‘From Crisis to Innovation: A Mental Health Entrepreneur’s journey’ – Vlad Gheorghiu

The World Health Organization estimates that 12 billion working days are lost every year due to depression and anxiety. This costs $1 trillion in lost productivity.

McKinsey research showed that ‘60 % of employees have experienced at least one mental-health challenge at some point in their lives’. According to the same study ‘Failing to address the effects of mental health and well-being challenges is a missed opportunity for employers’.

Employees dealing with mental health issues are 4x more likely to say they intend to leave, 3x more likely to report low job satisfaction, 3x more likely to experience toxic workplace behavior, and 2x more likely to report low engagement.

At the same time, classic Employee Assistance Programs do not seem to work…

Vlad Gheorghiu experienced mental health issues firsthand, whilst working for McKinsey. 

This experience inspired him to design solutions. First for McKinsey, and later by co-finding a start-up company called Kyan Health.

In my conversation with Vlad, we covered the following topics:

1️⃣ Vlad’s background

2️⃣ Vlad’s engagement with mental health

3️⃣ The gap in the workplace between the mental health support employees need and receive

4️⃣ The concept of Kyan Health

5️⃣ Measuring impact

6️⃣ Creating a start-up company: Three Dos

7️⃣ Creating a start-up company: Three Dont’s

8️⃣ Vlad’s role models as an entrepreneur

If you are interested, you can watch our conversation on YouTube.


You can also listen to it Apple Podcasts or Spotify

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A Scientific Perspective on Leadership Development – Ayse Yemiscigil

Everyone is an expert in Leadership Development, or at least has an opinion about it.

However, if that is the case, why do global organizations spend more than $60 billion every year on leadership development programs, but is it so hard to ensure the ROI of these programs?

To find the answer to this question, I decided to interview Ayse Yemiscigil for my Podcast Leadership 2.0.

Ayse Yemiscigil is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business and a Research Affiliate with the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University.

In February 2023, she, Dana Born, and Horace Ling, published an article for HBR.org of the Harvard Business Review titled: ‘What Makes Leadership Development Programs Succeed?’

During our conversation, we discussed the following topics:

1️⃣ Why most investments in Leadership Development programs fail

2️⃣ The format of Leadership Development programs

3️⃣ The content of Leadership Development programs

4️⃣ The ‘whole person’ approach

5️⃣ Whether knowledge building on business topics should be included in Leadership Development programs

6️⃣ The long-term impact (or not) of Leadership Development Programs

7️⃣ How to measure the impact of Leadership Development programs

8️⃣ Stimulating the self-reflection of (potential) leaders

If you are interested, you can watch our conversation of YouTube.


You can also listen to it Apple Podcasts or Spotify

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