By Manfred Kets de Vries One of my clients, let’s call him Johan, came to my office complaining of burnout, although “complaining” is perhaps too lively a word for what he had to say. He did not storm in, did not accuse the world, did not even...
On the hedonic drive and on emotional blindness By Manfred Kets de Vries Reading about Sam Bankman-Fried — his improbable ascent, his extraordinary collapse, his courtroom demeanour, his T-shirts hanging off him like loose parentheses — one cannot...
Retirement is a pivotal moment that extends beyond a mere career endpoint. It reflects both personal legacy and organisational culture. The way an organisation handles a leader’s departure speaks volumes about its values. Mishandled exits, such as...
By Manfred Kets de Vries Mental health is a deeply personal pursuit, and for many of us, it’s something we chase quietly — through apps, conversations, books, routines. We want peace, stability, and connection. But just as there are countless ways...
By Manfred Kets de Vries There’s something slightly ironic about trying to write neatly about mental health, a subject that is anything but neat. It often begins with a list of admirable traits — resilience, self-awareness, emotional balance, hope...
"There is more to life than increasing its speed." - Mahatma Gandhi In our hyper-connected world, doing nothing has become a lost art. Modern society has developed an addiction to busyness: we check emails compulsively, fill every moment with...
By Elizabeth Florent « Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. »[The more things change, the more they stay the same.]Alphonse Karr The digital revolution engulfed us all in the mid-1990s. The advantages seemed obvious, but many people struggled...
By Toya Lorch, July 2019 “In companies where people experience real wellness, it has always been part of the corporate DNA and not just a fad.”iManfred Kets de Vries Mary, 43, was made a partner in her law firm four years ago, something that had...
By Toya Lorch, July 2019 In the first part of this blog, I drew an analogy between the myth of Pandora’s box and the issue of mental health in the workplace and made a case for our having the curiosity to open the mental health box. I looked at the...
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.