Leadership Anatomy in Motion

Summary

Bloomberg Businessweek — "Leadership Anatomy in Motion"

Date: June 8, 2026
Hosts: Carol Massar & Tim Stenovec
Guest: Louisa Loran, Global Executive Advisor, Author of Leadership Anatomy in Motion

---

Overview

This episode explores the anatomy of modern leadership amidst technological disruption, high executive turnover, and shifting business strategies. With Louisa Loran as the featured guest, hosts Tim Stenovec and Carol Massar dive into how global leaders can stay ahead in challenging markets, the growing impact of AI, and the evolving demands on the C-suite. Drawing from Loran's extensive executive experience and new book, the conversation blends real-world corporate examples with actionable leadership insights.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Modern Executive Challenges

Timestamps: 01:29–02:39

• Lululemon serves as the backdrop: Its share plunge and brand difficulties exemplify the intense pressures on new and incoming CEOs.
• This period is “unique in time” for leadership—not just because of classic business challenges (supply chain, tariffs, inflation) but due to an accelerating AI revolution.
• The prevalence and impact of executive turnover: “The numbers we're equally seeing with the CEO turnover is putting pressure on everyone in those seats.” (Louisa Loran, 02:39)

2. Strategies for Navigating Disruption

Timestamps: 02:39–04:00

• CEOs today build “optionality” into supply chains but often fail to decisively activate those options, leading to increased costs without transformation.
• Many companies heavily invest in technology (“59% of companies are spending more than a million a year on it, but only 29% are seeing the value.” – Louisa Loran, 03:27) but lack clarity on realizing value from that spend.
• Leadership needs to move from reactive to future-oriented strategies.

3. The CFO’s Elevated Role

Timestamps: 04:00–04:31

• Echoes of the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic: the CFO’s growing influence on strategy, not just numbers.
• Tim predicts imminent CFO pushback on tech investments with poor ROI.

4. Long-View Market Signals and Strategic Backing

Timestamps: 04:31–06:35

• Recent Alphabet play highlighted as a model: “The biggest signal that everyone should be looking at is who backed that Alphabet investment…when players like Berkshire Hathaway come in... that's a signal that margin erosion by spend is already an internal issue.” (Louisa Loran, 04:56)
• Differentiating between being the “landlord” or “tenant” in key technological arenas.
• Effective transformation examples: Walmart's early adoption of data sharing and EDI, JP Morgan's long-term capacity building.
• Luxury sector case: Kering’s CEO, Luca De Meo, steps back from chasing fleeting market trends—demonstrating leadership that plans for the future, not short-term headlines.

5. AI’s Governance Implications

Timestamps: 07:05–08:27

• Tim highlights Louisa’s view: governance failures will stem not from AI misuse, but from boards disregarding what AI reveals about company weaknesses.
• “The lens to which you can see your business through AI as a board is a unique opportunity.” (Louisa Loran, 07:28)
• AI, when siloed, can accelerate dysfunction (e.g., customer service and sales incentives clashing), but boards can use AI to identify and address structural weaknesses.

6. Large Scale Organizational Change: Concrete Examples

Timestamps: 08:27–09:28

• Transformation means rethinking company structures and metrics, as illustrated by Luca De Meo’s work at Renault: “...being willing to rewire that company…it’s a matter of saying which type of leader do I want to be in the future? Because measuring the past will only keep you in that same space.” (Louisa Loran, 08:56)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On executive turnover and cost of inaction:
  “We are consistently seeing that these patterns are not shocks to the system...they have not been decisive in deploying it and therefore it's been more of a cost extension rather than a change.” (Louisa Loran, 02:53)

• On technology investments:
  “59% of companies are spending more than a million a year on it, but only 29% are seeing the value.” (Louisa Loran, 03:27)

• On the new boardroom risk:
  “The next governance failure likely will not come from AI misuse itself, but from boards ignoring what AI is revealing about the business.” (Tim Stenovec, 07:05, paraphrasing Louisa Loran's insight)

• On organizational transformation:
  “It is a large scale transformation. It is a matter of looking at different metrics and it's also a matter of saying which type of leader do I want to be in the future? Because measuring the past will only keep you in that same space.” (Louisa Loran, 08:56)

---

Important Segment Timestamps

• Opening framing & Lululemon context: 01:29–02:39
• Challenges facing CEOs / Leadership patterns: 02:39–04:00
• Role of the CFO & tech ROI: 04:00–04:31
• Strategic investment signals (Alphabet/Berkshire): 04:31–06:35
• AI governance and board responsibility: 07:05–08:27
• Transformational leadership example (Renault/Luca De Meo): 08:27–09:28

---

Conclusion

Louisa Loran’s interview unpacks why this era demands a new playbook for executive leadership—one that blends technological literacy, humility to learn from disruptive data, and courage to redefine legacy structures. The episode offers both a strategic and practical lens on how boards and CEOs can turn uncertainty into future-ready transformation, reinforced with real-world success stories and actionable guidance.

---

Transcript

[Home Depot Announcer]

This Father's Day put the focus on Dad's happy place, his garage shop, more ways to organize, more ways to build and more ways to spend time together. With low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot, get him a rolling toolbox or a wall mounted organizer to keep it all in place or save on power tools like the Ryobi 2 tool driver drill combo kit for just $99. Make Father's Day about building something together with a little help from the Home Depot. Exclusions apply. Seehomedepot.com Pricematch for details.

[Truist Securities Announcer]

There's a lot of noise in the business world today. Leaders like you need clear insights from professionals you can trust. Navigating beyond the Expected is a new podcast from Truist securities featuring conversations with investment banking experts at the center of financing deals in manufacturing, healthcare, entertainment and more. It's practical advice for leaders who need to know what's coming next. [e-mail] BeyondPodcast Copyright Truist securities, Inc.

[Eczema Medication Advertiser]

Member FINRA and SIPC Eczema's Unrelenting Itch and Rash if you know the feeling, you should know the facts. The eczema medication you're taking may not be right for you. Visit myrawtruth.com and talk to your dermatologist about your symptoms and treatment options.

[Tim Stenovec]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio news.

[Carol Massar]

You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Radio.

[Tim Stenovec]

Take Lululemon, for example. Shares tumble today, lowest level in eight years. Upscale Yoga where company cut its annual forecast due to deteriorating performance in North America. The revenue and profit guidance for the current quarter really underscore the challenges that incoming CEO Heidi o' Neill faces in revitalizing the brand, which she joins later this year. I want to bring in Louisa Loran, Global Executive Advisor, author of Leadership Anatomy in Motion. She's worked at Diageo, Maris, Google and more. She joins us in the Bloomberg Interactive Brokers studio. Louisa, good to have you on the program. The reason I brought up Heidi o' Neill and the challenge that she faces in revised revitalizing Lululemon is that that story is not unique and the idea of of executive change, executive turnover, bringing in new people to try to turn around a brand that is nothing new, but that is what you understand and that's what you have done throughout your career and that's what the new book is is really trying to highlight. This moment, though, seems unique in time because of the challenges that these executives face. It's not just, you know, the supply chain issues and the tariffs and higher energy prices. It's also AI. What is an executive to do?

[Louisa Loran]

Absolutely. Tim, great to be here and thank you for the question. You're seeing it right. And I think that today is an opportune moment to, to take that step back because natural panic does exist when numbers show up as they do today. And the numbers we're equally seeing with the CEO turnover is putting pressure on everyone in those seats. But whether you are taking over a brand like Lululemon or steering any other company, we are consistently seeing that these patterns are not shocks to the system. What a lot of CEOs have been doing the last couple of years is actually recognizing that there is more tension, more disruption, and therefore they are building out optionality in supply chains. More and more businesses have increased their number of, of cherry fruits the last couple of years, but at the same time they have not been decisive in deploying it and therefore it's been more of a cost extension rather than a change. Equally on the side. Exactly. As you mentioned, we see that 59% of companies are spending more than a million a year on it, but only 29% are seeing the value. And this is truly this desire to partake in the market, but not the true understanding of what does the CEO need to do. So I do see we have many businesses in this situation at current time, and it's an opportune time for leadership to step in.

[Tim Stenovec]

Yeah, you know, it's kind of interesting, I think about great financial crisis than I think about the COVID pandemic or COVID pandemic. And Louisa, all of a sudden, once again, a reminder of the cfo, increasingly the importance that they have in strategy at the company, reminding everybody, looking at the balance sheet, making sure it's secure. And I'm just waiting for those CFOs to start saying, you know, we're spending an awful lot, but we're not getting that return on investment. Are you hearing C suites starting to talk more about this?

[Louisa Loran]

Yes and no. Because I do see that there are some great financial strategy strategizing going on. And for instance, the play that Alphabet did this week is certainly one of them. Where we do see that they're going to where the market is most willing to back them. At the same time, I think the biggest signal that everyone should be looking at is not coming from the cfo, but actually from a longer view of the market, and that is who backed that Alphabet investment. Because when we see players like Berkshire Hathaway come in and back the investment, this is A signal that we're not getting that shock out in the market. It's actually already inflicted from within that margin erosion by the spend. So as they start to look at this as a future infrastructure play, we're getting to a space where either you are playing someone else's game, they are the landlords and setting the terms, or you are. Yeah, either you're the landlord or you're the tenant in that space. And I don't think this is necessarily a technology conversation. We have seen companies that have successfully transformed through time. Walmart is a great example when they move from just having their own data and wanted to connect to others. They led the way with edi. And also today they're truly accelerating through both their supply chain, but also through their business usage of AI. We're seeing the same for companies like JP Morgan, who also have an understanding of how things move through decades. And I think one of my favorite examples is actually something we've seen quite recently in the luxury space where Luca De Meo, who took over as CEO for Caring last summer, is looking at what Alexander McQueen has built out the last couple of years. They have built that network, they have created that optionality, but they have chased a market that wasn't ready to invest equally. So he is dialing back. He is looking at saying, what does my brand have to offer? And I understand in a luxury market it is scarcity. It is not necessarily chasing that last headline. So the decision is not reacting to the immediate, but understanding how the market is moving and making sure that your brand is future ready.

[Tim Stenovec]

And you mentioned EDI in regards to Wal Mart, I assume you meant electronic data interchange, which is used for supply chain, retail and logistics.

I mean, sounds like you deal with it every day. Carol Massar.

[Bimzelics Medication Advertiser]

Wow.

[Tim Stenovec]

Like I had a Google really curse

[Louisa Loran]

into APIs and that exchange that more of us know today, it just shows how old I am.

[Tim Stenovec]

Alphabet soup with Carol No, I know this is your world. I just, you know, they say maybe it isn't remain.

[Louisa Loran]

Maybe it's you. Maybe.

[Tim Stenovec]

Louisa, One thing though. To follow up on AI, you shared with our team and our producer Talia a thought about why the next governance failure likely will not come from AI misuse itself, but from boards ignoring what AI is revealing about the business. Can you, can you walk us through what you mean by that? We've got about two minutes or so to go.

[Louisa Loran]

Absolutely. I think that a lot of people are still looking at AI as coming in as a tool that can help save their cost. But the, the, the lens to which you can see your business through AI as a board is a unique opportunity. I do believe that as a board you should use this to explore how are decisions being made. Because when AI is implemented into silos within an organization, you often actually just get people running into walls faster. So for instance, a customer service team there to close a request quite quickly and a sales team there to upsell at the same time. That can be contradicting information and those deployed into an AI will not resolve that. But as a board, understanding what are these tensions that exist in your organization, you can start redesigning your business instead of just locking it into past behavior. Right now many businesses are run on the software that was built in a different time, not the one that equips them for the future.

[Tim Stenovec]

Yet easier said than done. I mean, I've talked to some executives at banking at large financial institutions who have said just the challenge of updating the software in the age of AI as this patchwork has been been sort of put together over the last 30 years is such a daunting task. Just give us an example of a firm or a leader who does this really well right now.

[Louisa Loran]

Well, I think again, one of my favorite and most inspirational leaders is the one I mentioned before because look at the meal. Who's doing it now? He has done it before. He did it at Renault, which is this European automotive company double the size of what Honda is here in the US and and it is a matter of not looking at the past structures but honestly looking at what capabilities do I have and being willing to rewire that company. It is a large scale transformation. It is a matter of looking at different metrics and it's also a matter of saying which type of leader do I want to be in the future? Because measuring the past will only keep you in that same space.

[Tim Stenovec]

All right, Interesting stuff. Like we say, it's an interesting time to be alive to watch the markets, to see what companies are doing and what leaders are facing. And a difficult time too if we consider some of the wars that are going on around the globe. Louisa, really appreciate it. Appreciate your time. Luis Laurenti is global Executive Advisor, author of Leadership Anatomy in Motion.

[Carol Massar]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Summer is here and the sun is out. Make sure you take care of your skin this summer. Now through June 23rd, shop for you. Save days and get great savings on all your favorite skincare Essentials and earn 4 times points. Shop in store or online and save on sunblock from Neutrogena Sunbum Hawaiian Tropic, Banana Boat and Coppertone, and earn four times points to use for future savings on groceries or gas. Offer ends June 23. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Bimzelics Medication Advertiser]

Bimzelix Bimakizumab BKZX is a prescription medicine taken by injection used to treat adults with moderate to severe hiddenitis suppurativa.

[Imani (Bimzelics Testimonial)]

What's Poppin? It's YA Girl Imani My HS has come a long way since starting Bemzelics, but it hasn't always been that way. Before I found the right treatment, every day felt like a struggle. Simple things like lifting my arms were really painful, and I was always worried about having enough bandages. Life with HS isn't easy, but with Bimzelics, I'm back to fewer HS symptoms.

[Bimzelics Medication Advertiser]

If you want the chance to say I'm back With at least 50% or even 75% fewer HS symptoms, ask your derm about bimzelics. In studies, around 5 in 10 people saw at least a 50% reduction, and more than 3 in 10 saw at least a 75% reduction in the number of inflamed nodules and abscesses, with no increase in abscesses or tunnels at 16 weeks versus around 3 in 10 and around 2 in 10 taking placebo, respectively. Serious side effects like suicidal thoughts and behavior, infections and lowered ability to fight them, liver problems and and inflammatory bowel disease have occurred. Tell your doctor if these happen or worsen or fevers, chills, muscle aches or cough occur, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to before starting, get checked for infections, tuberculosis and liver problems. Results may vary. Imani was compensated for her time. For full prescribing information and important safety information, visit bimzelics.com or call 1-833-UCB- Now1 ask your dermatologist about Bemzelix.

[Kalpen (Cal Penn)]

Hey everyone, it's Cal Penn, host of Irsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast I'm sitting down with Lily Chu, the author of the Audible original romantic comedy Just Kiss Already. It's a story about a forensic anthropologist who secretly writes mystery novels, an actress who adapts his book into a film, and what happens when a meme and a media tour collide with a slow burn burn romance. It's performed by Simu Liu and Philippa Hsu, and it is an absolute blast.

[Lily Chu]

When you actually hear the performance, you realize that other people are taking your words and what you thought was kind of a straightforward sentence like the cat in the corner is black. In my head it's the cat in the corner is black. Not the dog, not the gerbil. But someone else might say it, the cat in the corner is black. That's always fascinating to me how they just bring in all these different nuances and really make it fun and interesting and distinctive.

[Kalpen (Cal Penn)]

Listen to Hearsay, the Audible and iHeart audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Carol Massar]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Summer is here and the sun is out. Make sure you take care of your skin this summer, now through June 23rd. Shop for you, Save days and get great savings on all your favorite skincare Essentials and earn 4 times points. Shop in store or online and save on sunblock from Neutrogena Sun, Bum, Hawaiian Tropic, Banana Boat and coppertone and earn 4 times points to use for future savings on groceries or gas. Offer ends June 23rd. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Intuit ERP Advertiser]

If data management is slowing down your business, you need the Intuit erp. If one entity is here and one here and one here and one here, you need the Intuit erp. If scaling your business feels like start starting, starting, starting, starting over, you need the Intuit erp. Intuit Enterprise Suite is the AI native ERP solution that consolidates, migrates and automates all in one place. Learn [e-mail] ERP

[Kalpen (Cal Penn)]

hey everyone, it's Kalpen. I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast ir the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.