by Arvid Buit | Aug 20, 2026 | Blog, Leadership Blog
A supervisory board that commissions coaching for its chief executive has already taken a decision. The only useful question is which one. The request arrives with great courtesy. A call from the chair, a reference to the annual evaluation, a sentence about wanting to...
by Arvid Buit | Aug 20, 2026 | Blog, Leadership Blog
The non-disclosure agreement is the least important document in the engagement. I say that to boards more often than they expect, and it lands badly for about ten seconds before it lands properly. A non-disclosure agreement governs publication. It stops a coach...
by Arvid Buit | Aug 20, 2026 | Blog, Leadership Blog
The word coaching has been borrowed, mostly by people who do not do it. What is sold to senior leaders under that name is, in the great majority of cases, training, and the difference between the two is not a matter of vocabulary. I have watched it become visible...
by Arvid Buit | Aug 20, 2026 | Blog, Leadership Blog
Choosing a coach for yourself is not a smaller version of choosing one for somebody who reports to you. It is a different task, and almost every instrument you would ordinarily reach for stops working. I have sat in enough of these first conversations to recognise the...
by Arvid Buit | Jul 30, 2026 | Leadership Blog
Why write a novel about a narcissistic CEO? Because a narcissistic leader who would fight any feedback report can still recognise himself in a story. Fiction gets past the armour: there is no messenger to shoot. Wahlberg, my business novel about CEO Dirk Wahlberg, has...
by Arvid Buit | Jul 30, 2026 | Leadership Blog
How do you negotiate with a narcissist? By negotiating with the pattern instead of the person you wish were present. Concretely: manage the relationship between the deal and their self-image, because the pattern will pay real money to protect the story; never spend...
