Tintin first appeared in 1929. The world Hergé drew for him: dictators, arms dealers, propaganda, corrupt officials. Not a difficult world to recognise in 2026. In this essay, Professor Manfred Kets de Vries asks what this peculiar, blank-faced,...
Charlie Brown knows the ball will be pulled away. He has always known. Lucy does it every time, across fifty years of daily strips and thousands of iterations. He runs anyway. Most people laugh at that. Then they think about the conversation they...
Every Asterix album opens the same way. A map of Roman-occupied Gaul, four encircling military camps, and the caption: "The year is 50 BC. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans… Well, not entirely." That "well, not entirely" has sold 380 million...
In our last two newsletters we have explored how team coaching unlocks performance and how it works in practice. This month, in the last instalment of this series on Team Coaching, we zoom out to the broader environment: the cultural conditions...
By Manfred Kets de Vries There’s something strangely compelling about witnessing brilliant, singular, and magnetic individuals orchestrate their own undoing. Maybe it’s schadenfreude. Maybe it’s Greek tragedy. Maybe it’s the sense of, “Well, at...
The Reflective Ouroboros at Work By Manfred Kets de Vries Somewhere in the mythological unconscious of every organisation coils the ouroboros, that ancient serpent devouring its own tail. A paradoxical creature, it is at once self-consuming and...
In many organisations, silence speaks louder than words. While leaders often say they value feedback, the reality is more complex; people withhold insights, soften the truth, or avoid difficult conversations altogether. Yet in today’s environment...
On Boundaries, Burnout, and the Misunderstood Virtue of Refusal By Manfred Kets de Vries There are few words in the English language that provoke as much quiet turmoil as the simple word no. For such a small, crisp syllable — brisk, clean,...
Over the past few months, we’ve been exploring themes related to the Future of Work, Leadership Development and Coaching. In this article, KDVI Research Associate Alicia Cheak turns her attention to the concept of organisational coaching. This was...
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.