Excellent Executive Coaching: EEC 398 - Leading at Scale: Evolving Leadership for Hyper-growth, with Will Linssen

Host: Dr. Katrina Burrus, PhD, MCC
Guest: Will Linssen, Triple Win Leadership Coaching
Release Date: September 9, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores the evolving requirements of leadership in hyper-growth and international organizations. Dr. Katrina Burrus welcomes Will Linssen, a global executive coach with decades of experience, to discuss proven approaches for measurable leadership development, cross-cultural challenges, and co-creative coaching practices that generate organizational results at scale. The conversation is rich with real-world anecdotes, empirical insights, and actionable advice for executives, HR professionals, and leadership coaches facing high-stakes growth and complexity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Universal Leadership Challenges Across Cultures

• Common Leadership Issues
  Will Linssen shares results from Triple Win’s research with over 100,000 leaders, highlighting the five most persistent leadership challenges globally:

  • Thinking strategically
  • Empowerment and delegation
  • Stakeholder management
  • Executive presence
  • Employee engagement
    [01:13] Will Linssen:
    “These always come out on top, irrespective of culture.”

• Consistency of Core Values, Variance in Behaviors
  While values like respect, honesty, and trust are global, behaviors expressing these values are culturally specific. [02:08] Will Linssen:
  “It’s on the behavioral level where all these differences really exist.”

2. Measuring Coaching Impact & ROI

• The “Aha” Moment for Results-Driven Coaching
  Will recounts an early coaching engagement that transformed his approach by connecting outcomes to organizational metrics. [03:23] Will Linssen:
  “You really need to make sure that you connect the numbers with the coaching because then everybody is on board.”

• Measurement Techniques
  Triple Win uses a multi-tiered system:

  • Baseline assessment (360 feedback) at the start
  • Quarterly “pulse” surveys of the leader, team, and manager
  • Scoring on satisfaction and verbatim commentary
  • In some cases, direct linkage to P&L metrics
    [05:24] Will Linssen:
    “We measure on the leader level, on the team level, and on the result level.”

• Feedforward vs. Feedback
  They prioritize monthly “feedforward” (suggestions for future behavior), making the process less judgmental and more actionable. [08:48] Will Linssen:
  “Feedforward is a lot less judgmental because we're asking about a suggestion that the leader can do in the next 30 days.”

3. Leadership as Co-Creation

• Collaborative Accountability
  Will stresses the importance of co-creating change between leaders and teams for sustainable improvement. [07:06] Will Linssen:
  “Leadership is actually not so much about just them, it’s also about me because I’m being led. Leadership is like a two-way street. It's like a dance together.”

• Flywheel/Cascading Effect
  Effective leadership change creates organizational momentum: leader improves → team improves → results improve. [07:06] Will Linssen:
  “We have a 95% success rate... because these things, they hook into each other. It's like a chain.”

4. What Defines a Good Leader?

• Symphony Conductor Analogy
  Will likens a great leader to an orchestra conductor, highlighting the importance of coordination without overt dominance. [13:03] Will Linssen:
  “The leader is the only one who doesn’t make any noise.”

• Mindset: ‘We’ vs. ‘Me’
  Strong leaders focus on collective success, not personal ego. [13:29] Will Linssen:
  “Leaders who always think in terms of ‘we’ and their coworkers... these are the great leaders.”

• Managing Ego
  High-performing leaders have strong egos but know when to step back. [15:27] Will Linssen:
  “It’s fine, have your ego, but make sure that your ego doesn’t get in the way. So keep it at the background.”

5. Practical Habits of Effective Leaders

• Willingness to Change
  The best leaders exhibit three essential traits:
  • “I go” – Owning their change
  • “We go” – Involving others
  • “Let’s go” – Executing together
    [17:49] Will Linssen:
    “I go, we go, let’s go.”

6. Key Questions for Leaders

• Self-Reflection Question:
  The most powerful question a leader can ask their direct reports: [18:56] Will Linssen:
  “‘What can I do to change to be a better leader for you?’...They will be amazed at the valuable impact.”

• Customized Leadership
  Dr. Burrus adds that leaders must recognize the need for agility: “Leadership is a customized business, right?” [20:02]

7. Organizational Application of Coaching Principles

• Borrowing change management and co-creation philosophies from other disciplines (project management, supply chain, etc.) increases coaching acceptance and impact.

  [10:28] Will Linssen:
  “We borrow all these accepted principles and ways of working... and we engineer that into the coaching process.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Cultural Consistency:

  “The values that people have…are the same. People want to be respected… honesty, trust… But how people act it out, that's how huge differences exist.”
  — Will Linssen [02:08]

• On Measurable Impact:

  “They attribute that all to the work they have been doing during the time of the coaching…You really need to make sure that you connect the numbers with the coaching.”
  — Will Linssen [04:10 & 03:23]

• On Feedforward:

  “Feedforward is a lot less judgmental because we're asking about a suggestion that the leader can do in the next 30 days.”
  — Will Linssen [08:48]

• On Ego in Leadership:

  “It’s fine, have your ego, but make sure that your ego doesn’t get in the way…here also you need to understand when the lion is helpful and when the pussycat is helpful.”
  — Will Linssen [15:27]

• On the Key Question for Managers:

  “‘What can I do to change to be a better leader for you?’”
  — Will Linssen [18:56]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:04 – Introduction & episode purpose
• 01:13 – Top leadership challenges globally
• 02:08 – How culture shapes leadership behaviors
• 03:23 – Importance of measuring coaching impact
• 05:24 – Practical measurement and feedback processes
• 08:48 – Monthly feedforward vs. quarterly feedback
• 11:37 – Defining good leadership; the symphony metaphor
• 13:29 – Ego and recognition in leadership
• 15:27 – Managing ego and self-awareness
• 17:49 – The three habits of effective leaders: I go, we go, let’s go
• 18:56 – The one essential question every leader should ask
• 20:02 – Customizing leadership approaches

Resources & Contact

• Book: “Triple Win Leadership Coaching” (available on Amazon)
• Website: globalcoachgroup.com
• Email: coach@globalcoachgroup.com

Summary prepared for listeners of the Excellent Executive Coaching podcast episode EEC 398.