his early forties, Jurie reached a turning point - realising that chasing successively bigger organisations is a trap, because the satisfaction must come from impact in the here and now, not from the size of the org chart.

On Work and Revolution podcast exposes the real forces reshaping leadership, talent, and the future of work. Hosted by Debbie Goodman - CEO of Jack Hammer Global, a top executive search firm, author, advisor, and speaker - this podcast dives into bold ideas and honest conversations with CEO's reshaping today’s workplaces and redefining what great leadership looks like.

If you’re a CEO, founder, or changemaker hungry for real insight into workplace trends, hiring strategy, and organizational transformation, this is your space to listen, learn, and lead differently.

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