June 24, 2025 • 28 mins
This episode of the Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast features Arnold Beekes, a pioneer in the realm of brain fitness, who elucidates the importance of optimizing cognitive capabilities as a means to enhance leadership and overall organizational effectiveness. Central to our discussion is the notion that fear within companies acts as a constraint, stifling creativity and innovation, thereby leading to mediocrity. Beekes advocates for a paradigm shift that encourages leaders to foster environments where individuals are empowered to unlock their potential, thereby promoting a culture of growth and collaboration. Through the lens of his enterprise, Brain Gym Fitness, he presents strategies designed to maintain cognitive agility and prevent cognitive decline, paralleling the principles of physical fitness. As we navigate this enlightening conversation, we explore how acknowledging and nurturing individual purpose can transform workplace dynamics, ultimately leading to a more engaged and fulfilled workforce.
The discourse presented in this podcast episode unfolds around the profound influence of leadership on organizational dynamics, as articulated by the esteemed host, Jaclyn Strominger, and her illustrious guest, Arnold Beekes. Their dialogue deftly navigates the intricate interplay between leadership and the cultivation of an environment conducive to employee satisfaction and productivity. Beekes, a recognized authority in the realms of innovation and brain fitness, elucidates his pioneering approach that integrates elements of service design, sports technology, and psychology to enhance cognitive capabilities within corporate frameworks. This innovative perspective is encapsulated in his initiative, Brain Gym Fitness, which endeavors to optimize brain functionality in a manner akin to physical fitness, thus emphasizing the necessity of cognitive engagement in both preventative and enhancement contexts. The conversation further delves into the detrimental effects of fear-based management practices, which stifle creativity and inhibit the full realization of individual potential within organizations. Beekes advocates for a paradigm shift towards a leadership model that emphasizes empowerment and recognizes the intrinsic value of each employee's unique contributions and aspirations. Through a compelling narrative, the episode articulates the essential tenets of effective leadership, ultimately positing that fostering a culture of growth and collaboration will not only benefit individual employees but will also drive organizational success. Beekes' insights underscore the urgency for leaders to transcend conventional methods and adopt a more holistic approach that prioritizes the well-being and development of their teams, thereby nurturing a more vibrant and innovative workplace.
Takeaways:
- Effective leadership hinges upon recognizing and nurturing the intrinsic potential of individuals within an organization.
- The concept of brain fitness is essential for maintaining cognitive health and optimizing individual capabilities over time.
- Transformative change in corporate culture necessitates moving away from fear-based management practices towards more empowering and supportive approaches.
- Successful leadership involves understanding and embracing the invisible forces that influence behavior and decision-making in the workplace.
- Encouraging open communication between management and employees fosters a more dynamic and innovative organizational environment.
- Leaders should prioritize uplifting their team members through positive reinforcement to cultivate a thriving workplace culture.
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Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:59):
Well, hello everybody andwelcome to another amazing episode
of the Unstoppable LeadershipSpotlight podcast. I am your host,
Jaclyn Strominger. And on thispodcast we hear from amazing leaders
and their game changinginsights on how we can make better
leaders. Leadership drives thecompanies, that drives the people.
(01:20):
And if we can have happierpeople, we could end up with a happier
world. And so today I want towelcome my amazing guest, Arnold
Beekes and let me just giveyou a little bit about background
on him and we'll dive into hisamazing work that he's doing. But
he is a pioneer. He ispioneering work in innovation as
(01:42):
a view as well. Sorry, let merepeat that. His pioneering work
in innovation is a fusionbetween service design, learning,
sports technology andpsychology. He has extensive global
innovation experience as acorporate executive, as a consultant
and as a startup founder. Andhe has designed and implement, implemented
(02:04):
new products and services andbusiness models and technology and
strategies. And he has anamazing new company called Brain
Gym Fitness where we get toget to be a little bit smarter and
be better leaders. And one ofthe other key things that we talked
about beforehand is gettingrid of the fear in companies because
(02:30):
fear is limiting. So Arnold,welcome to the podcast.
Thank you Jaclyn. Happy to be here.
Thank. Yeah, so, so, so wewere talking beforehand. You right
now are in Romania. We'vetalked a little bit about the world.
But tell us a little bit abouthow you got to Brain Gym fitness.
(02:54):
Yeah, I call it Brain Fitness.My website is called Brain Gym Dot
Fitness. Yeah, but it's likepeople know what body fitness is
and to keep your body well,functioning well, or even if you're
an elite sportsman, you wantto improve your body, you want to
make it at, perform at ahigher level. But something related
(03:18):
to brain fitness doesn'texist. So there is the preventive
part because just like withyour body, you need to keep it moving.
Otherwise when you arebecoming older age, a lot of things
stop functioning or well, atleast in a very limited way. The
(03:39):
same is absolutely true foryour brain. If you do, nothing will
decline. Yeah. And that's whya lot of people are currently having
problems with dementia,Parkinson, Alzheimer, Typ, type of
problems. That is kind of apreventive point of view. So that
(04:01):
is what, what I tackle. Butmainly the thing is like optimizing
people's brain and upgradingpeople's brain. Because I'm, I'm
200 convinced that many, manypeople have much potential which
they are not using. And if youdo brain fitness, you can unlock
(04:25):
your potential. That's where Ihelp people with.
So we are obviously nottalking about games on our phone.
No.
So when you so talk to us alittle bit about and share, like,
what are some of the thingsthat you, that, that help people
(04:47):
with prevented, like on thepreventative side to have, you know,
to keep their brains moving.
Well, the main thing is, isthat you work on something which
has purpose, which hascomplexity, and which is challenging
for you.
(05:09):
And so when you were thinkingabout this, like, because it's, it's
because we were talking alittle bit too, you know, about having
purpose and complexity, how doyou relate that back to, you know,
companies and leadership?Because, you know, as you shared,
you know, before, before theshow started, we were talking about
treating people like people.And you've done that in a corporation.
(05:29):
So how does that relate?
Well, what I found out is thata lot of companies have their own
mission, vision, purpose. Theyhave a statement. Sometimes they
put it in a nice frame on thewall, and in a lot of cases, that's
(05:50):
about it. There's not muchhappening with it. But it's like,
yeah, if you ask, yeah, wehave it. What was it already? Oh,
yeah, is this so it's, it'snot a living thing. But what I, what
I found out when I, I, I gotmyself out of the corporate world
and into entrepreneurship islike, hey, it's interesting. Companies
(06:13):
have a purpose statement,whatever. But I don't, because in,
in a corporation that's notasked of you, it's just us is like,
you obey and you do exactlywhat we tell you to do. But who you
are, what you want in life,what you love, where you're good
(06:34):
at, we don't care. We hiredyou to do this job and that's it.
It's so important to find out.So when you know what the individual's
purpose is. So how did youincorporate that into, when you,
when you incorporate that intowhat you were doing? And how did
you take that into theentrepreneurial space?
(06:57):
Well, it, where I came up, I,because people have many definitions
or purpose and missionstrategy. To make it extra confusing,
I create. I used a word whichis not used so much, and I call it
my quest.
Oh, that is a word that's notused very often.
(07:19):
Yeah. I, and if it's not that,I create words because then people
pay attention and, and myquest is how the invisible drives
the visible. Ooh. And what Ifound out while, well, throughout
my life, but especially inbusiness, is that it's not the things
(07:42):
which are visible is like thewords, your actions, what you do.
We qualify by people like whatthey say, what they do, and then
we think it's there. But in alot of cases what they do and say
is not who they are and it'snot what they mean. It just to play
(08:03):
the game. So it's like aniceberg. You're the top of the iceberg
or the part of the icebergwhich is above the water. That's
what you see. But 9, 10 of theiceberg is below the water and the
wind and the current thatdrives the direction. And you think
what you say and do derivesthe direction. Well, forget about
(08:24):
it. It's the invisible partwhich drive everything. And that
is true with people. Let megive you an example. When I worked
for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines,I, I came out directly out of. Well,
I worked at the IT departmentof km, but I came out of a, a IT
(08:45):
company, Digital EquipmentCorporation for the US people, you
understand. And I, and, andthere was at some point in time an
organizational change. Well,while I was in the American company,
with every quarter anorganizational change, that for me
(09:05):
that, that was nothing new.But for these guys, what are we going
to change is like, it's like,like five years ago we had to change.
Like I said, are you, are youkidding me? Yeah, so it's like, no,
we're not kidding. It's fiveyears ago. And I'm like, huh. So
(09:27):
anyway, we went ahead with itwith a change. And then I asked some
people, I, I managed then 800people. And I, I asked some people,
hey, are you ready for thechange? Did you prepare? Do you know
what to do? Whatever? And thenone guy, he was middle manager and
he was very honest and hesaid, yes, of course, everything
(09:48):
is ready, I know what to do,whatever. I change the name of my
department. And I said, and hesaid, I keep on doing what I've been
doing for 25 years and that'sit. So I'm not making this up. And,
(10:08):
and he was not, not trying tobe funny or whatever. It was just
like I change the name of mydepartment and I say yes, yes, I
just keep on doing whateverthat is. What I call the iceberg
is like your words are sayingsomething else than what's going
on inside of you.
Right, right. That's so true.And so I'm curious, so what transpired
(10:31):
with that? I mean, like, didhe keep doing what he was doing and
how did the change go?
Like, well, what he didn'tknow is that he lost his job. Yeah,
well, I obviously challengedhim to adapt and to change and to
do this thing, which was nothappening because it, well, it was
then, but I believe it stillis a extremely hierarchical environment.
(10:56):
Meaning that he wouldn't. LikeI said, I managed 800 people. So
I got a management team andbelow that there was a management
team and there were teamleaders and, and then came those
guys. And normally they wouldnever talk directly to a person of
my level, so they were notused that I would, I always reverse
(11:21):
things and I would talk peopleon the, on the workflow. And that's
because that's where it'shappening. And when you talk there,
you know what's going on andwhat's happening. But nobody did
it. So he didn't reallyunderstood what my position was.
But it's like, well, we nevertalk to those guys, we never see
(11:43):
them.
But it's so important, right?It's so important that the upper
management sees the peoplethat are doing the work. I mean,
we talk, I mean, you hear allthose amazing stories of CEOs who
walk the corridors of thepeople that are doing the work. So
they get out of their goldendome, so to speak, and, and get to
know the people. And it does.When they get to know the people
(12:06):
in your fold, it elevateseverybody up because they're like,
oh, I, I, I met Arnold and anArnold is this right? And it totally
elevates people up.
And then it's like, like Isaid, everybody has potential, everybody
has ideas how to improvethings. Everybody has ideas what,
(12:28):
what's not working. And if youask them, but how would you do it?
They give you 4, 5, 6, 7 ideashow to improve it. And if you implement
those ideas, you have noproblem at all with any change, initiative,
whatever. Because people say,yeah, of course, we should have done
this 10 years ago.
Right, right. So, so Arnold,talk a little bit about, because
(12:53):
you know, you, you, you sharethis and it's about what you're talking
about right now too. But howdoes brain, you know, how does the,
the Brain Fitness or Brain Gymrelate back to helping companies
look at people as people andgetting their potential, pulling
their potential out?
(13:15):
Well, what, what people aredoing in management practices, in
leadership practices, it'swhat they're taught and most of the
stuff is being copied. Soeverything what they're doing is
the same as five years ago, 10years ago, 30 years ago. It's exactly
the same. I've been for 25years out of the corporate world,
(13:37):
I can start tomorrow. Andnothing has changed. So it's always
the same approach, but theapproach is fear based the approach
is, is like, how can wecontrol you? Yeah. So it, like, as
long as you do exactly what Itell you. And, and, and I warn you,
(13:57):
if you don't, you will getlaid off. Or, or, or, or you won't
get promoted, whatever. It'sall based on fear and control. And
that means that people won'tcome up with exciting ideas, they
won't come up with newinsights, they won't do something
extra like this. And I'massured that I, I don't make any
(14:20):
failure. So everything becomesvery average, everything becomes
very mediocre. What I do is sopeople are put in what I call invisible
straight jackets. We, we areall wearing invisible straight jackets.
You know what the straightjacket is? Yes. You didn't say it.
(14:44):
We can't move. Right?
Yeah, but it's like, yeah,it's like these white coats where
your arms or whatever and youcan do nothing by itself. When I
ask people, there's like, haveyou seen the Olympics last year in
Paris? Yeah. Yes, I've seenit. I've seen it. I said, how many
of the sportsmen or women whowon a gold medal did wear a straight
(15:04):
jacket? Stupid question.Nobody, of course. Nobody. Yeah.
So why are you wearing astraight jacket while you go to work?
While are you wearing astraight jacket? When you're in relationship,
in your marriage, with yourfriends, in towards your parents,
and we all have theseinvisible straight jackets and we
(15:28):
think it's normal. It's likeif we always look at the faults you
make, your failures, yourmistakes, that's where we focus on.
But we don't focus on, whatdid Jaclyn do? Right? Where's she
good at? What is Jaclyn leftto do? Or shall we use that instead
(15:49):
of saying, jacqueline, youshould be doing this and if it's
not good, you, you can forgetabout your promotion. Oh.
You know, it's, it's, it'sinteresting, you know, it's so true
because, you.
Know.
When people are in thosestraight jackets, it's like, it's
(16:10):
like, I'm going to keep onpressing the red button, right. Or
whatever. I'm going to keeppressing the button. And they don't
think about, oh, might bethere, there might be another way
to do that. Right. We can'tbe. When we're living in that fear
zone, I want to stay in that,my lane, because I don't want to
be the disruptor, because Idon't. Or be the change agent because
(16:31):
I don't want to lose my job. Iwant to be there and we stop Looking
at it from the standpoint ofwhat's the upward mobility and how
can I help when leaders stoplooking at my goal as a leader is
to really figure out ifArnold's in my team, how can I help
him rise up, how can I helphim reach whatever potential? We
(16:55):
forget that. We forget thatthat's, you know, as a leader, it's
kind of what we're supposed tobe doing, right?
Yes. Because it's quitesimple. If your people grow, you
grow and if you grow, yourcompany grows. So in essence, it's
very simple. But we in mostthings in our life, in our work,
(17:16):
in our society, we don'tquestion things. We think we've been
doing this for maybe hundredsor decades of years and we think
it's normal and we don'tquestion it like, oh, should we do
something else? Yeah, I, Iwas, well, I'm an old guy. Yes. If
we're talking about the 80s. Iwas put in a first line management
(17:38):
program for one year in orderto become from a specialist, a first
line manager. There theylearned me how you should do performance
reviews and give feedback.Better feedback is like, yeah, it's
a sandwich matter. Yeah. Yougot to tell two things, criticizing,
then one thing good and thentwo things criticizing. That is the
(18:01):
right approach. Oh, okay.Well, I was really good at criticizing
because my father non stopcriticized everything in my life.
So he never ever gave me acompliment. I'm not kidding. He never
did. So I was like, oh, that'seasy. No, but I got to give one thing
which is good. Yeah. That isstill done to this very day. You
(18:24):
say, right. And, but, butnobody gets excited about the criticism.
Let me give you a smallexample. I was in the American company
the first year I was amarketing specialist. Then I became
a marketing manager and I hadmy first performance review. Before
that I came from a smallcompany and there were, there was
(18:44):
no reviews whatever. There wasnothing said here. It was like. So
I was nervous because I hadthis performance review meeting with
the marketing manager. It wasone hour meeting. I still vividly
remember where it was, where Isaid where he said, and whatever.
For 50 minutes he was talkingabout very tiny and small things
(19:05):
which were not good. Like thisshould be done there. This, you could
have done this in that way.And if you did it like this, it would
be this and it would, for 50minutes. So I was like, I'm getting
fired. Seriously. That is whatI thought. It's like, this is really
bad. And you have to know I, Ihave a master in law So I was like,
(19:30):
oh, this is going to betricky. Is like, not good. Then after
50 minutes, he said, yeah, Iget your rating and your salary.
Your rating is uer. UER standsfor usually exceeds requirements.
Huh. That's good, isn't it?Yeah. Hardly anyone gets it. So in
(19:53):
my first year, I get the uer.I'm like, but you just criticize
me to the bone for the first50 minutes. Is it like, yeah. And
by the way, I get a salaryraise. I believe it was 11%. It,
like, I was totally confused.I was totally confused. Yeah. But,
(20:16):
and, and this is my realexperience. That's why. Because it,
it had such a deep experience.I can still explain it. And this
was in the 80s, you see, it'slike, I'm like, but this is what
we do to the very day is like,we, we constantly criticize, and
then we say one tiny thingwith a good. And that's the way it
is. What if we reverse it?Say, jacqueline, this is what you
(20:40):
do. Good. You seem to likethis, and you have talent in this,
and you handle that very good.And you're like, oh, I feel good.
Yeah. And then it's like, bythe way, there's some small thing
is like, if you change that,you will be even much better. Oh,
cool.
And right. And so when youpump somebody up and they feel like,
(21:01):
and you share that, they, theyget pumped up, and then they're going
to want to do that small thingthat's whatever to make that change,
and they're going to be like,oh, my God, I, I, they're going to
feel better. They're going tobe that, that positive excitement
of, like, coming into work. Soit, it's so true. And so leaders
and listening to this, this isso important. Like this, if, if you
(21:26):
could do one thing, if youtake away one thing from this, you
know, podcast, think aboutways that you can pump up your team
members and share the goodthings, because it's going to actually
create the positiveinteractions in our brain and give
us, you know, it's almost likethe endorphin rush. Right. And it's
(21:50):
going to help your employees.And, and I hate the word employees.
It's going to help your team members.
Yeah. But it also creates amuch nicer culture and atmosphere
and, and, and it's going to befun instead of, like, you know, what's
a sign of a, a terribleculture where people ask you on Monday,
what are you going to do theweekend? It like, dude, it's Monday.
(22:17):
I love it. We're Going tostart it. I have no clue about the
weekend. It's like, yeah, butit's like, well, I hate it so much.
Oh, I'm looking forward to, tonext Saturday.
But like the Monday morning, I invite.
People to say, go, go usepublic transport. The train, the
bus, where you see how peoplelook when they go to their work.
(22:39):
Yeah. It's look like they gointo an operation in hospital. It's
not like, hey, I see myfriends, my colleagues, we have this
really cool project. Like, oh,I love doing this and oh, I want
to this. How many people aredoing that?
Right. You know, it's so, it'sso true. That's why, you know, I
(23:01):
think it's so important thatwhat you're doing and what you're
sharing, because if we can.And why, you know, what this podcast
is all about is if we cancreate better leaders, then that
person goes from the company,they go out, when they go buy their
coffee or they're on thetrain, they're going to smile, and
that means that they're goingto have a better interaction with
(23:23):
the other people that arearound them. You know, it's. It's
like, you know, as you justsaid, the excitement of getting on
that train on Monday morningand picking public, public transportation
and you have a smile on yourface and there's a guy that is driving
the public transportation andyou smile at him. Even a smile, it's
going to make his day better.So it really, it's. It's the things
(23:47):
that we want, the tentaclesthat we want to spread out. So it
makes a huge.
The families of those. Yeah,it like they got children, they get
a wife, a husband. It likewhenever. Well, my father was a military
officer and at home he waseven worse. So it's like, so when
there was something, it's likewe all would sense, it's like, oh,
(24:09):
did he have a good day todayor not? Yeah. And if he had a bad
day, we had to be verycareful, we always said. But then
it was like, oh, that's notgood. If I had, in his eyes, not
a good grade at school, Ididn't mention it. I didn't have
the courage because he wouldbe extremely, extremely angry. It's
(24:31):
like I would say it anothertime when he was in a better mood,
you see. But it's like if hewould come home, he's like, oh, I
had such a nice day. And we.This and that. And that whole atmosphere
at home is totally different, Right?
Yeah, it's a huge difference.So, Arnold, I could talk to you forever
about this because this issuch a huge topic and it, it, it
(24:52):
means so much to me. How canpeople connect with you and find
you on on and learn more about you?
Well, it's very simple. I havea website called Brain Gym Fitness
and there I have I basicallyvery simple two products. I have
a master class which arevideos of 90 minute videos around
(25:15):
the specific topic like youruniqueness, relationships, aging,
curiosity. So that's what youcan find there. And the main thing
is my 15 week training programcalled from fitting in to flying
out. You have 15 sessions of90 minute each. Yeah. And then in
(25:36):
the week in between you. Yeah.You can learn and grow and apply
what what I taught you inthing. So that's my training program.
You can sign up there. If youstill have any question. There's
even a link to my agenda. Youcan book half an hour with me and
we can have a discussion.Brain Gym Fitness.
So Brain Gym Fitness. Okay. Soleaders, reach out and connect with
(25:59):
Arnold. Go to Brain GymFitness and really truly connect.
I mean this is so important,you know, if you want to have a game
changer in your company, reachout to Arnold. I want to thank you
all for listening to theUnstoppable Leadership Spotlight
podcast. If you have enjoyedthis episode, please hit the subscribe.
(26:22):
If you have gotten a tidbitthat you think is really amazing,
which I'm sure you have,please share this also with your
friends and colleagues. Andthank you Arnold, for being an amazing
guest and thank you listenersfor being part of the unstoppable
leadership community. Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, hello everybody andwelcome to another amazing episode
of the Unstoppable LeadershipSpotlight podcast. I am your host,
Jaclyn Strominger. And on thispodcast we hear from amazing leaders
and their game changinginsights on how we can make better
leaders. Leadership drives thecompanies, that drives the people.
(01:20):
And if we can have happierpeople, we could end up with a happier
world. And so today I want towelcome my amazing guest, Arnold
Beekes and let me just giveyou a little bit about background
on him and we'll dive into hisamazing work that he's doing. But
he is a pioneer. He ispioneering work in innovation as
(01:42):
a view as well. Sorry, let merepeat that. His pioneering work
in innovation is a fusionbetween service design, learning,
sports technology andpsychology. He has extensive global
innovation experience as acorporate executive, as a consultant
and as a startup founder. Andhe has designed and implement, implemented
(02:04):
new products and services andbusiness models and technology and
strategies. And he has anamazing new company called Brain
Gym Fitness where we get toget to be a little bit smarter and
be better leaders. And one ofthe other key things that we talked
about beforehand is gettingrid of the fear in companies because
(02:30):
fear is limiting. So Arnold,welcome to the podcast.
Thank you Jaclyn. Happy to be here.
Thank. Yeah, so, so, so wewere talking beforehand. You right
now are in Romania. We'vetalked a little bit about the world.
But tell us a little bit abouthow you got to Brain Gym fitness.
(02:54):
Yeah, I call it Brain Fitness.My website is called Brain Gym Dot
Fitness. Yeah, but it's likepeople know what body fitness is
and to keep your body well,functioning well, or even if you're
an elite sportsman, you wantto improve your body, you want to
make it at, perform at ahigher level. But something related
(03:18):
to brain fitness doesn'texist. So there is the preventive
part because just like withyour body, you need to keep it moving.
Otherwise when you arebecoming older age, a lot of things
stop functioning or well, atleast in a very limited way. The
(03:39):
same is absolutely true foryour brain. If you do, nothing will
decline. Yeah. And that's whya lot of people are currently having
problems with dementia,Parkinson, Alzheimer, Typ, type of
problems. That is kind of apreventive point of view. So that
(04:01):
is what, what I tackle. Butmainly the thing is like optimizing
people's brain and upgradingpeople's brain. Because I'm, I'm
200 convinced that many, manypeople have much potential which
they are not using. And if youdo brain fitness, you can unlock
(04:25):
your potential. That's where Ihelp people with.
So we are obviously nottalking about games on our phone.
No.
So when you so talk to us alittle bit about and share, like,
what are some of the thingsthat you, that, that help people
(04:47):
with prevented, like on thepreventative side to have, you know,
to keep their brains moving.
Well, the main thing is, isthat you work on something which
has purpose, which hascomplexity, and which is challenging
for you.
(05:09):
And so when you were thinkingabout this, like, because it's, it's
because we were talking alittle bit too, you know, about having
purpose and complexity, how doyou relate that back to, you know,
companies and leadership?Because, you know, as you shared,
you know, before, before theshow started, we were talking about
treating people like people.And you've done that in a corporation.
(05:29):
So how does that relate?
Well, what I found out is thata lot of companies have their own
mission, vision, purpose. Theyhave a statement. Sometimes they
put it in a nice frame on thewall, and in a lot of cases, that's
(05:50):
about it. There's not muchhappening with it. But it's like,
yeah, if you ask, yeah, wehave it. What was it already? Oh,
yeah, is this so it's, it'snot a living thing. But what I, what
I found out when I, I, I gotmyself out of the corporate world
and into entrepreneurship islike, hey, it's interesting. Companies
(06:13):
have a purpose statement,whatever. But I don't, because in,
in a corporation that's notasked of you, it's just us is like,
you obey and you do exactlywhat we tell you to do. But who you
are, what you want in life,what you love, where you're good
(06:34):
at, we don't care. We hiredyou to do this job and that's it.
It's so important to find out.So when you know what the individual's
purpose is. So how did youincorporate that into, when you,
when you incorporate that intowhat you were doing? And how did
you take that into theentrepreneurial space?
(06:57):
Well, it, where I came up, I,because people have many definitions
or purpose and missionstrategy. To make it extra confusing,
I create. I used a word whichis not used so much, and I call it
my quest.
Oh, that is a word that's notused very often.
(07:19):
Yeah. I, and if it's not that,I create words because then people
pay attention and, and myquest is how the invisible drives
the visible. Ooh. And what Ifound out while, well, throughout
my life, but especially inbusiness, is that it's not the things
(07:42):
which are visible is like thewords, your actions, what you do.
We qualify by people like whatthey say, what they do, and then
we think it's there. But in alot of cases what they do and say
is not who they are and it'snot what they mean. It just to play
(08:03):
the game. So it's like aniceberg. You're the top of the iceberg
or the part of the icebergwhich is above the water. That's
what you see. But 9, 10 of theiceberg is below the water and the
wind and the current thatdrives the direction. And you think
what you say and do derivesthe direction. Well, forget about
(08:24):
it. It's the invisible partwhich drive everything. And that
is true with people. Let megive you an example. When I worked
for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines,I, I came out directly out of. Well,
I worked at the IT departmentof km, but I came out of a, a IT
(08:45):
company, Digital EquipmentCorporation for the US people, you
understand. And I, and, andthere was at some point in time an
organizational change. Well,while I was in the American company,
with every quarter anorganizational change, that for me
(09:05):
that, that was nothing new.But for these guys, what are we going
to change is like, it's like,like five years ago we had to change.
Like I said, are you, are youkidding me? Yeah, so it's like, no,
we're not kidding. It's fiveyears ago. And I'm like, huh. So
(09:27):
anyway, we went ahead with itwith a change. And then I asked some
people, I, I managed then 800people. And I, I asked some people,
hey, are you ready for thechange? Did you prepare? Do you know
what to do? Whatever? And thenone guy, he was middle manager and
he was very honest and hesaid, yes, of course, everything
(09:48):
is ready, I know what to do,whatever. I change the name of my
department. And I said, and hesaid, I keep on doing what I've been
doing for 25 years and that'sit. So I'm not making this up. And,
(10:08):
and he was not, not trying tobe funny or whatever. It was just
like I change the name of mydepartment and I say yes, yes, I
just keep on doing whateverthat is. What I call the iceberg
is like your words are sayingsomething else than what's going
on inside of you.
Right, right. That's so true.And so I'm curious, so what transpired
(10:31):
with that? I mean, like, didhe keep doing what he was doing and
how did the change go?
Like, well, what he didn'tknow is that he lost his job. Yeah,
well, I obviously challengedhim to adapt and to change and to
do this thing, which was nothappening because it, well, it was
then, but I believe it stillis a extremely hierarchical environment.
(10:56):
Meaning that he wouldn't. LikeI said, I managed 800 people. So
I got a management team andbelow that there was a management
team and there were teamleaders and, and then came those
guys. And normally they wouldnever talk directly to a person of
my level, so they were notused that I would, I always reverse
(11:21):
things and I would talk peopleon the, on the workflow. And that's
because that's where it'shappening. And when you talk there,
you know what's going on andwhat's happening. But nobody did
it. So he didn't reallyunderstood what my position was.
But it's like, well, we nevertalk to those guys, we never see
(11:43):
them.
But it's so important, right?It's so important that the upper
management sees the peoplethat are doing the work. I mean,
we talk, I mean, you hear allthose amazing stories of CEOs who
walk the corridors of thepeople that are doing the work. So
they get out of their goldendome, so to speak, and, and get to
know the people. And it does.When they get to know the people
(12:06):
in your fold, it elevateseverybody up because they're like,
oh, I, I, I met Arnold and anArnold is this right? And it totally
elevates people up.
And then it's like, like Isaid, everybody has potential, everybody
has ideas how to improvethings. Everybody has ideas what,
(12:28):
what's not working. And if youask them, but how would you do it?
They give you 4, 5, 6, 7 ideashow to improve it. And if you implement
those ideas, you have noproblem at all with any change, initiative,
whatever. Because people say,yeah, of course, we should have done
this 10 years ago.
Right, right. So, so Arnold,talk a little bit about, because
(12:53):
you know, you, you, you sharethis and it's about what you're talking
about right now too. But howdoes brain, you know, how does the,
the Brain Fitness or Brain Gymrelate back to helping companies
look at people as people andgetting their potential, pulling
their potential out?
(13:15):
Well, what, what people aredoing in management practices, in
leadership practices, it'swhat they're taught and most of the
stuff is being copied. Soeverything what they're doing is
the same as five years ago, 10years ago, 30 years ago. It's exactly
the same. I've been for 25years out of the corporate world,
(13:37):
I can start tomorrow. Andnothing has changed. So it's always
the same approach, but theapproach is fear based the approach
is, is like, how can wecontrol you? Yeah. So it, like, as
long as you do exactly what Itell you. And, and, and I warn you,
(13:57):
if you don't, you will getlaid off. Or, or, or, or you won't
get promoted, whatever. It'sall based on fear and control. And
that means that people won'tcome up with exciting ideas, they
won't come up with newinsights, they won't do something
extra like this. And I'massured that I, I don't make any
(14:20):
failure. So everything becomesvery average, everything becomes
very mediocre. What I do is sopeople are put in what I call invisible
straight jackets. We, we areall wearing invisible straight jackets.
You know what the straightjacket is? Yes. You didn't say it.
(14:44):
We can't move. Right?
Yeah, but it's like, yeah,it's like these white coats where
your arms or whatever and youcan do nothing by itself. When I
ask people, there's like, haveyou seen the Olympics last year in
Paris? Yeah. Yes, I've seenit. I've seen it. I said, how many
of the sportsmen or women whowon a gold medal did wear a straight
(15:04):
jacket? Stupid question.Nobody, of course. Nobody. Yeah.
So why are you wearing astraight jacket while you go to work?
While are you wearing astraight jacket? When you're in relationship,
in your marriage, with yourfriends, in towards your parents,
and we all have theseinvisible straight jackets and we
(15:28):
think it's normal. It's likeif we always look at the faults you
make, your failures, yourmistakes, that's where we focus on.
But we don't focus on, whatdid Jaclyn do? Right? Where's she
good at? What is Jaclyn leftto do? Or shall we use that instead
(15:49):
of saying, jacqueline, youshould be doing this and if it's
not good, you, you can forgetabout your promotion. Oh.
You know, it's, it's, it'sinteresting, you know, it's so true
because, you.
Know.
When people are in thosestraight jackets, it's like, it's
(16:10):
like, I'm going to keep onpressing the red button, right. Or
whatever. I'm going to keeppressing the button. And they don't
think about, oh, might bethere, there might be another way
to do that. Right. We can'tbe. When we're living in that fear
zone, I want to stay in that,my lane, because I don't want to
be the disruptor, because Idon't. Or be the change agent because
(16:31):
I don't want to lose my job. Iwant to be there and we stop Looking
at it from the standpoint ofwhat's the upward mobility and how
can I help when leaders stoplooking at my goal as a leader is
to really figure out ifArnold's in my team, how can I help
him rise up, how can I helphim reach whatever potential? We
(16:55):
forget that. We forget thatthat's, you know, as a leader, it's
kind of what we're supposed tobe doing, right?
Yes. Because it's quitesimple. If your people grow, you
grow and if you grow, yourcompany grows. So in essence, it's
very simple. But we in mostthings in our life, in our work,
(17:16):
in our society, we don'tquestion things. We think we've been
doing this for maybe hundredsor decades of years and we think
it's normal and we don'tquestion it like, oh, should we do
something else? Yeah, I, Iwas, well, I'm an old guy. Yes. If
we're talking about the 80s. Iwas put in a first line management
(17:38):
program for one year in orderto become from a specialist, a first
line manager. There theylearned me how you should do performance
reviews and give feedback.Better feedback is like, yeah, it's
a sandwich matter. Yeah. Yougot to tell two things, criticizing,
then one thing good and thentwo things criticizing. That is the
(18:01):
right approach. Oh, okay.Well, I was really good at criticizing
because my father non stopcriticized everything in my life.
So he never ever gave me acompliment. I'm not kidding. He never
did. So I was like, oh, that'seasy. No, but I got to give one thing
which is good. Yeah. That isstill done to this very day. You
(18:24):
say, right. And, but, butnobody gets excited about the criticism.
Let me give you a smallexample. I was in the American company
the first year I was amarketing specialist. Then I became
a marketing manager and I hadmy first performance review. Before
that I came from a smallcompany and there were, there was
(18:44):
no reviews whatever. There wasnothing said here. It was like. So
I was nervous because I hadthis performance review meeting with
the marketing manager. It wasone hour meeting. I still vividly
remember where it was, where Isaid where he said, and whatever.
For 50 minutes he was talkingabout very tiny and small things
(19:05):
which were not good. Like thisshould be done there. This, you could
have done this in that way.And if you did it like this, it would
be this and it would, for 50minutes. So I was like, I'm getting
fired. Seriously. That is whatI thought. It's like, this is really
bad. And you have to know I, Ihave a master in law So I was like,
(19:30):
oh, this is going to betricky. Is like, not good. Then after
50 minutes, he said, yeah, Iget your rating and your salary.
Your rating is uer. UER standsfor usually exceeds requirements.
Huh. That's good, isn't it?Yeah. Hardly anyone gets it. So in
(19:53):
my first year, I get the uer.I'm like, but you just criticize
me to the bone for the first50 minutes. Is it like, yeah. And
by the way, I get a salaryraise. I believe it was 11%. It,
like, I was totally confused.I was totally confused. Yeah. But,
(20:16):
and, and this is my realexperience. That's why. Because it,
it had such a deep experience.I can still explain it. And this
was in the 80s, you see, it'slike, I'm like, but this is what
we do to the very day is like,we, we constantly criticize, and
then we say one tiny thingwith a good. And that's the way it
is. What if we reverse it?Say, jacqueline, this is what you
(20:40):
do. Good. You seem to likethis, and you have talent in this,
and you handle that very good.And you're like, oh, I feel good.
Yeah. And then it's like, bythe way, there's some small thing
is like, if you change that,you will be even much better. Oh,
cool.
And right. And so when youpump somebody up and they feel like,
(21:01):
and you share that, they, theyget pumped up, and then they're going
to want to do that small thingthat's whatever to make that change,
and they're going to be like,oh, my God, I, I, they're going to
feel better. They're going tobe that, that positive excitement
of, like, coming into work. Soit, it's so true. And so leaders
and listening to this, this isso important. Like this, if, if you
(21:26):
could do one thing, if youtake away one thing from this, you
know, podcast, think aboutways that you can pump up your team
members and share the goodthings, because it's going to actually
create the positiveinteractions in our brain and give
us, you know, it's almost likethe endorphin rush. Right. And it's
(21:50):
going to help your employees.And, and I hate the word employees.
It's going to help your team members.
Yeah. But it also creates amuch nicer culture and atmosphere
and, and, and it's going to befun instead of, like, you know, what's
a sign of a, a terribleculture where people ask you on Monday,
what are you going to do theweekend? It like, dude, it's Monday.
(22:17):
I love it. We're Going tostart it. I have no clue about the
weekend. It's like, yeah, butit's like, well, I hate it so much.
Oh, I'm looking forward to, tonext Saturday.
But like the Monday morning, I invite.
People to say, go, go usepublic transport. The train, the
bus, where you see how peoplelook when they go to their work.
(22:39):
Yeah. It's look like they gointo an operation in hospital. It's
not like, hey, I see myfriends, my colleagues, we have this
really cool project. Like, oh,I love doing this and oh, I want
to this. How many people aredoing that?
Right. You know, it's so, it'sso true. That's why, you know, I
(23:01):
think it's so important thatwhat you're doing and what you're
sharing, because if we can.And why, you know, what this podcast
is all about is if we cancreate better leaders, then that
person goes from the company,they go out, when they go buy their
coffee or they're on thetrain, they're going to smile, and
that means that they're goingto have a better interaction with
(23:23):
the other people that arearound them. You know, it's. It's
like, you know, as you justsaid, the excitement of getting on
that train on Monday morningand picking public, public transportation
and you have a smile on yourface and there's a guy that is driving
the public transportation andyou smile at him. Even a smile, it's
going to make his day better.So it really, it's. It's the things
(23:47):
that we want, the tentaclesthat we want to spread out. So it
makes a huge.
The families of those. Yeah,it like they got children, they get
a wife, a husband. It likewhenever. Well, my father was a military
officer and at home he waseven worse. So it's like, so when
there was something, it's likewe all would sense, it's like, oh,
(24:09):
did he have a good day todayor not? Yeah. And if he had a bad
day, we had to be verycareful, we always said. But then
it was like, oh, that's notgood. If I had, in his eyes, not
a good grade at school, Ididn't mention it. I didn't have
the courage because he wouldbe extremely, extremely angry. It's
(24:31):
like I would say it anothertime when he was in a better mood,
you see. But it's like if hewould come home, he's like, oh, I
had such a nice day. And we.This and that. And that whole atmosphere
at home is totally different, Right?
Yeah, it's a huge difference.So, Arnold, I could talk to you forever
about this because this issuch a huge topic and it, it, it
(24:52):
means so much to me. How canpeople connect with you and find
you on on and learn more about you?
Well, it's very simple. I havea website called Brain Gym Fitness
and there I have I basicallyvery simple two products. I have
a master class which arevideos of 90 minute videos around
(25:15):
the specific topic like youruniqueness, relationships, aging,
curiosity. So that's what youcan find there. And the main thing
is my 15 week training programcalled from fitting in to flying
out. You have 15 sessions of90 minute each. Yeah. And then in
(25:36):
the week in between you. Yeah.You can learn and grow and apply
what what I taught you inthing. So that's my training program.
You can sign up there. If youstill have any question. There's
even a link to my agenda. Youcan book half an hour with me and
we can have a discussion.Brain Gym Fitness.
So Brain Gym Fitness. Okay. Soleaders, reach out and connect with
(25:59):
Arnold. Go to Brain GymFitness and really truly connect.
I mean this is so important,you know, if you want to have a game
changer in your company, reachout to Arnold. I want to thank you
all for listening to theUnstoppable Leadership Spotlight
podcast. If you have enjoyedthis episode, please hit the subscribe.
(26:22):
If you have gotten a tidbitthat you think is really amazing,
which I'm sure you have,please share this also with your
friends and colleagues. Andthank you Arnold, for being an amazing
guest and thank you listenersfor being part of the unstoppable
leadership community. Thank you.
Thank you.
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