Dynamic Shared Ownership: The Future of Leadership? | Lars Bruening, Bayer
What is Dynamic Shared Ownership, and could it change the future of leadership? In this episode of Leading with Curiosity, Lars Bruening of Bayer explains how Dynamic Shared Ownership is transforming leadership, decision-making, innovation, and employee ownership at one of the world's largest companies.
Lars Bruening, a former CEO of Bayer UK and Ireland and now Dynamic Shared Ownership Catalyst at Bayer Pharma, shares how Bayer is moving away from traditional command and control leadership toward a model where decisions are made closer to the teams, customers, physicians, and patients they serve.
The conversation explores how front runner teams receive greater autonomy and decision rights, allowing them to move faster and create value without relying on multiple layers of hierarchy.
One powerful example comes from Bayer's team in Italy, which developed “Froggy,” a simple 3D-printed tool designed to make injections easier for hemophilia patients. What could previously have taken much longer was brought to market in approximately two and a half to three months.
Lars also explains the shift from “leader as hero” to “leader as host” — a leadership approach focused on creating the right conditions for cross-functional teams to make better decisions, take ownership, collaborate, build trust, and focus on outcomes.
In this episode, we explore:
• What Dynamic Shared Ownership means
• How Bayer is changing its operating model
• Why decentralized decision-making can accelerate innovation
• How front runner teams work
• The shift from command and control leadership
• Leader as hero vs. leader as host
• How autonomy and ownership affect employee fulfillment
• Why cross-functional teams matter
• How leaders can create transparency and trust
• Why Bayer views this as system change rather than simply a culture program
• How focusing on outcomes can create joy and sustainable performance
If you're interested in leadership transformation, organizational change, innovation, shared ownership, decentralized decision-making, and the future of work, this conversation offers a practical look at how a major global organization is experimenting with a different way of working.
🎙️ Guest: Lars Bruening
🏢 Bayer Pharma
🎧 Leading with Curiosity Podcast
🎤 Host: Nate Leslie
What do you think about Dynamic Shared Ownership? Would giving teams more decision-making authority make your organization faster and more innovative?
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Keywords
dynamic shared ownership, dynamic shared ownership leadership, future of leadership, leadership transformation, leadership innovation, decentralized decision making, organizational autonomy, shared leadership, command and control leadership, Bayer leadership, Bayer Pharma, Lars Bruening, leadership development, organizational change, system change, cross functional teams, front runner teams, decision making, business innovation, employee ownership, future of work, leader as host, Leading with Curiosity
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