Ego, Culture, and the Hidden Cost of Leadership Blind Spots with Serial Entrepreneur Erik Pfannmöller Artwork

School of Hiring

Do you find hiring frustrating?? Are you disappointed with recruiting?? My name is Konstanty Sliwowski and I am a veteran of nearly 20 years in the business of recruitment, strategic talent acquisition and employment consultancy. I now focus my time on advising organisations and managers on how to be more, strategic, efficient, and effective at engaging and hiring top talent.In this podcast series, I speak with business leaders about how they attract and hire top performers. The high's and low's. And of course some funny stories and recruitment mishaps.If you are tired of recruitment processes that suck up your time and seem to never end and are looking for a more predictable way to attract, engage and hire top talent but also reduce the number of candidates you need to interview, come listen to our guest hiring managers including CEO's, CTO's, and CPO's open up about hiring experiences and how they approach talent acquisition.

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School of Hiring

Ego, Culture, and the Hidden Cost of Leadership Blind Spots with Serial Entrepreneur Erik Pfannmöller

April 05, 2025 • School of Hiring

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Every company has a culture—whether you shape it or not.

It can be intentional or accidental. It can fuel performance or quietly tear your business apart. And the difference between a thriving company and one stuck in survival mode? Often, it comes down to one thing: leadership.

In this episode of The School of Hiring, I’m joined by Erik Pfannmöller, serial entrepreneur, former Canoe World Champion, and founder of The Culture Code Foundation. Erik has built and exited multiple high-growth companies and now helps organizations develop high-performance cultures that drive innovation, attract top talent, and create long-term, defensible success.

We unpack the often invisible force that shapes businesses—company culture—and the role ego plays in either strengthening or sabotaging it.

In this episode, we explore:

Why culture is your ultimate competitive advantage
How ego silently kills team performance and decision-making
The biggest myths leaders believe about company culture
What founders must let go of in order to scale successfully
Whether it’s ever too late to fix a toxic culture
What business leaders can learn from elite-level sport

Whether you're a founder building from scratch or a leader trying to fix what's broken, this episode is packed with insights on how to lead with humility, clarity, and purpose—and build a culture that lasts.

📝 Podcast Show Notes

Guest: Erik Pfannmöller – Serial Entrepreneur, Culture Builder, Former Canoe World Champion, Founder of The Culture Code Foundation.

Topics We Cover:

The DNA of high-performance teams
Why most leaders misunderstand what company culture really is
Where ego helps—and where it destroys—leadership
Letting go as a founder and learning to trust your team
How to build “unhackable” cultures that competitors can’t copy
What sports teach us about leadership, resilience, and feedback
Why culture starts at the top—and how to keep it from going toxic

Key Resources Mentioned:

📘 Win from Within by James Heskett
📘 The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
📺 How Apple’s Culture Evolved Over Time (YouTube – from min 12)

Connect with Erik:
🌐 Website: erikpfannmoeller.de
💼 LinkedIn: Erik Pfannmöller

Connect with Konstanty / The School of Hiring:
🌐 schoolofhiring.com
💼 Konstanty on LinkedIn

Follow Konstanty Sliwowski on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sliwowskik/

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