Transformer CEOs cover art

Transformer CEOs

Transformer CEOs

Written by: Erik Schmidt
Listen for free

About this listen

 If you're a CEO, Chairman or investor this is a destination podcast for you. At some time, all companies get out of step with their consumers, fall behind the competition or lose their top talent – or all three. The financial fallout can be severe. The Transformer CEO podcast meets global leaders who have taken on the brief to transform their company from ugly duckling to swan. Or maybe they have started something new which has transformed a sector or started a new one. Either way, it explores their corporate and personal journey, their leadership values, their challenges and successes along with their mis-steps and learnings. It inspires those about to start, re-assures those already underway and offers a benchmark for those who feel they have concluded. If you want to know what it takes to succeed in tough environments, you'll not want to miss Transformer CEOs Economics Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • From Accidental CEO to Transformational Leader: Jørgen Vig Knudstorp's Journey at LEGO

    From Accidental CEO to Transformational Leader: Jørgen Vig Knudstorp's Journey at LEGO
    Jan 15 2026
    DESCRIPTION Today, I am joined by Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, former CEO and Chair of LEGO Group and a real titan of the toy industry. He has just stepped away from executive roles at LEGO and is embarking on five buckets of new activity. His learning mindset and academic roots still shape his leadership today, bringing a distinctive mix of curiosity, authenticity and a truth‑to‑power willingness to confront conflict head‑on. Jørgen shares how he neither wanted nor felt ready for the CEO role, yet, through a special partnership with LEGO’s owners, was able to build a powerful board and exec team. Then, built a culture of empowerment, execution and energy that fuelled sustained organic growth. KEY TAKEAWAYS LEGO’s journey began as a tough financial turnaround from near bankruptcy, moved into productivity rebuilding then, into strong organic growth. It included painful missteps. Leaders must be visible in the fight, burn bridges to old ways, show real courage in conflict, and empower with tools, not just slogans. Shifting from mediocrity to a resilient, playful, high‑accountability culture is central to LEGO’s sustained performance. Discipline came from building robust execution systems e.g. S&OP, product processes and incentives tied to economic value and brand promises. BEST MOMENTS “I think a big secret of my becoming a CEO, and my CEO style, is that I didn't want to do it.” ‘I learned the hard way that you don't create a performance culture by giving a talk. It's rolling up your sleeves and then being the first.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Jørgen Vig Knudstorp is the former CEO of the LEGO Brand Group and is widely credited with leading its turnaround and 10x growth. An academic by training, he studied Economics and Management in Denmark and at MIT, worked at McKinsey. He joined LEGO in 2001, becoming CEO in 2004 at the age of 35. After stepping down as CEO in 2017, he chaired the LEGO Brand Group alongside the 4th‑generation owner until 2023 and remained a special advisor to the family until 2025. Today, he serves as chair, deputy chair or board member at organisations including BrainPOP Education, the LEGO Foundation, IMD, Starbucks and Nike. PODCAST DESCRIPTION If you're a CEO, Chairman or investor this is a destination podcast for you. At some time, all companies get out of step with their consumers, fall behind the competition or lose their top talent – or all three. The financial fallout can be severe. The Transformer CEO podcast meets global leaders who have taken on the brief to transform their company from ugly duckling to swan. It explores their corporate and personal journey, their leadership values, their challenges and successes along with their mis-steps and learnings. It inspires those about to start, re-assures those already underway and offers a benchmark for those who feel they have concluded. If you want to know what it takes to succeed in tough environments, you'll not want to miss Transformer CEOs. HOST BIO Erik is described by CEO and Chairmen as "exceptional", "undoubtedly one of the top global HR leaders" and "a strong strategic thinker and amazing change leader". After 35 years working with some of the most successful companies on the planet including Diageo, GE, LEGO, HSBC and Pandora, he focuses in the podcast on sharing the unique character of corporate leaders who take on some of the biggest challenges and win. This is also a critical topic in his consulting work where he partners with CEO’s, Chairmen and Investors as Founder & Managing Director of Erik Schmidt Consulting & Advisory (erikschmidt.co.uk) to help companies achieve out-performance. https://www.erikschmidt.co.uk/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-erik/ This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 34 mins
  • The Heart of Leadership: Kindness and Culture with Mark Cuddigan of THIS™

    The Heart of Leadership: Kindness and Culture with Mark Cuddigan of THIS™
    Jan 15 2026
    DESCRIPTION This week, I am delighted to be joined by Mark Cuddigan, CEO at THIS™ a leading plant protein business. Mark is a serial CEO, having transformed and built a number of businesses in the food sector. He leads with the heart. His key messages include the amazing transformative effect of focusing on culture and freeing up employees to be part of something great. Mark felt he wasn't really ready for ceoship, but thanks to great mentoring, it turned out that he was. Mark explains how he discovered that kindness is the most important quality for a transformer CEO. KEY TAKEAWAYS For Transformer CEOs, leading with kindness and genuinely caring about people and how they experience work, creates the psychological safety and loyalty required to deliver the hardest transformations. When a CEO relentlessly prioritises culture by resetting the mission, values and behaviours, they take businesses from low trust to a place where people feel proud and energised. Freeing people beats directing people. When leaders stop seeing themselves as chief problem-solvers and become chief liberators, they give teams autonomy, clarity and purpose and create something far bigger than any one CEO. Mentoring is the multiplier of transformation. CEOs that actively build internal talent and grow their successors create sustainable change. When you are kind and empathetic and see your people as humans first, employees second, performance improvement follows. Tying the business mission to a cause that genuinely matters, e.g. improving children’s nutrition turns ordinary jobs into life-changing work and employees into people who are passionate about their roles. BEST MOMENTS "The fact that Ella's (Kitchen´s) core mission was around children's health and nutrition. It wasn't to make money, inspired me." "Noone's ever ready to be promoted, and if they are, they're being promoted too late." "What is better in business than promoting someone and then seeing them shine?" GUEST BIO Mark Cuddigan is the CEO of THIS™, a leading plant protein B Corp business. A purpose-driven leader with over 30 years’ experience scaling food and drink brands, he is a former CEO of Ella’s Kitchen and a passionate champion of the global B Corp community. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-cuddigan-87575421 PODCAST DESCRIPTION If you're a CEO, Chairman or investor this is a destination podcast for you. At some time, all companies get out of step with their consumers, fall behind the competition or lose their top talent – or all three. The financial fallout can be severe. The Transformer CEO podcast meets global leaders who have taken on the brief to transform their company from ugly duckling to swan. It explores their corporate and personal journey, their leadership values, their challenges and successes along with their mis-steps and learnings. It inspires those about to start, re-assures those already underway and offers a benchmark for those who feel they have concluded. If you want to know what it takes to succeed in tough environments, you'll not want to miss Transformer CEOs. HOST BIO Erik is described by CEO and Chairmen as "exceptional", "undoubtedly one of the top global HR leaders" and "a strong strategic thinker and amazing change leader". After 35 years working with some of the most successful companies on the planet including Diageo, GE, LEGO, HSBC and Pandora, he focuses in the podcast on sharing the unique character of corporate leaders who take on some of the biggest challenges and win. This is also a critical topic in his consulting work where he partners with CEO’s, Chairmen and Investors as Founder & Managing Director of Erik Schmidt Consulting & Advisory (erikschmidt.co.uk) to help companies achieve out-performance. LINKS https://www.erikschmidt.co.uk/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-erik/ This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 23 mins
  • Transforming Pandora: Insights from CEO Alexander Lacik

    Transforming Pandora: Insights from CEO Alexander Lacik
    Jan 15 2026
    DESCRIPTION This week, Erik is joined by someone he has had the privilege to work with directly - Alexander Lacik the President and CEO of Pandora - the world's largest jewellery business by volume. Alexander has successfully led the global transformation of Pandora that has been named as the most successful turnaround in Danish corporate history. He talks vividly about the cultural transformation, his three-phase transformation plan: brand momentum, strategy clarity, and product innovation. As well as the power of balancing seriousness with humour. KEY TAKEAWAYS Relentlessly reduce the noise until you find the one critical thing. In a “car crash” business with 47 priorities and a divided executive team, Alexander forced Pandora down to a single governing objective – restore brand heat. Focus on the few metrics that truly create growth. For Pandora, traffic was the strongest driver of like‑for‑like growth, so incentives, from store staff to the board were aligned with that. Culture and organisation design are not a side project for HR. You will have to strip a lot back and rebuild. In a low‑trust environment, a high say–do ratio is vital. Rebuild investor and employee confidence by under‑promising and over‑delivering. Be explicit about whether the business needs steady‑state management or a hard turnaround, and appoint a CEO whose wiring fits that brief. BEST MOMENTS ‘When I came through the door, it was like the house was on fire. Yet, people were debating which paint we should be painting the fence with. And I'm like, “No, get hold of a hose or leave”.’ ‘There are many drivers in any business, but I asked what is the one thing that I need people to be focused on? and then how are we going to incentivise people to do that thing?´ ABOUT THE GUEST Alexander Lacik has 30 years of experience in international sales, marketing and business management. Prior to joining Pandora, he was CEO of Britax Ltd., a British manufacturer of childcare products. He has also held CEO and senior management positions at Kasthall Golv & Mattor, Procter & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser, where he held a number of positions including head of Reckitt Benckiser North America. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Växjö, Sweden. PODCAST DESCRIPTION If you're a CEO, Chairman or investor this is a destination podcast for you. At some time, all companies get out of step with their consumers, fall behind the competition or lose their top talent – or all three. The financial fallout can be severe. The Transformer CEO podcast meets global leaders who have taken on the brief to transform their company from ugly duckling to swan. It explores their corporate and personal journey, their leadership values, their challenges and successes along with their mis-steps and learnings. It inspires those about to start, re-assures those already underway and offers a benchmark for those who feel they have concluded. If you want to know what it takes to succeed in tough environments, you'll not want to miss Transformer CEOs. HOST BIO Erik is described by CEO and Chairmen as "exceptional", "undoubtedly one of the top global HR leaders" and "a strong strategic thinker and amazing change leader". After 35 years working with some of the most successful companies on the planet including Diageo, GE, LEGO, HSBC and Pandora, he focuses in the podcast on sharing the unique character of corporate leaders who take on some of the biggest challenges and win. This is also a critical topic in his consulting work where he partners with CEO’s, Chairmen and Investors as Founder & Managing Director of Erik Schmidt Consulting & Advisory (erikschmidt.co.uk) to help companies achieve out-performance. LINKS https://www.erikschmidt.co.uk/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-erik/ This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 32 mins
No reviews yet