Many people in the workplace wrestle with combining their ethical and spiritual convictions on the one hand, and what they feel is required of them to progress their careers or simply to stay in their roles.

For people who experience this tension and want to address it, 'Heroic Leadership - Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World' by Chris Lowney. ' will be a great read!

Chris Lowney, is a one-time Jesuit seminarian, who currently chairs the board of CommonSpirit Health, America’s largest not-for-profit healthcare system with 140 hospitals and more than 150,000 employees. Previously, he served as a Managing Director of J.P. Morgan & Co. in Tokyo, Singapore, London and New York.

In the 28th episode of the Leadership 2.0 podcast, I interview Chris Lowney about Heroic Leadership. During our conversation, we discussed the following topics:

• What is Jesuitism?
• Chris's involvement with Jesuitism
• The four Key Values of Jesuitism: Self-Awareness, Ingenuity, Love, and Heroism
• The Jesuits and Agility
• 'Greater Love than Fear' as a Leadership Principle
• Leadership as an Activity
• The Concept of Indifference
• Self-Compassion
• Serving a Higher Purpose in Competitive Work Environments
• A Call to Action - Heroic Leadership - The Workbook
• Why Everyone is a Leader

► Resources

Chris has authored six books, including the bestselling Heroic Leadership, which has been translated into eleven languages and was named to the recommended reading list of the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. His latest work, Make Today Matter: 10 Habits for a Better Life (and World), won an Independent Press Award.

You can find more information about his books (including the workbook on Heroic Leadership that was just published) here: https://chrislowney.com/wp/books/

Any questions or comments? Press this link and send me a message!

Most of us are acutely aware of the gap between how our organizations aspire to operate and the everyday reality of working within them.

In 'Badly Behaved People', executive coach Zena Everett describes many highly recognizable real-world cases illustrating how this discrepancy can manifest itself—and how it can be addressed. What I especially like about this book is how Zena Everett makes complex psychological concepts accessible (without oversimplifying them) and demonstrates how they can be applied in the workplace.

In our conversation about this book, Zena and I discussed the following topics:

• Why Zena wrote Badly Behaved People
• ‘Healthy Competitive Friction’ versus ‘Mindless Harmony’
• Culture: ‘Lived experiences’ or ‘Statements behind the Reception’?
• Dealing with Childhood Experiences in Executive Coaching
• If we cannot trust our perception, what is the alternative?
• Emotional Intelligence and Anger Management
• Career Advice for Introverts
• What if your line manager has a Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)?
• ‘Scrappy Careers’ versus ‘Listening to our Inner Voice’
• Final Thoughts

► About Zena Everett

'Zena Everett has a global leadership coaching and speaking practice, with a reputation for evidence-based content and practical takeaways, delivered in a very entertaining way.

Originally a recruitment entrepreneur, Zena sold her business and studied an MSc in Career Management and Coaching and other post graduate qualifications in psychological coaching and leadership (MIT). She has coached on the Executive MBA Programme at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and is a member of the Associate Faculty at Henley Business School. Her focus is on replacing bad behaviour and crazy busyness with productive, thriving and profitable team relationships.

Zena believes that real success comes from flipping our focus away from ourselves, and onto the problems that we, uniquely, can solve for others. It’s not about us and our egos: it’s what we can do for others that matters'.

► Resources

Email Zena Everett: zena@zenaeverett.com

Book 'Badly Behaved People': https://www.zenaeverett.com/badly-behaved-people/

Other books by Zena Everett: https://www.zenaeverett.com/books/

Website Zeba Everett: https://www.zenaeverett.com/

Any questions or comments? Press this link and send me a message!

Even though, for years, we have had a vast array of change management theories and methodologies at our disposal (Kotter, Lewin, Kubler-Ross, Bridges, ADKAR, etc.), it still proves to be very hard for us as leaders and consultants to implement real, sustainable change (transformation). Most change projects fail (70% according to McKinsey), or end with a superficial victory declaration, after which the organization often falls back to 'the way we DID things here'.

'Why is that?' That very question drove Daniël Wolfs, experienced change consultant and co-founder of The Change Studio, to write his thought-provoking book De Veranderfilosoof (The Change Philosopher) on how we can approach transformation in a deeper, more human, and more sustainable way.'

In our conversation about this book, we discussed the following topics:

1. The Why of this book
2. Fake News’ in Organizations
3. ‘Storytelling’ versus ‘Storyselling’
4. Preventing entropy in change processes
5. The ‘Shifting Baseline’ Syndrome
6. The Soul of Organizations
7. The Plessner Paradox: Individual identities in collective change processes
8. Focusing on the change instead of the outcome
9. Why Daniel is fascinated by change
10. Final thoughts

► About Daniël Wolfs

Daniël Wolfs is co-founder and co-owner of The Change Studio, where he works with clients and colleagues on modern approaches to organizational change and leadership. The guiding principles: Lead. Inspire. Create.

He is the author of the book 'De Veranderfilosoof '- op zoek naar de kern van verandering ('The Change Philosopher - Searching for the core of change'), in which he explores both the visible and invisible dynamics of organizational change.
Drawing on philosophy, systems thinking, and real-world cases, he challenges conventional change management with fresh perspectives and provocative questions.

Daniël has spent his career helping leaders and organizations navigate complex transformations—by making change tangible in the day-to-day, and by creating space for the kind of conversations that actually move people.
Whether guiding leadership teams, designing change journeys, or deconstructing old patterns, his work is rooted in connection, reflection, and practical momentum.

Through writing, speaking, and advising, he continues to explore how we can make change not just possible—but meaningful.

PS: 'Publisher beware': the book has just been published in Dutch, so please contact the author in case your are interested to publish a translation (email below)!

► Resources

Email Daniël Wolfs: daniel@thechangestudio.nl

The Book

The Change Studio

Podcast episode Murray Stein

Any questions or comments? Press this link and send me a message!