The Leadership Enigma

Diana Markaki is the founder of The Boardroom, the first private members club for women executives who aspire to become board members. Diana is originally from Greece (Athens) and began her professional life as a corporate lawyer working in New York and London. After a number of years she decided to transition into business and secured her first board appointment at the age of 34. Diana actually came up with the idea for The Boardroom during her executive MBA studies at Harvard University which was the catalyst for Diana wanting to know more about how she and other women could become successful board members. Even with all of Diana's success, sacrifice and professional credentials she appreciated the need for more effort to assist women internationally to make sure they had access and opportunity to senior level appointments. Diana acknowledges the privileges that she has personally experienced but this has only strengthened her desire to create a social mobility pathway for others to accelerate their professional careers and influence. The Boardroom is only 2 years old and was born from a LinkedIn post in January 2021 after Diana had lost her father during the Pandemic.  After a few days Diana started to receive hundreds of messages from other women supporting her idea and passion.  She created a team of founding members who focused on working with large corporations (with the power, influence and finances) to create change, from her base in Zurich Switzerland. She describes The Boardroom as a boot strapped mission driven start up. She invested her own family money into the creation of The Boardroom which now works with over 100 large organisations across Europe from bases in 6 countries expanding to 12 countries in the new year, each with it's own private Club House. Diana explains about the European Directives in place that focus on assisting the number of women being represented on Boards of listed companies, however she also explains how regulation can actually be counter productive and so her focus remains on the social perspective as opposed to the simple legal requirement for gender equality. Merit is non-negotiable and The Boardroom gathers momentum in re-writing the rules one woman at a time www.the-boardroom.chHeidrick and Struggles is proudly supporting The Boardroom in London and Europe as we are passionate about building bridges and true collaboration for the benefit of all.  www.heidrick.com Watch & Subscribe: 👀 https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosListen & Subscribe: 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/5NSnRyHzPmyY5OWhGzKU5Pwww.leadersenigma.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mohammed Qahtani is a World Champion in public speaking having won the Toastmaster's event competing against 30,000 people from 100 countries.  Mohammed was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and didn't speak until he was 5 years old. He used to stutter when talking and reading and he remembers a teacher smacking him across the face and asking him if he was stupid due to his inability to read out loud.  Appalling as this recollection is, Mohammed actually found solace in another student who pushed him to fight against the fear of public speaking and stuttering by reading out the school bulletins each and every day to overcome his fear. Day after day, disaster after disaster, Mohammed started to enjoy speaking and started to find that he would stutter less and less. By a strange twist of fate, Mohammed met the teacher and student in later life and both did not remember what they had said and the impact (both negative and positive) that they had on Mohammed. Instantly he realised the Power of Words in our lives which in turn would become the basis for his World Champion winning speech. Mohammed joined Toastmasters when he found himself stuttering again in later life and competed for a few years before reaching the final in 2015 in Las Vegas in front of a live audience of over 4,000 people. Mohammed also experimented with comedy, a skillset which featured in his winning speech. During our conversation Mohammed talks about how he structured the speech and how and why he incorporated certain elements from his life lessons and how they continue to guide his understanding of the power of what we say in any given moment. All leaders cast a shadow of their leadership. Words matter, people matter. Be a force for good. www.qahtanispeaks.comWatch the World Champion winning speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwbI8VOsDToWatch & Subscribe: 👀 https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosListen & Subscribe: 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/5NSnRyHzPmyY5OWhGzKU5Pwww.leadersenigma.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Jonsson is the founder of the Executive Global Network (EGN) in South East Asia and author of 'Executive Loneliness.' Three CEO's during conversations for this podcast have used the phrase 'It's time to take the mask off', the issue of extreme vulnerability is very real. Nick began his career in advertising and has always had challenging and demanding jobs. His own personal struggles led him to start the Executive Global Network as a confidential peer group for executives and business owners across South East Asia. Nick's motivation for starting (EGN) was based on struggles he had during a 'burn out' period as an executive. He was anxious, stressed and became addicted to alcohol between 2015-2018 he was losing his physical health. He describes the 'smiling depression' as a period of time when he pretended everything was ok to the outside world but internally everything was falling apart and he was spiralling. During Nick's research for his book he discovered that about 10% of senior executives are living as functional alcoholics. Nick uncovered that 33% of executives in SE Asia were suffering from loneliness and isolation. During the pandemic the numbers doubled!  Nick himself, hit rockbottom in 2018 and wrote his last will and testament as he could not see how he could recover. He met a woman who later became his wife who was the catalyst for him seeking help as she was responsible for helping Nick break the cycle of shame and hiding and him slowly realising that he was not alone.   The strategy to combat Executive Loneliness is based on vulnerability and sharing on a deeply human level.  Dr Verran Rose (episide. ) describes vulnerability brilliantly. Society has always handed trophies and glorified winners and many of us have grown up with a selfish dedication to our own success and believing that when the going gets tough the tough gets going.  Today, successful companies are making every effort to support their people with mental health initiatives with a culture of openness and understanding. The perception of success is very different to the reality of success which is why we have seen so many high profile individuals struggle publicly. The sheer size of SE Asia has also contributed to the challenges for many executives working in the area. It's time to humanise our leadership. Nick also outlines his 5 Step plan to mitigate executive loneliness during this episode. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-jonsson/Buy the book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Executive-Loneliness-Overcoming-Isolation-Depression-ebook/dp/B091B1Y3WZWatch & Subscribe: 👀 https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosListen & Subscribe: 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/5NSnRyHzPmyY5OWhGzKU5Pwww.leadersenigma.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Creswick is the founder and CEO of Vorboss, a telecommunications company which he set up 17 years ago and now employs over 400 people. He is also the newly appointed Chair of the Board of Directors at the Institute of Telecommunications Professionals.This is a courageous, vulnerable and inspiring episode of success,  challenge , divorce, therapy, mental health and never stopping in the pursuit of personal growth. All leaders must understand that  success comes at a price and self awareness and self care are non-negotiable.  Tim completed  his high school education but decided to drop out of Oxford University before completing his degree in order to pursue his entrepreneurial spirit. Tim describes himself as an outsider, and only felt a sense of home when in his 30's. He appreciates the contrasting experience he has of anonymity in his commute and everyday life and the weight of responsibility and accountability of being the CEO to over 400 people. Tim truly believes that good leadership means not being invincible. He tells me about his experience of going through a divorce when Vorboss was only about 15 people and the process could have seen the closure of the business. He felt he could not talk about this at work as he didn't want to worry anyone. This is now in stark contrast to running a thriving business that has received over £250-300 million in investment. Tim has made a deliberate decision as an introvert to be authentic, open and deeply human as a leader in order to experience personal growth. He has a tattoo 'Never Stop' when at end of 2019 he was at very low point and his mental health declined significantly following his prolonged divorce proceedings. Tim got to the point that his depression was leaving him feeling hollow and numb. Just getting out of bed and functioning would be an effort each day. This difficult period was also one of the most empowering times for Tim in the business as people knew something was wrong but they also saw an incredible drive to push the business even harder. For Tim, overcoming the challenge of getting out of bed in the morning left him feeling invincible for the rest of the day.  Being a leader is a deeply personal journey but you have a choice of the experience (shadow) that you provide to those you lead and interact with each and every day. They say 'it's lonely at the top', so check out next week's episode focused on 'Executive Loneliness' with Nick Jonsson.  Watch & Subscribe: 👀 https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosListen & Subscribe: 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/5NSnRyHzPmyY5OWhGzKU5Pwww.leadersenigma.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carol Day is the Business Operations Manager for Stuart Pearce (former England Captain) and also spent over 14 years with the Football Association working with the England Men's Teams throughout a number of European and World Cup Competitions including Team GB during the London Olympics.  Mitchell Feldman is the co-founder and CMO of the award winning technology company Xrai Glass who are continuing to improve the lives of those with impaired hearing by subtitling life! This episode is a wonderful example of how The Leadership Enigma can combine guests and contributors to enhance and pressure test the leadership lessons we experience throughout life. Carol outlines how she has been involved in elite football for years, including personally communicating with the England players when they were selected for international duties. Carol is married to Stuart Pearce and works with him on a daily basis combining his experiences on the pitch with her own personal business experiences to create a compelling perspective on the leadership challenges of those working within a corporate environment. Mitchell continues to strive to be a force for good for the hearing impaired community by leveraging a technology enabled product to subtitle life. He has also been working with England's deaf football team to try and improve their ability to prepare and train for competition as they are not allowed any use of technology on the field of play. The connection between my guests is based not only on sport but on the fact that Carol has suffered hearing difficulties including tinnitus since birth and volunteers within the deaf community herself.  This is a wonderful episode of two leaders from two very different sectors reflecting on what leadership means to them, their teams and the very personal lessons they have benefited from. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosWatch & Subscribe: 👀 https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosListen & Subscribe: 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/5NSnRyHzPmyY5OWhGzKU5Pwww.leadersenigma.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week LaunchPod Studios pulled together a highlights episode featuring Stuart Pearce, former England Captain, World Cup hero, manager, coach and pundit. Jack Sullivan, Director of West Ham United who have just won the Europa Conference League Trophy, Caroline Pill, Partner at Heidrick & Struggles and Mitchell Feldman who is a co-founder of Xrai Glass.  Enjoy this episode as an array of incredible new guests will be with us from next week. Don't forget to subscribe to our new YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosWatch & Subscribe: 👀 https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosListen & Subscribe: 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/5NSnRyHzPmyY5OWhGzKU5Pwww.leadersenigma.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to an opportunity for you and I to chat and reflect on over 150 episodes from leaders all over the world. In this short episode i take a moment to remember when and why I started The Leadership Enigma. Who knew after over 150 episodes we would be globally ranked, with one award, added to the MBA reading lists of prestigious business schools and recording all episodes from LaunchPod Studios. I reflect on some of the most powerful learning points which include culture, living and working in extreme change and the rise of Human Centred Leadership for a World Better Led. I also outline what is coming next for the show and ask for your help in sharing our content with your communities as we now make a deliberate effort to grow and meet the needs of our global audience.  Please get in touch and tell me who I should speak to and what topics I should focus on. The Leadership Enigma is now looking for its first sponsor in order to collaborate and widen our global community with incredible guests and insights. Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adampacifico/Listen: https://open.spotify.com/show/5NSnRyHzPmyY5OWhGzKU5PWatch:  https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosWatch & Subscribe: 👀 https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosListen & Subscribe: 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/5NSnRyHzPmyY5OWhGzKU5Pwww.leadersenigma.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yulia Barnacova is a Metaverse, Web 3 and Gen AI Strategist at Accenture, a Ted X speaker and Microsoft MVP. As technology continues to change and adapt at the speed of thought, leaders and businesses also need to adapt and ensure that the speed of change externally does not exceed the speed of change internally. Yulia is a technology experimenter and is always probing the art of the possible. In this episode my only role was to be curious and ask Yulia questions such as 'What is the Metaverse?' What is the infrastructure that it requires? What is the opportunity and the challenge for leaders? I also explore the residual impact from the lack of human proximity that we all suffered during the pandemic and how the Metaverse will be viewed going forward. What is clear from this episode is that the digital landscape will not slow down and already provides business with a full digital economy and ever changing commerce system. Yulia will also explain that the current legal and regulatory systems can't keep up with the pace of change hence it feels to many as if the Wild West of technological change is upon us. Is this a modern day gold rush and start of an uncontrollable race for competitive advantage or is this an opportunity for the world to right so many historical wrongs? https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuliabarnakova/Watch & Subscribe: 👀 https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosListen & Subscribe: 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/5NSnRyHzPmyY5OWhGzKU5Pwww.leadersenigma.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sapna Gopalakrishnan is Legal Counsel for one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. She got her dream job in early March 2019 and then everything changed as she almost lost her life and doctors gave her a 0-5% chance of survival. Through a freak incident in 2019 in Mumbai, Sapna contracted Sepsis which is the body’s extreme response to an infection. It is a life-threatening medical emergency and happens when an infection you already have triggers a chain reaction throughout your body. In a short space of time she was in full septic shock. a coma for three weeks, 7-8 transfusions, suspected brain damage, gangrene, organ failure which all resulted in her having to have multiple amputations from both feet and both hands. What is extraordinary are the recollections Sapna has of out of body experiences with recollections of activities in other rooms that have been corroborated by her friends and family and also her incredible spiritual resilience with a hint of comedy, sci-fi and music! What is clear from this extraordinary account is the power of people and community. Friends, family and a global organisation that lived up to it's purpose of impact and being a force for good, all combining to help Sapna through the experience and back to living her life to the full.  As we have  this conversation in the foyer of the Intercontinental Hotel in Singapore, Sapna continues to be grateful every single day as she accepts that something happened to her but it will never define her.  An inspirational episode and another sample of the power of Human Centred Leadership. Insta: amputee_curlyWatch & Subscribe: 👀 https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosListen & Subscribe: 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/5NSnRyHzPmyY5OWhGzKU5Pwww.leadersenigma.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lady Indiraa has had three Top 10 singles in the UK Dance Charts. She is an amazingly compassionate Indian born, London bred electro pop sensation who broke into music in her 50's and is now proudly approaching her 65th birthday. Indiraa is all about 'Breaking the Mould' in an industry who uses Avatars for her music videos to mask the fact that she is of an age demographic that most listeners would not believe or even associate with. Her songs are played by some of the biggest 'A list' DJ's all over the world and her lyrics are a deeply personal expression of experiences such as the loss of her parents, mental health and addiction and a realisation that the her human being was driving her music output when both happy and sad. Lady Indiraa started to explore street talk, youth culture and used crime podcasts to learn about the language she might use in her lyrics to connect with her growing audience. She has performed in some of London's biggest clubs and also in front of the Mayor of London. Her performances allow her to tap into her alter ego and put on a show that in many ways is a life of escapism. This episode is a beautifully honest and vulnerable story of someone who many will see as a successful singer songwriter without really knowing the trauma, lessons and life experiences that fuel her creativity. The success of her songs is undoubtedly linked to the connection young people feel with the edgy and honest lyrics that speak of the trials and tribulations experienced by many.Her song 'Shrink' was dedicated to the death of her therapist after many years of personal development at a time when she was struggling with depression and anxiety. The re-release of the single was predicated on the struggles Lady Indiraa was seeing in the younger generation post pandemic. When you can accept who you are, you find the strength to open yourself up to others and start to ask for the help you might need. This is all about the power of vulnerability and the need for all of us to care. Enjoy every second of this very special episode.  Watch & Subscribe: 👀 https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videosListen & Subscribe: 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/5NSnRyHzPmyY5OWhGzKU5Pwww.leadersenigma.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.