Klaus Kleinfeld: A CEO Who Believes Well-Being Is the Real Edge in Leadership

 

 

Klaus Kleinfeld has lived one of the most extraordinary leadership journeys of our time. He’s the only executive ever to serve as CEO of two Fortune 500 giants on different continents—Siemens in Germany and Alcoa in the U.S.—and he’s advised presidents and global leaders around the world.

What struck me most in speaking with Klaus isn’t just the scope of his career—it’s what he believes makes leadership truly sustainable. His new book, Leading to Thrive: Mastering Strategies for Sustainable Success in Business and Life, places enormous emphasis on what he calls the “Inner Game.” Unlike most leadership books written by CEOs, Klaus argues that the foundation of thriving organizations begins not with strategy or financial goals, but with the well-being of leaders themselves.

By “Inner Game,” he means building and renewing energy across four dimensions—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. He challenges the widely held belief that business success must come first, and that well-being can only follow later. To Klaus, that logic is upside down. Ignoring one’s inner life, he says, inevitably leads to burnout, stress, broken relationships, and declining performance. The healthier and more energized we are, the more sustainable our leadership becomes—and the more we elevate the people around us.

In our conversation, we explore how Klaus personally integrated these practices while leading global corporations, and how his philosophy flowed through his organizations. We also talk about the unusual influences behind his leadership—drawing inspiration from timeless wisdom traditions and even the philosophy of memento mori (“remember you must die”) as a reminder to live and lead with perspective.

One of the most powerful themes in our discussion is Klaus’s conviction that love belongs in leadership. He writes that “few energy forces are as potent and transformative as love”—and we talk about how he expressed that through kindness, care, and support for his teams at Siemens and Alcoa.

This is a rare conversation with a major CEO who openly believes that leadership must be rooted in well-being—not only for ourselves, but for our employees. Klaus Kleinfeld shows us that thriving leaders create thriving organizations.

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