Leaders Unplugged

In this episode of Leaders Unplugged, David Bach sits down with IOC President Kirsty Coventry to explore how she is navigating one of the most complex leadership roles in global sport today.
From the IOC’s new transgender policy on women’s sports – “it's very clear on the medical and scientific proof that transgender athletes have an advantage” – to the success of Milano Cortina and the future relevance of the Olympic Games, Coventry offers a candid look at how she makes decisions under pressure.

As the first woman and first African in her role, Coventry also describes a strategic shift she is pushing for inside the IOC: away from trying to be “everything to everyone… but a little bit unrealistic” and toward a sharper focus on the core of the Olympic Games. Her message for leaders everywhere is clear: “If everyone's happy then you're probably not doing the right thing.”
Drawing on her experience as an Olympic champion, she makes the case that athletes may offer a blueprint for modern leadership: “We are consistently good at getting criticism – because it's the one way we get better.”

 Our guest

Kirsty Coventry
President, International Olympic Committee

Kirsty Coventry is the President of the International Olympic Committee, the first woman and first African to hold the role. A Zimbabwean former swimmer, she is a multiple Olympic medalist, served as Zimbabwe’s Minister of Sport, and previously chaired the IOC Athletes’ Commission.
LinkedIn: https://zw.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-coventry
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialkirstycoventry/
IOC profile: https://www.olympics.com/ioc/mrs-kirsty-coventry
Athlete profile: https://www.olympics.com/en/athletes/kirsty-leigh-coventry

A decade ago, NIO was an idea. Today, the Chinese startup is one of the most innovative electric mobility brands in the world. On this episode of Leaders Unplugged,  Mark Zhou, Executive VP and Chairman of NIO’s Product Committee, shares how they did it – and what’s next.
Mark recalls that NIO’s founder William Li “only gave us like 36 months… to set up a company, grow the organization, deliver the vehicles, set up the power swap stations.” For him and other early hires who joined the company from legacy competitors, accustomed to carefully sequenced five-year plans, this wasn’t just ambitious — it was radical.

But NIO’s real differentiation comes from its founder’s background in mobile apps, with an obsession for community and experience design. It led the team to build lounge-style “NIO Houses” instead of traditional car dealerships. Instead of charging stations, NIO developed three-minute battery swaps that Mark calls “very addictive. Once you get used to the battery swap, you don’t want to go back.” It also led to resilience. When NIO entered a crisis, ”our users really stood up and said, let’s save this company.”

Western carmakers can learn a lot from NIO’s story – about founder-led conviction, busting stereotypes, and the uncomfortable truth of innovation: “People love to talk about the bright side of innovation”, Mark says. “They try to avoid the uncertainty.”
 Our guest:
Mark Zhou
Executive Vice President & Chairman of the Product Committee, NIO
Mark has helped scale NIO from a Shanghai startup to a global EV challenger, overseeing product strategy, global R&D, and international expansion.

Live from Davos: IMD’s Julia Binder and David Bach cut through the headlines on geopolitics, AI, energy – and competing visions for the international order.
Recorded live on the final day of WEF 2026 in Davos, David Bach sits down with colleague and fellow IMD professor Julia Binder to unpack what shaped the week beyond the headlines – and why there is room for optimism.
Bach reflects on two competing visions now emerging in global affairs: a world driven by raw power, and an alternative he describes as values-based realism or principled pragmatism, insisting on “a commitment to democracy, the rule of law, human rights, free speech, self-determination, and respect for sovereignty” while recognizing and navigating the distribution of power and influence.
While discussions on sustainability and greater inclusion were less present on the main stage, Binder shares her assessment from behind the scenes: “It’s not that the sustainability conversation is dead. It’s happening under different terms. It’s reframed,” she explains. Many companies, she notes, are practicing quiet corporate activism: “We can’t speak out at the moment, but actually our actions do not just continue – we’re doubling down, we’re putting more money on the table.” Overall, a new logic dominates the transition: “those that will win the race for AI are the ones that manage energy better.”

Our Guest:
Julia Binder is the Director of IMD's Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business, a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, and the host of “Inside the Transition”. She works with organizations globally on transformation and helps leaders turn sustainability and societal challenges into strategic opportunity. LinkedIn - https://ch.linkedin.com/in/julia-k-binder

In this episode of Leaders Unplugged, IMD President David Bach speaks with Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, about leading a global shipping giant through geopolitical tension, climate pressure, and permanent uncertainty, into the future of global trade.

Our guest

Rolf Habben Jansen – Chief Executive Officer, Hapag-Lloyd AG

Rolf Habben Jansen has led Hapag-Lloyd since 2014, transforming it into one of the world’s top-five global container shipping companies. A veteran of the logistics and transport industry, he has championed decarbonization, digitalization, and quality as the company’s defining competitive edge.

Walmex CEO Guilherme “Gui” Loureiro on reinventing Walmart Mexico into a purpose-driven digital powerhouse – by overcoming his own ego.
Recorded live at the IMD International Alumni Symposium in Lausanne, this Leaders Unplugged episode features Walmex CEO Guilherme “Gui” Loureiro in conversation with IMD's Alyson Meister.
 
Loureiro recounts how he led Walmex (Walmart Mexico & Central America) from a “very, very successful brick-and-mortar company” into a purpose-driven digital ecosystem: “When we started to ask how we could contribute for this change instead of waiting for the country to change – then the transformation started.”
He shares his own leadership reckoning — “I said to my wife, I’m a dinosaur. And my company is a dinosaur company.” — and the humility that followed: “My desire to transform the company was bigger than my ego.”
The conversation draws from Loureiro’s new book, Reinventing the Leader: How to Change Yourself to Change Your Company – a masterclass in how leaders transform themselves to transform their organizations. And it comes with a proud announcement: Gui Loureiro is not only the newly appointed Chairman of the Board of Walmex, he is also joining IMD as Executive Resident Professor. Welcome Gui Loureiro!