From Commanding to Connecting: Urs Koenig’s Insights on Humble Leadership

"Leadership is about being tough on results but tender on people. You need to find that balance between achieving goals and caring for your team."

In this episode of the Business is Human podcast, host Rebecca Fleetwood Hession welcomes Urs Koenig, Executive Coach, Military Peacekeeper, and Author of Radical Humility: Be a Badass Leader and a Good Human. Together, they unpack why humility is a crucial asset for today’s leaders, breaking down how trust and connection impact long-term success in leadership. Urs also explains his journey from military command to executive coaching, sharing how his unique experiences reveal that humble leadership is anything but weak—it’s a strategy for achieving both meaningful relationships and impactful results.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How humble leadership can improve performance and team alignment
• Ways to balance business goals with human connection for sustainable success
• Why showing vulnerability as a leader can lead to deeper trust and cooperation

Things to listen for:
(00:00) Intro
(01:46) The concept of radical humility
(02:11) Urs’s background and experiences in humble leadership
(04:13) The journey to writing ‘Radical Humility’
(06:50) How human connection and nurture play into leadership
(15:46) Tough on results, tender on people
(19:46) Building trust through vulnerability and connection
(27:19) Balance discomfort with self-care for growth
(29:51) Turning your inner critic into a first responder

Connect with Urs:
Website: https://www.urskoenig.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/urs-koenig-ab3828/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koenigurs/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urs.koenig.7
X: https://twitter.com/urskoenig

Connect with Rebecca:
https://www.rebeccafleetwoodhession.com/