SPEAK LIKE A CEO

Welcome back to Speak Like a CEO! On today's podcast we take you to Israel, with an episode recorded straight from Tel Aviv.  Our guest is Chedva Kleinhandler, the CEO and Founder of Emerj, an app that connects employees and mentors.  Chedva started her first business at 21. At that time she thought she was the only person in the world who needed a mentor. After her second business succeeded, more and more people sought her advice. She realised: you can be an employee surrounded by people with knowledge and still feel that you don't have access to that knowledge.  On today's episode, our guest tells us how she broke down the barriers of making mentorship truly scalable within organisations and easy in terms of people's commitment and time. In a time of platform fatigue, she talks to us about how to create a safe and confidential digital space for mentoring and how it can truly enhance internal communications and become a powerful tool for employer branding Beyond mentorship, we talk about what makes Israeli entrepreneurship and what role communications plays in this part of the world. A true bridge builder between different cultures, Chedva lets us in on the different types of communication styles she has experienced and how religion and tech intersect in Israel. Is communication the secret to Israeli innovation?  To find out, tune in on this special episode from Tel Aviv! Enjoy.

Ever been in a situation where you really wished you knew what the other person was thinking? Well, we aren’t talking to any psychics today, but we’ve got the next best thing.  Today we are joined with Germany’s mindreader, Gerrit Richter CEO and founder of leading opinion poll tech company Civey. Civey has over 1 million active participants per month, and with the European parliamentary elections coming up in May, polling is a hot topic.  But polling doesn’t need to be political. Gerrit lets us in on everything from what makes a company successful to user feedback to how the Internet is full of people who just want to express their opinion and what makes polling important. He also talks about how, in the polling business, trust and transparency are of utmost importance and lets us into how communicating change can allow a company to grow fast. So put away your crystal balls and let's head to the polls. Enjoy. 

Today we are talking straight from the heart with Dr. Johannes Keienburg, CEO of HitFox Group and co-Managing Director of Heartbeat Labs - a digital health platform aiming to bring patient-centric solutions to the market. Drawing on his experience working in journalism, consultancy and in the start-up world, Johannes shares his insights into communications as an essential component of good leadership and how adopting a data-driven mindset can be the key to taking effective business decisions.  He lets us into everything from the challenges facing the healthcare market to how telling a convincing story is essential to building relationships with customers. He also lets us into why he believes being radically transparent can foster authority, but also empathy... So let’s get into our data driven mindsets! Enjoy!  

Ever wondered what pitching your start-up and folk music have in common?  Today our guest is Henric Hungerhoff, managing director of the APX startup accelerator, a collaboration by Axel Spring and Porsche. Not only is he an entrepreneur himself but he’s also a startup enthusiast, an investor, a lawyer and plays in his own Americana band (and if you listen closely to the episode, you can catch some of his music!).  Henric let’s us in on everything he looks for in a successful startup, from how he prefers working with teams over single founders and how he steers away from family based endeavours…with a couple of exceptions. Henric also takes us through the process of pitching your start-up, and how the perfect pitch is like writing a song: all the parts need to be in the perfect place to really captivate your audience. Enjoy! 

Help! Sometimes you need somebody! Not just anybody...Sometime you need the right person, or right mentor, to guide you in the right direction! Today on the show we have Berlin start-up original and friend of the show Christoph Raethke as well as Anne Riechert, the Joan of Arc of social entrepreneurship and CEO and co-founder of the ReDi School of Digital Integration, teaching coding skills to refugees and asylum seekers. Today our guests talk about a common passion: mentoring. What makes a good mentor? From staying  curious to being empathetic, our guests share some personal stories on what it takes to be the best mentor you can be, one of which even includes a visit from Marc Zuckerberg... Enjoy! 

Ever wonder what Obama thinks about tourism?  Today’s guest is Toby Nicol, the executive director of Uniting Travel: a coalition of the world's major Travel & Tourism organisations dedicated to ensuring that the sector speaks with 'One Voice’.  And that’s exactly what we are going to talk about today. In an increasingly interconnected world, how does one make sure that everyone not only has a voice, but that all these voices are heard and understood: from a small boutique hotel to a huge cruise ship company.  It’s not as easy as it sounds, and it doesn’t sound easy at all! The tourism industry is full of opinions…some even coming from former US president Obama himself….Curious? Stay tuned.

 This week the team is in sunny sunny Tel Aviv recording some very special episodes so stay tuned for that. So this week we have a great throwback bonus episode for you! Back in November, Oliver and Lena chatted to friend of the show Lyanne Alfaro from NASDAQ about the art of storytelling how it changes depending on the medium. They talk all about the role social media is playing in the up and coming world of executive communications, how CEO’s can and should utilise the digital media world to their advantage,  and much more. Enjoy! 

This week, Oliver gives us his top 5 tips for presenting with impact (warning, it includes at least 5 "P"s)! Make sure to check out our full episode with Bettina Hausmann for even more insight! Enjoy! 

From coaching buddhist monks in Africa to senior business leaders in San Francisco, our guest today Bettina Hausmann has seen it all.  Bettina is a good friend of the show and has been advising high-level corporate and public clients in communications for 20 years now. Today on episode 13 of Speak like a CEO, she tells us all about what it takes to go from good to great, what executives can learn from start ups and how life sometimes ends up taking you places you don’t always expect. But in the end, Bettina says it best: if you don’t try anything new, nothing new is going to happen.  Stay tuned for some great stories about coaching in different cultures, how to manage your energy how to avoid the salami tactic when faced with a crisis….  Enjoy! 

On this week's bonus episode we answer your Instagram questions about space after recording our latest episode with BDLI managing director Volker Thum! We even wore our NASA shirts for the occasion! Enjoy!