Jurie Strydom, Group CEO at Old Mutual on Why Speed and Candor Are Non-Negotiables

Описание: Jurie Strydom, Group CEO of Old Mutual, sits down with Debbie Goodman for a candid, behind-the-scenes look at what it truly means to lead one of South Africa's most iconic institutions. He unpacks the surprisingly low-stakes experience of interviewing for a role with a board he already sat on, the whiplash of going from a considered portfolio life to a full-throttle executive role within days, and his near-obsessive focus on accelerating decision-making as the primary unlock for organisational speed. With characteristic directness, Jurie is candid about what he hasn't gotten right - including work-life balance in the first six months - and reflects on the deeper philosophy that job satisfaction must come from impact, not the size of the title.

Jurie and Debbie discuss:

Decision velocity as a cultural weapon. Jurie's central conviction is that slow decision-making is the organisational cement that freezes momentum — and that leaders can reclaim speed by distinguishing reversible "two-way doors" from irreversible ones, and by giving people genuine license to act without always asking permission.

Leading from the inside out. Whether addressing culture change, cost discipline, or strategy, Jurie returns repeatedly to the principle of cascading ownership downward, letting people solve problems themselves, rather than imposing corporate formulas from the top.

The psychological shift of being "the" CEO. At this scale and public profile, Jurie notes that people stop giving you hard truths and start telling you what you want to hear. Creating genuine psychological safety and surrounding yourself with people who will call out "nonsense" becomes a deliberate, ongoing leadership practice.

Redefining leadership ambition. In his early forties, Jurie reached a turning point - realising that chasing successively bigger organisations is a trap, because the satisfaction must come from impact in the here and now, not from the size of the org chart.