Ever feel like you're playing multiple roles at once: boss, mentor, fixer, visionary, therapist, and crisis manager, all before lunch? You’re not alone. Today’s leaders are juggling more than ever: hybrid teams, cultural shifts, climate anxiety, AI...
In today's fast-paced world, the only constant is change. Whether you're leading a small team or running a multinational organisation, the ability to adapt quickly and effectively has become essential. That's where adaptive leadership comes in –...
Walk into any high-performing organisation, and you'll likely find a leader with that special combination of vision, charisma, and absolute certainty that draws people in. Behind many success stories stands someone who profoundly believes in their...
By Paul Vanderbroeck Set-up or not, the spectacular meeting that took place in the Oval Office on Friday 28 February offers helpful lessons for any leader about to enter a difficult conversation with an asymmetrical power balance. So yes, the...
The recent Drucker Forum revealed a prevalent theme: our ways of running businesses are outdated, humans have been forgotten in the design of our businesses (described as mechanistic), and we must begin to rethink. Many people are profoundly...
Generative AI. Mental health. Hybrid working. Since the pandemic, the way people work in organisations across the globe has continued to evolve at pace, with the future of work becoming a hot topic. KDVI Research Associate, Alicia Cheak, has been...
By Martine Van Den Poel and Graham Ward This article describes the benefits of small group coaching in leadership development. Rather than being merely a cheaper, diluted alternative, we suggest that small group coaching has unique advantages and...
Bt Hanneke C. Frese (2018) "Leaders who are comfortable showing vulnerability are often seen as authentic and trustworthy." For those people who seem to be effortlessly successful, but at some point begin to wonder if the construct they have built...
By Jean Claude Noel (2022) ‘Leadership’ has steadily spread through the corporate world, business schools, and executive education, in various forms and reinventions, such as ‘Leadership for Performance’, ‘Sustainable Leadership’, ‘Strategic...
Oriane Kets de Vries is CEO and owner of the Kets de Vries Institute. She leads a global team of coaches, consultants and educators dedicated to developing reflective, emotionally intelligent leaders and cultivating workplaces where people can thrive. In her faculty role, she draws on extensive experience designing and directing leadership programmes for senior executives, contributing her expertise in psychodynamic coaching, organisational culture, and transformational leadership development.
Oriane has served as consultant, coach, and programme director for clients including Pictet, Deutsche Bank, Merck, UBS, Mishcon de Reya, and Engie, and she has taught on open-enrolment programmes with leading institutions such as Cambridge Judge Business School, Oxford Saïd, INSEAD, ESCP, ESMT and CEDEP. Her interests centre on the human side of leadership, particularly identity, creativity, entrepreneurship and gender dynamics. She holds an MBA and Executive MA in Coaching and Consulting for Change from INSEAD, has trained at the Harvard Kennedy School, and brings more than a decade of professional experience in creative and entrepreneurial industries into her work with leaders.
Manfred Kets de Vries is a pioneering authority in leadership development, coaching, and organisational change. He is a founder and director of the Kets de Vries Institute (KDVI) and served as Distinguished Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and Organisational Change at INSEAD. With academic credentials in economics (University of Amsterdam), management (MBA and DBA, Harvard Business School), and psychoanalysis (trained in Canada), he brings a uniquely interdisciplinary perspective to leadership. His work bridges management theory and clinical insight, establishing him as a global thought leader in executive coaching and transformation. At INSEAD, he founded the Global Leadership Centre and led the flagship programme The Challenge of Leadership for 31 years. He also served as scientific director of Coaching and Consulting for Change, an 18-month Executive Master’s programme that has shaped over 3,000 senior leaders and executive coaches worldwide. He has advised and coached senior executives at global firms including Goldman Sachs, BP, Shell, Unilever, McKinsey, and Volvo. A prolific author of over 60 books and 400 articles, his work appears regularly in The Financial Times, The Economist, and Harvard Business Review. Recognised by Le Capital, Wirtschaftswoche, and The Financial Times as one of the world’s top 50 management thinkers, he is widely regarded for advancing more human-centred approaches to leadership.
Senior Adviser (Luminary) at Accenture and executive coach with over 12 years of board experience. Formerly a banker and McKinsey consultant, Yulia has led banking transformations in digital, agile, organisational change, and talent development. Her coaching spans the finance, tech, and consumer goods sectors, blending technological insight with emotional intelligence to guide leaders through transformation. Recently, she advised BBVA on agile methodologies and senior talent development. Influenced by thought leaders such as Manfred Kets de Vries and Gabor Maté, Yulia brings an analytical, reflective approach to leadership. She has lived and worked across the UK, Spain, the US, and Russia.
Elizabeth has worked closely with Manfred Kets de Vries for many years and has served as a Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow at INSEAD. Her extensive background in leadership development spans organisational consulting, executive coaching, and academic research. She holds advanced degrees in Organisational Development and Clinical Organisational Psychology and is a certified Coaching Supervisor through the Tavistock Institute. Her doctoral research explored experiential domains in executive education, and she has authored or co-authored numerous academic articles, case studies, and books on leadership and organisational dynamics. Elizabeth led the development teams behind KDVI’s diagnostic instruments, including the GELM, OCA™, and ITI. Drawing on her diverse training and global experience, she brings deep cross-cultural insight to her work with leaders worldwide. Originally from California, Elizabeth has made France her home for over 30 years.