Season 2 Episode 26 - Dennis Akkerman - “Get Naked!!.. to be a great leader”

We were very excited to interview Dennis Akkerman, the founder and managing director of Orbis Business School. He has over two decades of experience in leading major transformations in more than 25 countries. He has worked with multinational companies including; Citibank, HSBC, Shell, and Coca-Cola, as well as entrepreneurs and SMEs.

In his first book, The Naked Leader, Dennis shares a unique, structured and practical transformation approach which every (aspiring) leader and entrepreneur can follow. He believes that leadership is a work in progress. Being is always becoming, and that insight will make all the difference.

In this episode we explore Dennis’ book, “The Naked Leader” and his challenge to conventional leadership wisdom. We uncover what inspired him to write this book, and what key message that he hopes readers will take away. We take a few moments to focus on Dennis’ personal journey, where he experienced a life awakening time; his business ran out of money, he went through a divorce, was miles from home, and we uncover how did these experiences make him a better leader?

We discuss the emphasis in the book about self awareness as a key leadership trait, why do so many leaders struggle with this, and how can they overcome it. We also discussed the importance of asking the right questions (sometimes the uncomfortable questions) and how can leaders apply the principles from The Naked Leader (eg be truly present) in fast-paced, high-pressure environments?

Dennis shares with us his one simple yet powerful leadership “hack” that any aspiring leader can start implementing today, together with the one lesson from The Naked Leader that he wishes every leader in the world would internalise.