Leap Academy with Ilana Golan — Episode Summary

Episode Title:

Former Siemens CEO on Building an $80B Business While Avoiding Burnout | Klaus Kleinfeld | E123
September 2, 2025

Main Theme

Ilana Golan sits down with Klaus Kleinfeld, former CEO of Siemens (and later Alcoa/Arconic), to explore sustainable success as a top global executive. They discuss building massive businesses, overcoming adversity, energy management vs. time management, the reality of leadership, strategies to avoid burnout, and the deeper meaning of purpose. Klaus shares personal stories from childhood through his rise to CEO—including pivotal mindset shifts and actionable lessons for ambitious professionals seeking high performance without sacrificing wellbeing.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Childhood, Adversity & Resilience

• Early Adversity: Klaus shares about losing his father at age 10 and being raised by a single mother in Germany, experiencing both East and West German systems.
  • "It just accelerates how you grow up...You have to become a bit self-reliant." (04:25)
  • Learned the "importance of freedom" and why he was drawn to the US later.
• Formative Moments: Secretly watching the moon landing in East Germany, symbolizing a hope for freedom and global unity.
  • "Maybe one day the world will come together again…in a free world." (06:18)
• Early Work: Started working at 12, stacking supermarket shelves before school.
  • “The most hated place was the milk rack … but it paid. It gave me real money.” (18:50)

Career Progression & Mindset

• Career Path: Initially in consulting, then pharmaceuticals, before joining Siemens—never “planned” to be CEO.
  • "I always thought in the end, you have to be your own entrepreneur." (11:35)
  • Motto: "I love it, change it, or leave it." (12:50)
• Climbing the Ladder: Disregards rigid HR career maps; focused on creating value and solving problems, even outside his assigned role.
  • “The value very often was of a nature that they didn’t necessarily ask me to do...I just did it because it will be good for business.” (12:51)
• On Becoming CEO:
  • Process was lengthy—not a climactic “you’ve got the job” moment.
  • Was well-prepared due to broad experience but thrown into turnaround mode immediately.
  • "I was wearing a little red dot on my forehead, internally people were trying to shoot me from back and center...But then… I felt very, very well prepared." (13:54-15:00)

Leadership Realities & High-Performance Teams

• Loneliness & Decision Making:
  • CEO is a lonely job; significant decisions must be made solo, “All alternatives are having crap on there.”
  • “You make a decision and you think this is the best alternative of all the crap that you have. The next day you read in the paper or you see on TV how you're getting dragged in the mud...” (15:50)
• Use of Mentors: Sought advice widely, not just from formal mentors; valued different perspectives.
• Feedback & Letting People Go:
  • “I want to treat everyone with respect, even if I have a difficult message…It was almost like a burden falling off them.” (19:21)
  • “A good job that is not yours is worse than a bad job – you’re comfortable, and you don’t take action until somebody helps you out.” (21:52, paraphrased by Ilana)

The Power & Management of Energy

• Mindset Shift:
  • Used to be a devotee of time management, but was challenged by a friend: “Klaus, you’ve been all wrong on your metaphor of life…it’s not an ultra marathon, it’s a sprint, then a rest. It’s all about energy.” (25:04)
  • Key Insight: “It’s not about time management, it’s about energy management.” (25:04-26:51)
• Performance Optimization:
  • Inspired by elite sports and military: mental training and compartmentalization boost performance and resilience.
  • “I tried neuro-linguistic programming, meditation (I thought it was for douchebags), but learned autogenic training, breathing exercises – simple, but so powerful for focus and calmness.” (28:01)
• Integration of Work and Life:
  • “I always believed it’s one life ... I have to integrate that I want to be a good father, have a good friendship group, and also be a great leader. I saw this as one thing.” (31:50)

Burnout, Recharge & Wellbeing

• Sources of Energy:
  1. Body: Move, eat well, sleep (“sleep is not for weak people!”), breathing.
  2. Mind: Emotional control—emotions are internal, “You decide to become angry and allow the trigger to make you angry.” (35:23)
  3. Soul: Love, gratitude, “random acts of kindness” as energy boosters.
  • Memorable analogy: “Purpose does to energy what a laser does to light: it focuses it and makes it powerful.” (31:50)
• Finding Balance: Not about abandoning work or “detoxing” completely, but integrating recharge routines into daily life.
  • “My best advice as CEO: lock vacation days in your calendar at the start of the year, or you’ll never take them. Otherwise, your life will be eaten up.” (41:23)
  • “On planes, they tell you to put your own oxygen mask on first — if we don’t do that, we can’t help anyone else.” (43:40)
• Recharge Techniques:
  • Mini-breaks: walking around the block, breathing exercises, music, compartmentalization practices.
  • Reframing: “With 3 minutes of a song, I’m a changed person instead of plowing through.” (44:19)
  • High-performance routines: “Top tennis players use 20 seconds between serves to reframe—become a different person for the next point.” (44:19)

Purpose, Passion, and Reinvention

• Purpose:
  • Many struggle with this—Klaus recommends deep reflection.
  • “Purpose is the magic thing that brings everything together...reflect on what gets you moving, what you want to do.” (48:58)
• Finding Passion:
  • "Looking for your passion" is poor advice. Instead, pursue where you can create value and “stack the evidence” over time that you’re good and fulfilled.
  • “My passion was not to refill supermarket racks...or turn around companies. But my indicator was always: where can I create value? Try it out. The moment you are good at it, it’s fun; maybe it is my passion.” (55:06-56:00)
  • Importance of “stacking evidence” before declaring something a passion; passion often comes after mastery, not before.

Team Building & Leadership

• High-Performance Teams:
  • “I am an addict to high-performance teams. You achieve things you’d never achieve alone.” (51:20)
  • Clarity: “Many teams don’t know what winning looks like—define the single thing that winning is.” (51:20)
• Self-Talk & Limiting Beliefs:
  • “You have to establish some observer in your mind—figure out which thoughts are yours, which came from others, and throw out limiting beliefs.” (48:58–51:18)
  • “Is it really true?” (51:18)

Board & Group Dynamics

• Board Realities:
  • “With a board, you go from having a boss you know how to handle to having a group—group dynamics have only two stable states: either they love you, or they want you gone.” (47:38)
  • “The false belief that performance trumps everything—that’s a very false belief. There are many personal, non-performance factors.” (48:09)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I love it, change it, or leave it." – Klaus Kleinfeld (12:50)
• "Purpose does to energy what a laser does to light...makes this extremely powerful." – Klaus (31:50)
• "You decide to become angry and allow this trigger to make you angry." – Klaus (35:23)
• "Is it really true?" – Klaus (51:20)
• "My passion was not to refill supermarket racks...But the moment you are good at it...maybe it is my passion." – Klaus (55:06–56:00)
• "If we don't put our oxygen mask on first, we can't help others." – Ilana (43:40)
• "You can screw with your mind in a very positive way—and you should." – Klaus (44:19)
• "It’s not about time management, it’s about energy management." – Klaus (25:04)
• “Fear is a really bad decision maker. I always call fear an acronym: False Expectation Appearing Real.” – Klaus (22:26)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Early adversity & moon landing story: 02:35–06:59
• Work ethic & early jobs: 18:28–18:50
• Climbing Siemens, leadership philosophy: 10:11–13:36
• CEO loneliness & decision making: 15:27–17:32
• Letting people go with respect: 19:21–22:26
• Deathbed regrets & power of choice: 23:30–26:00
• Energy vs. time management realization: 25:04–28:01
• Sports and performance parallels: 28:01–30:32
• Work-life integration & purpose as energy lens: 31:50–34:57
• Burnout prevention, sources of energy: 35:23–39:59
• Recharge routines & practical advice: 41:23–46:33
• Purpose, self-talk, limiting beliefs: 48:58–51:20
• Team building & "what does winning look like?": 51:20–53:13
• Misconceptions about passion & career advice: 55:06–57:10

Tone & Takeaways

The conversation is honest, direct, and pragmatic, filled with both humility and actionable wisdom. Klaus Kleinfeld brings refreshing candor about leadership pressure, emotional mastery, and the journey to fulfillment—stressing that energy, self-awareness, and purpose are more vital to high performance than grinding longer hours.

For listeners:

• Optimize energy, not just time.
• Integrate personal and professional life—it's all one.
• Find value, experiment, and mastery—passion will emerge.
• Recharging is essential, not shameful.
• Purpose and self-talk are powerful tools.
• Build and clearly direct high-performance teams.
• Don’t let fear or external voices dictate your life.