Hivin' N Vibin' With Dr. BB
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Hivin' N Vibin' With Dr. BB
Smart Leadership with Susanne Ekstrom
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CEO coach and international bestselling author Susanne Ekström shares insights on smarter leadership. She helps leaders scale their roles, build thriving cultures, and foster trust through active listening, delegation, and empowering their teams. Susanne emphasizes leading in the present, learning from challenges, and understanding each individual’s strengths and needs—including neurodiversity. Her 99-day roadmap helps leaders form sustainable habits, free up time, and create high-performing teams where people love to work. Leadership is about impact, not control.
Ivan and Viben with Dr. Bibi. I hope I got your name right, Suzanne. Yes, you did. Fantastic. Suzanne is an entrepreneur and a world-renowned CEO coach. She is also a number one international best-selling author and founder of Be a Smarter Leader. She helps CEOs lead with confidence, clarity, and impact, and she guides leaders across the USA, Canada, and Europe to stronger teams, sharper focus, and smarter results. Susan works with CEOs of SMEs who want to buy back their time so they can lead instead of being always on. So agree with you. So much to ask you on this. Design a scalable culture that people love being a part of. Create a CEO role they love, not one that drains them. And build lasting trust and performance across their team. Oh, trust is such an important ingredient nowadays. So we have a lot of points to discuss. We have so many, so many topics that we need to go to go through. I think time will be of premium here, Suzanne. Okay, so uh let me begin by asking you what's your mantra? What's that, what are those guiding principles that guide you to your work?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh that's that's a great question. I just want to start by thanking you for having me on your podcast. Uh it's really great to have this conversation with you. And um I think I've changed my guiding principle uh uh over the years, but I really now see that uh for me it's all about that I can uh the past is the past. You can do nothing about that. Uh what you can do about it is not uh letting it affect you uh in a negative way. Uh and the future you don't know about, so you only have now. And what you do with your now is everything, and and and that you uh you can actually create yourself as anyone you want to be. And instead of being uh lots of baggage and and being someone coming from the past, you can instead say that this is who I am today, and this is who I'm going to be. And and um that is so interesting because that will set you free from your past and and uh really looking into what's what's possible for me, what opportunities do I have if I don't have what I've always brought with me that I'm not good enough, and instead say, Yeah, I am perfect as I am. Uh the world is loving, and I'm I'm I can do whatever I want instead of saying that the world is cruel and you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00Falling apart, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, okay, so you said that this is not the mantra that you had before. This is the mantra that you have now.
SPEAKER_02Yes, I I would say so. Uh, and uh if I if it was any kind of mantra I'd had before was more like the negative one that I'm not good enough, and that has shaped me. Uh yeah, and that I'm an imposter and and uh and um yeah, but but I I always sort of had a belief in myself that even though uh those negative thoughts are always there, uh I I I've had that uh uh no matter the the work I have or what I do in life, I I will always survive. Things can happen around me, but but I will survive.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so that has been yeah, has that been your longest running mantra? Yeah, yeah, I I would say that uh actually, yeah. Okay, okay. So what I find now is that I find Suzanne the survivor in front of me, who is now moving into a pathway where she is instilling her present to be her forte. Yeah, fantastic, and okay, so from here, let me look at how you s you are a coach also right now, so you help CEOs. What is the difference between coaching a CEO and coaching managers and you know vice presidents or general managers? What's the difference? Because I coach uh the middle managers, general managers, vice presidents, and a few CEOs here and there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh, because my focus is small and medium-sized uh enterprises, the CEO is often also the founder. And um when you are uh uh part of a C-suite or if you are a middle manager, that is by the way, a really tough uh position to have to be a middle manager. Um you still have it as your job. Uh when you are the founder, this is your whole life. Um and uh what I focus on is is when you are growing your company, and in the beginning, you have your team and you are there for each other, you go that extra mile, you go in on a Sunday afternoon, no problem because everyone's do doing it for the company and the team. But as you grow, uh you as a founder really needs to think about, really need to think about do I want to be a CEO of my company or do I want to continue being this person, being this spider in the web, doing everything, being the the the single point of contact of everything. I'm I'm doing the selling, I'm doing the delivery, I have a team, but I'm included in in everything. And when you transition to be a CEO, you can't be that. You need to hand that over to other people to manage your your people, and then also you start realizing that what not everyone within my team actually is here for this great culture, and they they are doing it as a nine-to-five work, and what's happened, and where is that fantastic culture that we have? It's not here anymore. Um, so uh it's an it's another type of coaching, and you are the sole point that everything you do ripples throughout your company, you have ripple effects. And if you direct and tell people what to do, that's how the culture is going to be. And if you listen to your people, wear your large ears when you go to work, that's how your your managers and uh your people are going, or your culture is going to be like. So um uh I actually love the the saying with the fish rots from the head, that's uh but changing that to good way. So instead of doing that, you can create uh a winning company where people love to work, and that is what I coach CEOs to do.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so you actually uh you don't only coach the CEOs, you also develop the culture of the organization.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I would say that uh uh through the CEO, and I can also work with the management team and and and help them create uh a team that works as as I have in my that you you introduced me with, like creating a CEO role that you love. It might be things that you are really great at as a CEO, but some things that should be in your CEO role that you hate or are really not liking or good at doing. And maybe your CFO or someone else in the leadership team might think that this is really fun. This I I really want to do this, and so so delegate it to him or her instead, so you create your your leadership team so that everyone uh both have a role that they actually know what's in it, because uh roles and responsibilities can be really unclear, and that creates a lot of frustration and irritation, but also that the best person for the job is doing it. Um so I I had a client once that was like really uh he was the developer, he was the um yeah, he he he wanted to go to fairs, pick up new ideas, create new products, and he was stuck in in managing people. Um so he said, and and uh he wasn't uh he wasn't motivated, he he didn't have any inspiration, and he dreaded going to work. So we we we changed that for him, and so so he got to be the the product in um innovator back again and and delegated all the the the management parts and and the uh people responsibility to other people in the management team that were better at it and also liked it. Uh so so that is just an example. Um I I hope I answered your initial question.
SPEAKER_00I just love it. I just love when you know when I have uh my guest telling me things uh which you know slowly moves it to another question that that I'm going to ask you right now, and that is uh so you develop the CEO, you also shape the culture of the organization, uh, even if it is through the CEO or it may be with the management team, but you're definitely doing that. And how do you then build lasting trust? Because this is something I think I'm definitely failing at. I'm really trying to develop uh, you know, uh kind of a module which where I can not build trust which is just there for some time, but build a trust which is strong and resilient.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um I I would say that it has pretty much everything to do with how you listen to your people and also how well uh you know yourself and how you regulate yourself in situations. Um so if you if you go and ask one of your team members, for example, a question and they uh start answering it by by somewhat um you think it's challenging for you that they challenge what you have created or what you have done or what you have not done, and you you go back into start explaining or start defending yourself directly and stop listening, you just shut off your ears. Next time you will go to that person and ask him or her something, do you think they will really tell you the truth? No, they won't. Um but if if you train yourself in being there with the other person, really listening to what they have to say, regardless of how they say it. Maybe they are really mad and they shout at you and and and uh because they are so frustrated. Still, you keep your calm, you listen to what they have to say, you make sure that you get the other person to understand that you actually got them, that you really got their communication, you thank them for it, and uh you then discuss what you're going to do about it, for example. Next time you ask the same person a question, uh that person knows that you will listen to them and you will uh make sure that you understand what they said and there is an opening for action. Um and that uh regardless of which way you do it, that will also have ripple effects to the other people about what you as a manager or CEO, how you are uh yeah, listening and talking to your people. Um and that creates trust. And uh also it takes a lot of time to build your trust, but it can vanish in a second. And you have to to start from the beginning again if it's even possible to rebuild it. So so trust is a really tricky one, and uh but I would say treat people with respect, know listen to them and and be uh purely interested in them, and and also every person have different needs and want wants. Uh and and it's your your job as as as their manager is to empower and grow them, not empower and grow yourself, because that is not in the role. Uh you are there for your team, not for yourself, and that is also something I think is uh a mind shift that many people in those positions uh should have because many people see this uh position as something for themselves that they have earned it and and that will give them uh responsibilities and uh reputation and and status, but you are there for your people, not for yourself. That is what the role is all about.
SPEAKER_00Totally agree with you, Suzanne, but uh there's a question that comes to my mind, and that is how do you make them stick to it? I mean, they do listen for some time, you know, and then something happens and it just wanders away. So, how do you ensure that you know you set an alarm or something and tell them, hey buddy, you're going in the wrong direction? What do you do to make them actually uh you know follow it sustainably all through?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, that that's a really good uh question. Um in my book I just released, I have this 90 diet 99-day roadmap where you train, you set yourself up, you set a target that you want to achieve or what you want to work with for 13 weeks, and then you uh create what you are going to do, and then you do it, and you get feedback, and and and uh uh you try it out, and then at the end you do also ongoingly, but then at the end you reflect a lot on what you did, what you didn't do, and how that made you change, and that is one way to to create new habits. Uh but 99 days isn't enough, you you need to continue doing that. But in 99 days, you you can definitely see uh the positive results of you, for example, delegating in a new way that will actually delegate the responsibility instead of just a task, and you see that other people or the people you delegate it to that they are actually performing and they are owning what they they have been delegated, and you can actually let go of of control of the control and the um yeah and leave it with the person, but you need to delegate in a way uh in another way to do that instead of just handing over tasks and and still being uh in control of it and and micromanage them to get them to do what you want them to do instead of saying you own this, uh I want this result by this time, for example, and we agree on what type of training do you need, what type of budget resources, for example, and then I I sit on my hands and and I won't go into what you're doing unless you ask me and say, Can I have some support? If I ask you and say, How are you doing, Susan? How is everything going with this and this? And you say, Yeah, it's going great. Uh thank you for this uh fantastic project or whatever it is. Uh I'm I'm on track, I know, I know everything. Then you just say, Oh, oh, that's so great to hear. I'm here if you want anything, uh, and I'm looking forward to to seeing the result. And by doing that, you see how people grow, and and that you actually also you can trust them. It's not just that that they should trust you, but uh you can start to trust your people as well, because that is also an area that's that's a bit hard if you are the main person and you know that I'm doing everything the best. I because if I do it, I know how it's going to be done. And leaving it to someone else, that is really hard. And and uh and um uh to create teamwork and and and cause other people to to do things is is another way of of of doing things than than being a one woman or a man machine. So uh yeah, so so I would say that that um train, experiment, uh see the positive effects, and when you do that, uh you will have a much more you have a greater chance of of continue to do that. Um Over a sustainable period of time.
SPEAKER_00So you mentioned your book, and I was, anyways, going to come to your book. So I would like to understand what is, you know, what did you write in that book? I mean, you did mention it's about 99 days, but uh what does the entire book you know have in it? And uh and of course, I think we can get it in in Amazon, is where I think we can get it. So if you could tell us something about you know what you have written in that book.
SPEAKER_02Yes, of course. It's uh the book is called Leadership Development for Smarter Leaders, in short. Uh and and and um it's about uh what I write in the in in the introduction, it's it's pretty much for anyone because you can always grow in these areas uh and and be a smarter leader. You can always um change things for the better. Um but it starts with um how you as a CEO or manager or or whatever or aspiring aspiring leader, how you look at your time, if you are investing merely spending or wasting your time on things within the company, and if you are as we talked about before, if you are the person who are in control of everything, um you are working in your business, and and that is uh of course, if that is what you want, then you need someone else, for example, to be the CEO to working on the business, but you need to free up time to do the most important task that you can do, and that is possible to do on every level of the company. Um and as we were talking also about to delegate to free up time, uh to to really also what we talked about to start learn learning about yourself, seeing uh how do I do things, what what type of thoughts come up in my head, for example, when someone is challenging me with something I did or didn't do, all those things around me as a person first. To be in charge of my time and my calendar and and knowing more about myself is is the foundation for creating team and teamwork and and and developing your team. Um making decisions in another way, uh not by reaction, by by by thoughts and and uh data-driven uh yeah so you have data in in this new type of of uh uh business landscape. Yeah, we are in. Um and when you're managing a team, there will be always uh sort of conflicts and how you deal with them, how you give feedback and and how you uh do things when things are small, when issues are small, and if you go in there and you have the conversation or you you help to people that are like irritated and frustrated with each other, to deal with it in a way that's that creates trust and and is respectful to to both parties, for example, uh that that will so much help you from instead of just putting it under the rug or saying that will I don't have time for this, I I am too busy doing all of these things. Uh uh so so if yeah, so free of time to listen to your people be there uh and and uh solve things when they are minor, uh create an um uh relationship to your people and and give them feedback for what they are doing that is really beneficial first and create uh uh an arena of of where it's possible to to provide feedback. So when you have something that is a bit more not not confronting, but something that you are not doing as expected, it's not confronting yet. But if you already then uh bring that up, you will have uh a person that knows that you are listening to them and that you are providing feedback and you you think they're doing a great work, then they will listen to you, and then they will also correct their behavior, for example. Uh instead of you just not dealing with it, and then suddenly it's a huge thing, and uh you go in there and you're angry and you shout at them, and and and everything will just escalate. Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So uh let's go back a bit. Let's go back to the time when uh Suzanne was a little girl. And how did you from there, you know, what are the attributes of Suzanne of little Suzanne that you carry with you even today?
SPEAKER_01Um or you don't carry with you, either of you do yeah, um I I I have always been uh uh sort of a team person.
SPEAKER_02Um when I I choose what sports to do, I I never wanted to any sports where like tennis or uh where I was the only person. I I I played uh basketball for a really long time and um and that's where I really found myself like really um uh yeah liking to be together with other people, uh being in a team and and doing great things together. So uh so that that is uh what I saw and also in in the class I I always liked when we were doing like group assignments and stuff, that we could create things together. Um and uh during my first like 10 years of of after university when I started working, uh there were always I didn't understand why first, but but people were picking me for leadership roles and say Susan would be great here. And uh I didn't understand why, but uh at first, but then I I I realized that I'm actually pretty good at this because uh because uh yeah I s I uh I have sort of uh uh thing that this about listening to your people that that that that has indirectly been with me for all my life that that uh it's not as important to me what what uh that I get my saying in the matter. It's more important that if if you are happy and you are satisfied and you really believe in what you're doing, why should I come and tell you my point of view or or correct you in in your belief? If you're doing a great job and that leads to our goals and and people around you are are satisfied with that, fine. I don't uh I don't need to be the have the last um uh saying and everything, and and and if I am the smartest person in the room, I think this is something that's really a lot of people are posting about on LinkedIn at the moment, like yeah, leaders eat last is Simon Seinik, but yeah, like really if you if you hire people that are really excellent and you still start telling them what to do to be the person that knows it all, then you won't have those great people in your company anymore because they can't express uh and do the things that there's their expertise when they have you telling them uh and directing them all the time. So be be a smarter leader and and and listen to your people and and create a fantastic company where you are doing what you are best in doing and letting your people be doing what they are best in in the doing and together create a winning company where people love to work.
SPEAKER_00I'm sure you must have faced uh struggles in your journey. Could we talk about some of the struggles which have actually shaped your uh shaped your skills, shaped your abilities, or even shaped your the way you are today? You know, you were you were talking about your mantra, so something must have happened for you to be thinking of just the present and not about the past and carrying the past with you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Uh the first really struggle I had was when I was playing in my high school basketball team, and uh uh I wanted to be a guard, but uh uh that is the the the person, one of the persons like setting up the play. Uh and my coach wanted me to play center because I'm really tall, and uh I was like 17 years old, and he just put me in that position. I didn't know what to do because I didn't have uh yeah, I didn't know so so uh so instead of of of having the discussion with me, he just told me what to do, and and I I stopped feeling motivated, I stopped playing well, I I've it got worse and worse, and one day I just left the team and never played basketball since. So that was a huge um struggle for me, or a huge um defeat, I would say. Uh and that um was the engine of me not being good enough, but there also was this thing born that that you don't tell people what to do, you ask for their opinion, at least first. Uh so so so so really listening. Because if we had had uh discussion, him and I, I might have been like fine with being in the center, or I me would have made a decision to to stop playing for the high school team and find another team where I could be a guard, but instead I I stopped playing at all. Uh and then a couple of years later, um uh during uh dot the dot-com era in the beginning of of uh 2000-2001, we were building a large Swedish um dot-com company. Uh I was one of the main owners, and I was flying all over the world, and I lived in the Netherlands, creating that company uh starting up the business there, and and we were situated in 10 different countries, and everything was like fantastic. We had investors' money in and everything was going great until one day when it didn't anymore, because we have uh we had uh like spending a lot of money, and then the investors said no, we won't we won't invest more money in this company. Uh the market is is declining, we're going into a beer situation, and we had to file bankruptcy. Uh so so going from like a really dream job to being unemployed and and with a lot of depths, depths. Um because I was uh what we called uh a money on paper person, that I had a lot of like yeah, yeah, uh possibilities when we were going to the the stock market, but that just fell down uh in total, yeah, in the in the bankruptcy. And that uh experience uh shaped how I have worked since that I I I made it my mission to to work with with companies and people so that they don't have to go to go go through the same experience I did. And I did that first through management consulting, and then uh in 2017 I started my own company and and created this uh coaching business and and also being um an author to to sort of of uh spread my knowledge in different ways and and supporting and help people um to be be smarter leaders and uh and to have more fun and and uh build successful companies that that last together with the people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So this this career of yours, this entire career journey that you have had is for the last how many years now?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it let me see, it's it's um it's around 30 years now.
SPEAKER_00And how have you sustained yourself as a leader? How have you sustained yourself to continue leading, you know, for at least for the last 20 years, if not the entire 30 years?
SPEAKER_02Um yeah, it's it's you you build on on what you have done previously and you add to new experiences, and I would say that this about being a coach is another type of leadership that that's uh uh that I am developing right now. Um so so you pick up and learn new things all the way. You you never get to be like now I know how how it is. Uh I'm 100% done. It's never like that. Uh and of course it's it's uh you have hard times where where that is harder and and more challenging than others, and uh when you're in good times, it's always easy to be a leader. It's when uh either the market is is declining or you have to let people go. Um or when you're in a in a situation, for example, I I had a leadership position where I had all the responsibility, but no, like no uh I don't know what to say that I I had no control of of no saying in in what I wanted to do. Um and I realized that there is no point in being a leader just for the position. You need to to be able to have um the full space to create your leadership role yourself, otherwise, if you're just boxed in into a tiny square, this is your your mandate or or yeah, this is what you're control your thing, but you have this huge responsibility, but you have this much saying in the matter. That is not a position for me. Uh and I also um got a really important lesson by my youngest son. He uh uh he has ADHD in autism, and uh he was not going to school at all, and he was home for four years, and um until and I had a lot of discussions with the school, the social welfare, the uh the the hospitals that gave ADHD medicine and stuff, and I saw that there are so many areas where different responsibilities are really clear, but where I needed help was in between in the uh with with like the bigger picture of it, but no one took that responsibility. But what I I learned from that is that really we are so different as individuals in a workplace, and uh people with neurodivergence is is is having a different type of brain, and and uh that uh it's so important that you you you meet people where they they are not where you are, so that you you uh lead differently for each person. And that is again up to you as a leader, it's your job to to know your people and and know what what makes you tick, so to speak, and and not be a generic one and do it your way or the highway. So um right, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yep, that tells a lot about how you have been sustaining and managing yourself, and I hope our audience too learns you know how to go about doing practices that can help you sustain. Uh, how would you like our audience to get in touch with you?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh, I'm mainly on LinkedIn. Uh and I I guess that my LinkedIn link will be with this program. Yeah, so so so that's where you find me. And uh I post there almost every day, and I do events and and uh yeah, and you can also find me on on Amazon uh with my book.
SPEAKER_00Yes, that was fantastic, Suzanne. Thank you so much. You have with your insights and your experiences, you have shared so much, so many gems that I hope you know it will empower our audience and all our listeners the way that it should. It is fantastic to have you with us here today. Thank you so much. Thank you. It was great having you here.