The Corporate Corner Mats and Ariel Andersson

Welcome to the 2nd season of The Corporate Corner. 

In this episode Mats will talk about the why for this 2nd season and also why the 1st season unexpectedly stopped. 

He will share the intention for this season which is to broaden the scope of the guests and also have some people on their way into the corporate life or who have recently left it. 

The intention is also to give a voice to people working in what is not always considered corporate, but people who have life stories to share around their work in different contexts. 

Mats will talk about the transatlantic move he and the family has made to land in Northern California and the challenges and benefits that came with that. 

He will share his thoughts on how polarized the socitey has become and how the behaviour of politicians trickle down in the society and Mats will share the analogy with a bee hive that went from hostile to nice in 3 days when the queen was exchanged. 

In a political rant he will share how he first discovered how politicians directly can impact managers in the corporate life and he will also talk about a book he has read: "A very stable genius" which is not very flattering for the President of the United States. 

To counterbalance that he will tell something we all could learn from POTUS. 

In this 2nd season the aim is to have bi-weekly episodes. 



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In todays episode Mats sits down with Leigh Sembaluk. 

Leigh is a young Canadian with multiple talents. 

He grew up being a passionate soccer player and reached his goal and became pro. 

Unfortunateley he was injured in his first season and turned into coaching. 

He became more and more interested in what really makes the best players the best and what is really distinguishing them from the others. 

This lead to a book called Preception and it gives insights into Leigh's experience and gives valuable tips to coaches and goes under the surface what is really driving the conscious and unconscious behaviour of team players. 

Leigh's passion did not stop there and he decided to found a company, also called Preception. 

Leigh together with a team of scientists and software engineers develop hardware and software that allows to analyse movements and give valuable insight to players that they can use to improve their game. 

Listen to Leigh's fascinating story. 

If you want to connect with Leigh, read his book or check out his company:


Leigh Sembaluk on LinkedInBuy the Book PreceptionThe Company Preception




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Mats is sharing his sympathy with everyone impacted by the Coronavirus. 

From people losing their lives, to sick people and others loosing their jobs. 

The world will forever be a pre and post Corona. How will this impact the world economy? 

A thought goes to all people lining up in the unemployment lines (without possiblity to do social distancing) and the hopefully positive energy and new better world that might come out of this. 

From every crisis something good comes. 

What will be the future of work? Is home office the new normal? How are you coping at home with screaming toddler's around your legs? 

And what if you realize as a manager nobody needs you now people work from home and your natural authority is gone?

Some questions buzzing in Mats mind and a thought to all out there to be safe and healthy. 



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This week we meet Steffen Kaiser from Germany.

Steffen is an experienced CFO and has been in a multitude of executive management positions.  He has also been the person coming in to a company and having the tough task to massively lay off people, something that deeply affected him.

A sample of things discussed in this episode:

The challenge for management of involving the people who is actually doing the work into decisions that ultimateley impacts them.

How can management get out of their ivory tower and truly take in feedback even when it is not something they want to hear.

How to create an environment where it is not only EBITA but also people that counts.

How to navigate in a corporate experience when you have not only your staff to take care off but also need to manage your peers whose interest is not always aligning to yours and also more difficult to influence.

Listen to a very thoughtful man who has seen it all and been given serious thought on how to improve the corporate experience.

If you want to get in touch with Steffen you can contact him on LinkedIn by clicking here. 





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This week Mats sits down with Alain Hunkins. 

Alain is a leadership coach and has worked with thousands of groups and leaders in the last decades. 

He is also the author of his first book:  "Cracking the Leadership code: Three Secrets of Building Strong Leaders"

We talk about the book and some concrete trips and tricks for leaders. 

We touch upon a lot of subjects and here is a glimpse:

- How to be more emphatic, the importance of really listening when you talk to someone. 

- Only 21% of people think their leaders lead well. Why is it like that?

- How power and absolute power negativeley impacts the emphatic part of the brain

- How to lead in Corona times, what will be the new normal when we are on the other side of this Corona crisis. "When we come out of this you will be seen as either a stronger or weaker leader" says Alain. 


- Some examples of how Alain learned the hard way


Listen to someone with a lot of experience and who is willing to share it. 

If you want to connect with Alain, find below some useful links:


Alain Hunkins WebsiteCracking the Leadership Code book websiteAlain on LinkedinTEDx talk by Alain












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In this weeks episode I,  Mats meet with Mike Robbins, who is an expert  in emotional intelligence, leadership, teamwork and company culture.

Mike is the author of several books and he just came out with his last book with the for the moment perfect title "WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER".

It's a book with the subtitle "Creating a Team Culture of High Performance, Trust, and belonging" and a the book is full of anecdotes from Mike's experience and life and it has a strong focus on soft skills, authenticity, inclusion and belonging. 

We talk about the book of course but also the inevitable Corona Virus.

Mike gives some practical tips one can do as a leader in a team event to get under the surface or below the tip of the iceberg to foster a more deeper connection between people.

We also talk about diversity and why it is such a big thing in the US and how Mike have approached this delicate subject.

If you want to know more about Mike or if you are interested in the book you can find more info here: We're all in this together book.


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