Rethinking Leadership

In this episode of Rethinking Leadership, Roemer Visser speaks with Christopher O.H. Williams, former Fortune 500 executive, advisor, speaker, and author of C.O.U.R.A.G.E.: Seven Choices for Living a Life Without Regret. Williams held senior roles at Nike, Adidas, and VF Corporation, after earlier working at Gap, Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brothers. By most conventional standards, he had built an exceptionally successful career. And yet, in 2018, he stepped away from the corporate world.

That decision becomes the starting point for a thoughtful and personal conversation between Roemer and Christopher about success, freedom, purpose, and courage.

In this episode of Rethinking Leadership, Roemer Visser speaks with Barry Johnson, author and co-founder of Polarity Partnerships. For more than fifty years, Johnson has explored a simple but far-reaching idea: not every leadership challenge is a problem to solve. Some are ongoing tensions to manage well.

In this episode of Rethinking Leadership, Roemer Visser speaks with ‘Funmi Olonisakin. Her work, shaped by experiences in Nigeria, academia, and the United Nations, offers a perspective on leadership that challenges many familiar assumptions. Rather than focusing on individual traits or positions, Olonisakin approaches leadership as something relational, contextual, and deeply connected to the communities leaders serve.

In this episode of Rethinking Leadership, Roemer Visser speaks with Dirk van Dierendonck, Professor of Leadership and Management at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. Van Dierendonck has spent much of his academic career studying servant leadership, a perspective that challenges conventional assumptions about what leadership is and what it is for.

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.

Our first guest of the new season of Rethinking Leadership is Richard Boyatzis, Distinguished University Professor, leadership researcher and author.

Together with Executive Professor Roemer Visser, he explores what truly drives intentional and sustainable change. They challenge the idea that numbers and goals should come first, arguing instead that vision, purpose, and positive emotional connection are the real catalysts for transformation.

This episode dives into the power of hope and possibility, the importance of creating quality relationships, and how leaders can keep their teams learning and creative. What does it take to lead change that lasts? And how can leaders inspire rather than push their people forward?