What can modern business leaders learn when Eastern philosophy meets Western executive practice?
In this episode of The Optimal Leadership Podcast, global Serial CEO Wilf Blackburn is joined by Professor Zuo, professor of Management and author of Chinese Wisdom and Modern Management, for a deep and reflective conversation on leadership across cultures.
Drawing on decades of scholarship and real-world executive experience, this discussion explores how ancient Eastern wisdom and modern Western leadership thinking converge in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world.
Together, Wilf Blackburn and Professor Zuo examine why humility is not weakness but strategic strength, why virtue and performance are not opposing forces, and how leaders can find steadiness, clarity, and credibility amid constant change.
This episode addresses some of the most pressing leadership questions facing CEOs, founders, and senior executives today:
• Why understanding cultural differences matters but shared human values matter more
• How Eastern philosophy reframes leadership concepts like patience, timing, and balance
• What Confucius and Lao Tzu can teach modern leaders about moral authority and trust
• Why moving slowly can help organisations move faster in the long run
• How leaders can shift from command-and-control to genuine empowerment
• Why lifelong learning is now a strategic necessity, not a personal choice
• How humility, listening, and learning create stronger cultures and better results
Professor Zuo explains how leaders can uphold core principles, integrity, responsibility, empathy, and learning while adapting methods to changing environments, cultures, and technologies.
Wilf connects these insights directly to the lived realities of executive leadership, showing how philosophy translates into practical action inside organisations.
This is not a theoretical discussion. It is a grounded, thoughtful exploration of what actually works in leadership, across borders, cultures, and industries.
Whether you are a CEO navigating global complexity, a founder building culture from the ground up, or an emerging leader seeking wisdom beyond frameworks and buzzwords, this episode offers calm clarity, practical insight, and timeless perspective.
The Optimal Leadership Podcast
Hosted by Wilf Blackburn, author of Optimal Leadership and a global Serial CEO, the podcast brings together real executives and eminent scholars to ask one essential question: Do leadership theories taught in classrooms actually work in the real world?
New episodes available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
