Tuesday Mar 11, 2025
S4-Ep6: From Ego to Impact: New Rhein's Managing Partner on Leading with Clarity
Guest: Subhanu Saxena, New Rhein managing partner & former Gates Foundation director
Divisiveness goes beyond politics. It creeps into the workplace, too, sapping your teams. Great leaders know how to unite instead of divide their organizations so all energy is devoted to success. Those leaders also know themselves.
Our guest, Subhanu Saxena, explains that mindfulness is the first step in the self-knowledge the best leaders need. He reveals the timeless leadership advice from ancient Eastern wisdom, and how introspection amplifies the qualities that separate ineffective and effective leadership.
Here's what Subhanu and host Maureen Metcalf cover:
- The power of introspection, and why you can’t be authentic without it;
- How mindfulness practices help you engage and solve problems, instead of reacting to them; and
- The Rule of Five he learned from his German boss as a young leader…a rule that still serves him well.
Produced in conjunction with the International Leadership Association: https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/
Other episodes you'll enjoy:
- Leading with Care and Purpose with Raj Sisodia & Sudhanshu Palsule
- Intentional Leadership in a New Work World with Monique Jefferson
- To Stop a Tyrant with Ira Chaleff
For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re onTikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!
RESOURCES:
Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.
Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.
Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.
Books we’re reading for fun or personal development right now include:
- To Stop a Tyrant by Ira Chaleff, on how leaders become tyrants and their types of followers, is in hardback on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3W5XDys and on Kindle at https://amzn.to/420Zvwc. An audiobook edition is coming soon.
- Take Back Your Power: 10 New Rules for Women at Work by Ancestry CEO Deb Liu, on how to overcome the obstacles women still face in the workplace – especially in tech. It’s in hardback at https://amzn.to/47OUO9E, and audio at https://amzn.to/3Y6EmOQ.
- Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A by Steve Robinson; it’s available in hardback at https://amzn.to/460LnmQ, on Kindle at https://amzn.to/3RVXhZs, and as an audiobook at https://amzn.to/3xPjBgn.
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Paperback = https://amzn.to/3VEl7cU, Kindle = https://amzn.to/45JGm1L, and audiobook = https://amzn.to/3RPhC2y
NOTE: As an Amazon partner, we may make a small commission from books you buy through these links.
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OUR PODCAST TEAM:
Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf
Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko
Assistant Editor: Devon Mushalko
Graphics: Devon Mushalko & Stacia Rogan
Booking Producer: Jenna Reik
CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership
Threads: @innovativeleaders
X/Twitter/Whatever New Name It Has This Week: @IL_Institute
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2
TikTok: @innovativeleadership
Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com
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About Our Guest:
Subhanu Saxena joined New Rhein as a Managing Partner in 2017, and is Regional Director of Life Science Partnerships, Europe, with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Subhanu is an accomplished executive with experience in Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia, and has worked in pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), consulting, and banking. Prior to joining New Rhein, Subhanu was the Managing Director & Global Chief Executive Officer of Cipla, a global pharmaceutical manufacturing company with a presence in over 170 countries from 2013 to 2016. Prior to Cipla, from 2009 to 2012 Subhanu served as a Pharma Executive Committee Member for Novartis Pharmaceuticals responsible for Global Product Strategy and Commercialization, having previously been Country President and Pharma CEO of Novartis UK and Ireland from 2005 to 2009. In 2016, he was awarded a Finance Monthly “CEO of the Year” award for India-based CEOs. Subhanu has an MBA from INSEAD and an MA (with Honors) in Engineering Science from Oxford University. He speaks six languages, loves loud music, plays guitar, and is a lecturer and teacher of Sanskrit and Vedanta.