Leading Awake

Three senior leaders get honest about what happens when the pressure is real, the answers aren't there, and everyone in the room is looking to you anyway. The MD behind Starbucks South Africa, the CIO of Tiger Brands, and the head of HR at Pernod Ricard Africa share what deciding without certainty has actually looked like, and what it took to step into it. The question most senior leaders carry pr...

Three senior leaders get honest about what it costs to keep leading when you're stretched thin. The CEO of Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty, the Chief of Payments and Partnerships at JUMO, and the former CMO who led Kulula, British Airways, and Hollard share the moments work was quietly costing them everything else, and how they got themselves back. The numbers don't stop. The deadlines d...

Three senior executives drop the mask and get honest about what it actually takes to stay human at the edge of pressure. The former CEO of Kantar South Africa, the Vice President of IT at DHL Sub-Saharan Africa, and one of South Africa's youngest CIOs share the inner game of leading at the top when the numbers, the deadlines, and the expectations never let up. The numbers don't stop. The deadlines...

When was the last time you were in a high-stakes moment and you felt completely clear? Not just composed on the outside, but actually clear. For most senior leaders, that kind of clarity is rarer than it should be, because pressure narrows the lens exactly when you need it widest. Leading Awake is a new podcast about how to get it back. This is a short, honest introduction to the show. Host Gilan...

In high-stakes leadership, the problem is rarely that you don't know what to do. It's that you can't always see what's actually happening. When pressure rises, your perception narrows and your mind gets busy. When a leader's lens is distorted, everyone downstream pays the price. Leading Awake is a roundtable podcast for mask-off conversations with senior leaders, founders, and executives on the in...