Leadership Insights

What truly connects founders and executives - beyond roles, titles, and organizational logic? More than one might assume at first glance.

In this conversation with Georg Fischer, we discuss innovation, leadership, and the human side of change. We explore why good ideas often fail not because of technology, but because of execution. Why real innovation has less to do with tools than with mindset. And why founders and executives may have far more to learn from one another than either side realizes.

Drawing on experience across corporate environments, Start-Up coaching, and innovation work, this conversation examines courage, clarity, execution, and what makes progress sustainable from a human perspective.

An interview about the power of good questions, about pitches as acts of trust-building, and about why the future often begins where people take responsibility.

In this conversation, Markus Hanauer, founder and entrepreneur, explains why he initiated an open Culture Camp for leaders and anyone interested in the topic, why a healthy workplace culture is not a “nice-to-have,” and what responsibility entrepreneurs truly carry.

We talk about concrete leadership practices instead of buzzwords, about economic reality rather than feel-good rhetoric and about the belief that creating better workplaces can start small yet still have a major impact.

Leaders spend a large portion of their time in meetings, workshops, and strategy sessions. Often in environments that are functional but rarely conducive to truly productive thinking. But what if the setting itself could noticeably influence the quality of conversations, decisions, and ideas?

This is precisely what Jutta Herzog and Matthias zur Bonsen focus on. They design environments and formats that bring people into a state where concentrated, creative, and clear thinking becomes possible and where they can let go of everyday operational demands. Their ambition goes beyond traditional workshop settings. They aim to create both external and internal spaces in which teams gain access to new ideas, work constructively together, and enter a productive yet relaxed atmosphere.

In this interview, we explore how such spaces are created, why they are crucial for leadership today, and how they transform collaboration and decision quality.

Verena worked in a large corporate environment. A common experience in leadership is change processes imposed “from the top” and then executed by leaders: reorganizations, new structures, new roles.

As leaders, we were always at the centre of the storm. How do I communicate what, when, and to whom? What if something has already leaked into the team? Do I lose personal credibility if I hide behind corporate communication guidelines — or do I make myself vulnerable if I don’t?

Once again, communication proves to be key. Verena knows all sides of this equation: that of a leader, that of an employee directly affected by a reorganization, and that of an internal communication manager responsible for developing change communication.

In many organizations, leadership and governance are still strongly based on rules: they create clarity, enable control, and are particularly suitable for repetitive tasks. However, our working world is becoming more complex, dynamic, and less predictable.

What was previously governed by rules increasingly requires principles today – principles provide orientation, foster autonomy, and support people in acting responsibly even in complex situations.

Some companies have already recognized this shift and are deliberately taking the step from rule-based to principle-oriented leadership – mediaman being one of them.

I am very pleased to be able to interview its Managing Director, Nina Schubert, about this journey today.