Everyone is a Leader.

👤 Hosted by Charles Simonetti (   / charlessimonetti   ),Advisor to CEOs & Executive Teams and Founder of "On a Quest." ( https://www.onaquest.eu/ ),"Everyone is a Leader." is a leadership podcast for Executives, Investors & Business Leaders.In this episode of Everyone is a Leader, host Charles Simonetti sits down with Carlos Puigjaner, former CEO and co-owner of Verbio, to unpack the complex human dynamics behind scaling and exiting a tech company. Carlos shares firsthand insights from his 16-year journey leading Verbio from an early-stage voice AI pioneer to its major acquisition by a US company in 2025.They dive deep into the "human factor" as a genuine business risk, exploring why high-stakes M&A deals often stall due to unspoken emotional barriers, how to navigate the inevitable power imbalances in co-CEO structures, and the profound identity shock founders experience after selling their life's work.Key Takeaways from This Episode:The Evolving Leader: Why growing a company requires a leader to shift from always leading at the front to step-back roles that empower teams.The Elephant in the Room during M&A: Why discussing ownership percentages and leadership structure from day one is far more critical than getting swept up in a future vision.The Reality of Co-CEOs: Why equal power in a co-CEO structure rarely exists, and how establishing single ownership over specific business domains preserves accountability.The Existential Aftermath of an Exit: A vulnerable look into the loss of purpose and identity adjustments that occur immediately after achieving a dream corporate exit.Episode Timestamps00:00 – Introduction to Carlos Puigjaner and Verbio01:15 – Carlos’s Transition from Engineer to Tech Entrepreneur02:35 – Scaling Verbio: Pioneering Corporate Voice AI Since 201004:42 – Moving From the Front: How Leadership Roles Must Evolve06:05 – The Funding Trap: Navigating Investor Opinions & Hidden Tensions07:22 – M&A Strategy: Why You Must Talk About Ownership First09:35 – The Truth About Co-CEO Power Dynamics & Role Separation11:55 – Human Risk in Deals: Uncovering Past Fears and Ego14:30 – Wartime vs. Peacetime CEOs: Managing Crises and Talent Alignment17:08 – The Identity Crisis: Mourning Your Role After a Major Corporate Exit19:50 – What Leadership Truly Means: Empowering Others to Shine25:30 – The Investor Trap: Managing Shareholder Opinions & Missed Business Plans31:15 – The #1 Rule in M&A: Discuss Ownership & Control Before Vision36:40 – The Reality of Co-CEOs: Power Imbalances & Domain Single Ownership42:15 – Human Risk in Deals: Uncovering Past Trauma, Ego & Hidden Barriers47:30 – Navigating Crisis: The "Wartime vs. Peacetime CEO" Mindset53:10 – The Loyalty Trap: Replacing Key Talent as the Business Scales58:20 – Post-Exit Reality: The Existential Shock & Loss of Identity01:03:40 – Slowing Down: Finding New Purpose After the Sale01:07:00 – Final Takeaway: Leadership is Empowering Others to Give Their Best

👤 Hosted by Charles Simonetti ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlessimonetti/ ),Advisor to CEOs & Executive Teams and Founder of "On a Quest." ( https://www.onaquest.eu/ ),"Everyone is a Leader." is a leadership podcast for Executives, Investors & Business Leaders.🎙️ Today’s guest: Nafees Hamid, PhD (https://nafeeshamid.org/ / nafees-hamid-phd / @drnafeeshamid )A cognitive scientist and field researcher who has scanned the brains of extremists, negotiated with radicalized individuals, and studied how identity and belief systems drive human behavior.He is the Research & Policy Director of XCEPT, based at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, and advises governments worldwide on preventing political violence, negotiating conflict, and peacebuilding.In this episode of Everyone is a Leader, host Charles Simonetti (founder of On a Quest.) sits down with Dr. Nafees Hamid (https://nafeeshamid.org/ / nafees-hamid-phd / @drnafeeshamid ) —cognitive scientist, field researcher, and Research & Policy Director at XCEPT (King’s College London).Dr. Hamid’s work scans the brains of extremists and negotiates high-stakes geopolitical conflicts. In this conversation, he explains why the traditional "rational actor model"—relying strictly on financial carrots, sticks, and cost-benefit analyses—fails when dealing with human beings in business, leadership, and negotiation.Key Discussion Points:- Devoted Actors vs. Rational Actors: Why people are motivated far more by identity, sacred values, and purpose than purely transactional incentives.- Re-engaging the Disaffected: How to listen to actively disengaged employees and leverage their critical diagnostic skills to improve your organization rather than turning them into adversaries.- Navigating Asymmetric Conflict: Why "perspective giving" matters more than "perspective taking," how to defuse competitive victimhood, and the power of public symbolic concessions.- Empathy vs. Compassion: The crucial neurological distinction between absorbing trauma (which leads to burnout) and bringing compassionate, benevolent energy into the room.- The Limits of Mass Persuasion: Why broadcast advertising and top-down messaging frequently fail in high-stakes environments without genuine social interaction and community-driven connection.- Identity Before Ideology: Why people join political or corporate groups for belonging and agency long before they buy into the actual ideas.Episode Chapters00:00 – Introduction: Dr. Nafees Hamid01:12 – The Flaw in the "Rational Actor" Model03:15 – Rational Actors vs. Devoted Actors05:10 – The Parallel Between Disaffected Citizens & Disengaged Employees08:05 – Why Top-Down Solutions Backfire (The MolenGeek Case)11:00 – Harnessing Subversiveness: Using Criticism Productively13:15 – The Motivation Trap: Rewarding Highly Engaged Talent15:35 – Negotiating Deep Conflict Beyond Material Interests17:50 – Asymmetric Conflicts & The Power of Being Heard19:40 – Breaking Competitive Victimhood with Symbolic Concessions21:50 – Empathy vs. Compassion: A Neurological Shift24:30 – Why Mass Advertising Campaigns Fail26:50 – Building True Client Devotion & Community29:10 – Identity Before Ideology: Why People Really Join Groups30:40 – Final Takeaway: Connecting to the Internal Narrative35:15 – The Motivation Paradox: How Material Rewards Lower Engagement41:20 – Negotiating Deep Conflict Beyond Costs and Benefits48:00 – Asymmetric Conflict, Perspective Giving & Competitive Victimhood53:40 – Empathy vs. Compassion: A Neurological Shift in High-Stakes Mediation01:00:15 – Why Mass Persuasion & Advertising Fail01:06:30 – Building True Client Devotion Through Community01:10:15 – Identity Over Ideology & Final Leadership Takeaways

👤 Hosted by Charles Simonetti ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlessimonetti/ ),Advisor to CEOs & Executive Teams and Founder of "On a Quest." ( https://www.onaquest.eu/ ),"Everyone is a Leader." is a leadership podcast for Executives, Investors & Business Leaders.Key Discussion Points:- Beyond the "Chief Happiness Officer": Why branding cultural change around "happiness" can backfire, and why "Humanizing Business" grounds transformation in both performance and human values.The Freedom of the Fool (Narrenfreiheit): How creating autonomous, non-hierarchical spaces (like SAP’s AppHouse) fosters genuine innovation and psychological safety.- Networked Organizations vs. Rigid Hierarchies: Why traditional top-down structures fail in unpredictable, fast-changing markets—and how "team-of-teams" models adapt faster.- Data-Driven Culture Change: How micro-interventions in a sales environment directly drove over €10.5 million in revenue increase.- Team-Driven Hybrid Work Policies: Why top-down mandates fail and how empowering teams to co-create their own working agreements delivers better alignment and performance.- Strong Opinions, Weakly Held: How leaders can bring vision and experience without dominating the room or stripping agency from their teams.Episode Chapters00:00 – Introduction: Toby Haug & Humanizing Business01:15 – From Zoologist to Design & Tech Pioneer02:30 – The Shift from "Chief Happiness Officer" to Humanizing Business04:20 – The AppHouse Experiment: 3 Years of Autonomous Innovation07:05 – Drawing the Shift: Hierarchies vs. Networked Teams09:40 – Management vs. Leadership: Why You Need Both11:15 – Practical Culture Framework: The Frequency vs. Collaboration Workshop14:00 – Proving ROI: Tracking €10.5M in Revenue from Culture Interventions16:30 – Navigating Reorgs, Stakeholder Friction, & Change Exhaustion19:10 – The Garden Metaphor: Leaving a Legacy vs. Owning the Outcome22:00 – "Have a Strong Opinion That is Weakly Held"24:10 – What Leadership Truly Means: Leadership is Personal38:50 – Management vs. Leadership: Why High-Performing Companies Need Both46:15 – Practical Culture Framework: The Frequency vs. Collaboration Workshop55:30 – Proving ROI: Tracking €10.5M in Revenue from Culture Interventions01:03:45 – Navigating Reorgs, Stakeholder Friction & Change Exhaustion01:11:50 – The Garden Metaphor: Leaving Legacy & Processing Transition01:19:15 – "Have a Strong Opinion That is Weakly Held" & Supporting as Leadership01:24:10 – Final Takeaway: Leadership is Personal

👤 Hosted by Charles Simonetti ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlessimonetti/ ),Advisor to CEOs & Executive Teams and Founder of "On a Quest." ( https://www.onaquest.eu/ ),"Everyone is a Leader." is a leadership podcast for Executives, Investors & Business Leaders.🎙️ Today’s guest: Léa de Fierkowsky, Co-founder & ex-COO · Underdog.🧭 Each episode follows a three-part structure:- The Leader’s Journey: Turning points that shaped the guest’s leadership.- Breakthrough Conversation: An unscripted dialogue about one current challenge the guest is facing.- Key Takeaways: Insights the guest believes every leader should embody.📌 Chapters00:00 Warning 00:45 Generic01:05 Intro - Host01:14 Intro - Show01:42 Intro - Guest02:54 The Leader's Journey27:38 Breakthrough Conversation49:43 Key Takeaways1:00:09 Final Thoughts & Exercise

👤 Hosted by Charles Simonetti ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlessimonetti/ ),Executive Coach (PCC) and Founder of "On a Quest." ( https://www.onaquest.eu/ ),"Everyone is a Leader." is a leadership podcast for Executives, Investors & Business Leaders.🎙️ Today’s guest: Nafees Hamid, PhD (https://nafeeshamid.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nafees-hamid-phd/ https://www.youtube.com/@DrNafeesHamid)A cognitive scientist and field researcher who has scanned the brains of extremists, negotiated with radicalized individuals, and studied how identity and belief systems drive human behavior.He is the Research & Policy Director of XCEPT, based at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, and advises governments worldwide on preventing political violence, negotiating conflict, and peacebuilding.🧭 Each episode follows a three-part structure:- The Leader’s Journey: Turning points that shaped the guest’s leadership.- Breakthrough Conversation: An unscripted dialogue about one current challenge the guest is facing.- Key Takeaways: Insights the guest believes every leader should embody.🔗 Links to cited articles and studiesDevoted Actorshttps://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181585https://newlinesmag.com/argument/the-neuroscience-of-devoted-actors-within-extremist-groups/Sacred Valueshttps://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02462Steward Ownershiphttps://purpose-economy.org/content/uploads/purposebooklet_en.pdfInstrumental and value rationalityhttps://archive.org/details/economysociety00webe/page/n755/mode/2upMoral Injuryhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.07.003Positionalityhttps://doi.org/10.4324/9781003377986https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919900828https://doi.org/10.34293/education.v8i4.3232📌 Chapters00:00 Warning00:21 Generic00:41 Intro - Host00:53 Intro - Show01:33 Intro - Guest02:27 The Leader's Journey28:38 Breakthrough Conversation49:56 Key Takeaways1:01:28 Final Thoughts & Exercise

👤 Hosted by Charles Simonetti ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlessimonetti/ ),Executive Coach (PCC) and Founder of "On a Quest." ( https://www.onaquest.eu/ ),"Everyone is a Leader." is a leadership podcast for Executives, Investors & Business Leaders.🎙️ Today’s guest: Edwina Dendler ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/edendler/ ): a global marketing strategist with a unique path to leadership - scaling B2B and B2C brands, across SaaS, adtech, and e-commerce. She’s led major transformations at Criteo and Pernod Ricard, advised high-growth startups as a fractional CMO, and now leads Marketing and Developer Experience at Prismic, an AI company building autonomous websites. Her background in finance and early exposure to product and business strategy give her a distinctive lens on marketing leadership ; one that’s hands-on, curious, and deeply focused on impact.🧭 Each episode follows a three-part structure:- The Leader’s Journey: A turning point that shaped the guest’s leadership.- Breakthrough Conversation: An unscripted dialogue about one current challenge the guest is facing.- Key Takeaways: Insights the guest believes every leader should embody.00:00 Warning 00:40 Generic01:01 Intro - Host01:10 Intro - Show01:47 Intro - Guest02:32 The Leader's Journey18:24 Breakthrough Conversation28:46 Key Takeaways31:53 Final Thoughts & Exercise

👤 Everyone is a Leader. is a leadership podcast for Executives, Investors & Business Leaders hosted by Charles Simonetti, Executive Coach (PCC) and Founder of On a Quest.🎙️ Today’s guest: Nick Miller, entrepreneur, investor, and leader who has built, scaled, exited companies, and led global teams. 🧭 Each episode follows a three-part structure:- The Leader’s Journey: A turning point that shaped the guest’s leadership.- Breakthrough Conversation: An unscripted dialogue about one current challenge the guest is facing.- Key Takeaways: Insights the guest believes every leader should embody.