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Heidrun Wechter-Essig - The Board Whisperer: Power, Pivots, and Playing the Long Game
Season 6 Episode 6
Strategy doesn’t fail because it’s wrong on paper; it fails when culture and execution don’t carry it across the line. We sat down with board leader and former CFO Heidrun Wechter-Essig to map the triangle that actually delivers results—strategy for clarity, culture for belief, and execution for momentum—and to explore how that lens changes the way we approach transformation, AI, and M&A.
Heidrun shares hard-won lessons from 50+ deals, calling out hubris as the top red flag and highlighting the underrated signal few teams discuss: a refusal to choose. If leaders can’t say what won’t get done post-close, integration drifts and politics bloom. We talk through practical guardrails—clear decision rights, measurable milestones, and incentives tied to a crisp integration thesis—that keep value creation on track. The conversation also reframes “transformation” from a vague mandate to a capability you build: early wins, peer-to-peer storytelling, and transparency that outlasts the flavor-of-the-month cycle.
On AI, we cut through buzzwords and get specific. Boards need literacy in machine learning and large language models, the ability to ask for explainability, and a scorecard for bias and model risk. Strategic edge comes from targeted use cases that improve decisions, speed innovation, and sharpen focus—not generic tools your competitors can copy. We explore smart versus dumb governance: focus on the few risks that matter with strong controls, give freedom within a framework elsewhere, and replace the illusion of control with clear containment principles for volatile markets.
Finally, we rethink power at the top. Real power is influence—the quiet force that aligns stakeholders and enables excellence—balanced with moments of visible clarity when uncertainty spikes. Heidrun’s stories show how leaders manage contradictions like stability versus reinvention and control versus entrepreneurial freedom, and how legacy is measured in people who can now run the triangle without you. If you’re building a board, leading a deal, or trying to make AI useful rather than noisy, this is your playbook for practical, people-centered change.
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Published on 2 weeks ago