Elevate with Robert Glazer Klaus Kleinfeld On Leading Two Fortune 500 Companies And Lessons From His Leadership Career
Jan 13, 2026
Dr. Klaus Kleinfeld, former CEO of Siemens and Alcoa, shares his journey from academia to leading major corporations across different cultures. He discusses how personal resilience shaped his leadership style and the importance of restoring purpose in struggling organizations. Klaus highlights the need for separating innovation units in hardware firms, strategies for navigating financial crises, and building high-performance teams. He emphasizes managing energy and the importance of experimenting to find one's passion and purpose.
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Childhood Between Two Germanys
- Klaus Kleinfeld describes growing up between West and East Germany after his parents fled East Germany before his birth.
- He says witnessing courage under an unfree system and losing his father early shaped his resilience and outlook.
Restore Purpose During Restructuring
- When restructuring, give people the company's soul back by framing a meaningful future and purpose.
- Also create a burning platform so employees understand that change is not optional.
Let New Units Eat The Old
- Kleinfeld argues incumbents must attack themselves by creating protected internal units to build new technologies.
- Let the new unit compete ruthlessly with the old one so you can win internally rather than be disrupted externally.
