#483 The State of Leadership: Marianne Abib-Pech in Conversation with Niels Brabandt on Credibility, Leadership Brand and Strategic Influence
The State of Leadership: Marianne Abib-Pech in Conversation with Niels Brabandt on Credibility, Leadership Brand and Strategic Influence
Leadership has never been more scrutinised, more complex or more consequential than it is today. In a wide-ranging and intellectually rigorous conversation, Marianne Abib-Pech joins Niels Brabandt to examine what leadership means in 2026 and why traditional definitions are no longer sufficient for decision-makers in business.
Marianne Abib-Pech, author of The Financial Times Guide to Leadership and a globally recognised finance executive and investor, defines leadership as a state of mind. It is not merely a role or a title. It begins with self-awareness, evolves through influence and ultimately aims to shape society. For Marianne Abib-Pech, leadership is a journey in constant motion. Every interaction, every experience and every reflection reshapes the leader.
Niels Brabandt challenges a common assumption in corporate environments: many leaders believe they are self-aware. Yet true self-awareness requires structured reflection and, crucially, external validation. Marianne Abib-Pech advocates regular feedback cycles, deliberate pauses for clarity and a disciplined review of one’s leadership brand. Leaders must ask not only who they are, but what they stand for and how consistently they embody those values.
The concept of a leadership brand emerges as a central theme. According to Marianne Abib-Pech, every professional operates as their own enterprise. Regardless of corporate affiliation, each leader must articulate and cultivate a distinct identity. Authenticity, strategic thinking and transparency are not marketing slogans. They are defining characteristics that must be evident in every decision, communication and interaction. Niels Brabandt reinforces that in volatile business environments, clarity of personal leadership brand becomes a stabilising force.
Credibility, another core dimension of the discussion, has evolved dramatically over the past decade. Ten years ago, credibility was rooted primarily in deep expertise. Today, Marianne Abib-Pech argues, it requires both depth and breadth. Leaders must combine specialist knowledge with cross-disciplinary understanding. The modern executive is no longer a specialised generalist, but a generalised expert. Credibility now rests on the ability to navigate complexity, integrate diverse perspectives and demonstrate intellectual range.
The conversation also addresses the strategic necessity of networks. Marianne Abib-Pech differentiates between operational networks, strategic networks and future-facing networks. While subject matter experts may thrive within concentrated professional circles, leaders aspiring to broader influence must cultivate diversity of thought. Exposure to artists, philosophers, investors, technologists and strategists enriches judgement and enhances innovation capacity. Niels Brabandt highlights that leadership is never exercised in isolation. It is relational by definition.
Vision building, often dismissed as corporate theatre, is reframed with nuance. Marianne Abib-Pech distinguishes between mission as the enduring North Star and vision as the evolving articulation of direction under specific leadership. While executives may adjust vision in response to changing circumstances, alignment with mission and values must remain intact. In turbulent markets, adaptability of strategy is not weakness but necessity.
Finally, the accelerators of leadership are examined in detail. Marianne Abib-Pech identifies three decisive forces shaping contemporary leadership performance: neuroscience, crisis communication and artificial intelligence. Neuroscience enhances relational intelligence and decision-making precision. Crisis communication safeguards reputation and trust in a rapid news cycle. Artificial intelligence, when strategically applied, strengthens leadership brand and organisational performance. Importantly, these accelerators do not replace human judgement. They enhance it.
Throughout the discussion, Niels Brabandt ensures that theoretical insights are translated into practical implications for corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and investors. The result is not a generic reflection on leadership, but a substantive exploration of credibility, influence, adaptability and societal impact.
In a world defined by volatility and information overload, the dialogue between Marianne Abib-Pech and Niels Brabandt offers clarity. Leadership is not static. It is conscious, disciplined and continuously evolving. Those who treat it as such will remain relevant. Those who do not risk obsolescence.
Niels Brabandt
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More on this topic in this week's videocast and podcast with Niels Brabandt: Videocast / Apple Podcasts / Spotify
For the videocast’s and podcast’s transcript, read below this article.
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Contact: Niels Brabandt on LinkedIn
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Niels Brabandt is an expert in sustainable leadership with more than 20 years of experience in practice and science.
Niels Brabandt: Professional Training, Speaking, Coaching, Consulting, Mentoring, Project & Interim Management. Event host, MC, Moderator.
Podcast and Videocast Transcript
Niels Brabandt
Leadership. Paula, you might now think, "Yeah, I heard a lot of that," yeah, but you probably have not heard from the expert we have with us here today, because we have the expert who just published or is about to publish her new book, The New Guide to Leadership. Hello and welcome, Marianne Abib Pesh.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Thank you, Niels, thank you. Yes, it's the second edition. It's been a long journey to get there, but I'm super happy. The book was published at the end of last year, and we're just launching.
Marianne Abib-Pech
We did the book launch in London last week with a bunch of very interesting leaders from corporate executive, corporate executive, entrepreneurs, and we are launching the book in Paris next week. So if any of your audience happens to be in Paris next week please look me up on LinkedIn, and I'll be happy to welcome you to the book launch.
Niels Brabandt
Brilliant, brilliant. So congratulations, of course. PSN is the publisher, The Financial Times Guide. That's, of course, quite an achievement here. So when we talk about leadership right now, what is your definition of leadership today?
Marianne Abib-Pech
Oh how long do we have for that?
Niels Brabandt
Yeah, so try to make it as spot-on as you can, because I know it's quite a broad question, yeah.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Okay, so I would say that leadership for me is a state of mind.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
It's not it's not, you know, we have always the the question, "Is it leadership nature or nurture, how you define leadership?"
Marianne Abib-Pech
But leadership, it's something that is diffused in a person that starts with a, "Who I am as a person," convey a message to the team, but then ultimately shape the, the world at large.
Marianne Abib-Pech
So leadership, a leader is somebody who is self-aware, has an ability to influence others, and wants to have an impact on society.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm. Excellent. And of course, most leaders will say, "Well, of course, self-awareness is important," and most leaders pretty much say, "Yes, I got that. I am very self-aware. I know what I'm doing. I have the self-reflection." And when you then ask their staff and their team members, you usually get a pretty different result from that. So how can people be sure if they really have the self-awareness they should have?
Marianne Abib-Pech
External validation. You just said it, you know. I think it's a dual two-way process. First of all is investing the time of doing the work, having, you know, a regular practice on, "Who I am as a leader. What do I want to stand for as a leader? What are my values? What do how do I change?" Because leadership is a journey. You're not a leader. You're always a leader in the making.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Every experience, every, every experience shapes your leadership. My leadership today is one thing. After this conversation and what I'm going to get from this conversation, my leadership tomorrow is going to be different. So having this moment of pause, think, to get clarity is the first step of the journey. The second step is external validation with feedback.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
So I always suggest, and I even have that myself, people around me that, you know, see me, interact with me in all my business interaction with team, with some investors, startups, and everything. And every couple of months or once a quarter, I we sit down and I ask them, "How have you seen my leadership changed?"
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Or, you know, or always remind them, "Do you remember this is what I stand for from a leadership brand perspective. How do I compare, contrast, or rank vis-à-vis my brand?"
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm. And that, that was exactly the word I was now looking for, the brand. So how do you build up a leadership brand? And also because I think quite a number of people say, "Look, I, I work for a la-large corporation. Branding is something the organization does. It's not something I do." So why is a leadership brand important, and what does a leadership brand consist of, and how do I actually build up a leadership brand within the organization?
Marianne Abib-Pech
It's it's a very interesting question because I, I've always been thinking that as a person, you are a product. You own your own, you know, Marianne Limited Company. So it's not it's not because you work in a big organization that you need to adjust and align yourself with the brand of your organization. You are your own brand. So the concept and leadership brand for me has always been important.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
And how do I define it is, what do I want to stand for, i.e., what people buy when they see?
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
What do they get from, from me? So my brand is based on authenticity, is based on strategic thinking, and is based on reasonableness, you know, like, uh.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
And that starts with knowing who you are very well.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
So there is this, this almost carbon copy of who you are as a person. How do you translate who you are into two or three key leadership traits: authenticity, strategic thinking, or transparency? And then based on that, ask yourself the question, "How do I convey in everything I do those leadership traits?"
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
So when people, you know, when people see me, they hear me, they interact with me, they will always see me as authentic with strategic thinking and transparency.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm. Absolutely. And when it comes to leading people, of course, one aspect is of crucial importance, and that is credibility. You're writing about credibility in your book. And let, let's face it, when you look into today's science, many people in organizations say, "Look, I know that my leader is on a career ladder. They say anything that the board says. We're running in this direction on Monday, and when we should run on this direction on Wednesday, he will tell us, or they, they will tell us to, to do so."
Niels Brabandt
How, how do I build up credibility in this highly volatile world where anything can change by tomorrow?
Marianne Abib-Pech
So first of all, you know, like, credibility is is for me, is not aligning with what people say. Credibility is standing for something. You're credible. I'm a credible finance leader because my career was a CFO. I'm an investor. I have a I have a firm. My career led me to that. So credibility is a mix of academic expertise, fields of expertise, but also experience.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
For if you ask me, "How do you remain authentic when the organization is changing?" it goes back to, well, what is leadership, right? And leadership is, as I say, a state of mind, but it comes with courage.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Courage to stand for something, but also it comes with responsibility. So as credibility is also built on inherently weaving all your experience asking yourself, "What am I missing? What am I not so good at?"
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Expressing this honestly and, and be and, and working on it. So I, I, I think, you know, credibility in a in a corporate organization is more around, "Does this person know what she does or what he does?"
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
"Can I trust this person? And has this person the depth of knowledge, but also the breadth of knowledge that you need to navigate a volatile, chaotic very interesting world?"
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm. Excellent. And one chapter and.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Okay, ask one I mean, say one more thing because I think, you know, I, I, you know, obviously, when you write a book and it's a 300 and a 480-pages book.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah.
Marianne Abib-Pech
You have part of the book that you like, and you have part of the book that you love writing, right?
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
And the one on credibility, I really loved writing it because I think, you know, the first book was written 10 years ago, and 10 years ago, credibility was based on expertise. You needed to be an expert, right?
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
And it was about depth. Today, you need to have because the world is, is changing all the time.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Because we all have this, which is an incredible source of knowledge, sometimes not, not so interesting at other times. Everybody who wants to become a leader needs to work now on two dimensions: the depth of expertise, but also the variety of expertise. And I think I p I say in the book, we moved from a specialized or specialized e specialized generalist to generalized expert.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm. So
Marianne Abib-Pech
now, you know, you need both dimensions: depth and breadth to build credibility.
Niels Brabandt
Excellent. And when you now are a credible leader or you aim to be one specific chapter talks about building relationships and networks. As we both live and lived in the UK, we know how important networks are. And in many other cul and wh-when you are in France, les réseaux, the networks, are extremely important as well. When you look into certain industries, when you look into certain polit p-p-public service offices, basically half of the staff is coming from two different universities, if not only one.
Niels Brabandt
So when you now talk about relationships and networks, when some people say, "Look, I think it's all about competence, and I think I can convince people by competence. I'm not really the person that hangs out during the afternoon sessions and, and building connections with this pe I'm a subject matter expert. That's my strength." Do you think that people can survive and make a career in the leadership space without building their networks?
Marianne Abib-Pech
It's an interesting question. So I would say yes or no. If you are really a subject matter expert, inherently, your network is only going to be people in the same field, right? If you're a quantum physicist today, you know that most of the community around you will be quantum physicists, and you will need to network.
Marianne Abib-Pech
But it will be more like, you'll need to deepen your understanding of this community to get insight, to, to, to feed your thinking on what's next and how can I become a much better subject matter of expert subject matter e-expert.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Because the neighborhood of knowledge is, is increasing all the time. And I mean, knowledge is increasing all the time, right? If you're in a business capacity, I think it's a different story. In a business capacity, going be-beecoming a, a leader, going to the top job would definitely require handling different situations, being exposed to different situations. I, I used to call that having the wider term of reference possible.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
That comes with talking to very different people, developing your three types of network: the strategic networks, the operational networks, and the and the next-phase network to get you inherently a 360 view of the world, of your world, or the world that is the most relevant for you.
Marianne Abib-Pech
I am a finance person. I'm an investor. I think in my network, I have philosopher, artist, creative because that feeds that fuels like, "How do they innovate? What is the process of innovation that I can take and use in my due diligence with the with founders, for instance?" You know?
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
I have obviously very good very good and deep finance network, but my finance network ranges from corporate executive to family office to high-net-worth individual or, or LP. So it's every community has different subsections that constitute the network. So my my advice is build as diverse and as deep network as possible because if you are a subject matter e subject I really have a hard time with this one.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Matter expert.
Niels Brabandt
Yes.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Get a great intellectual conversation out of it.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
And if you are a business person or somebody who is a leader in the making, you'll get diversity of thinking, differentiation, and a good conversation out of it.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah. Brilliant. Brilliant. To wrap this interview up, two, three more questions. So you talk about vision building as well. And that is something where many people who work in organizations who are not leaders say they see that we need a vision. However, they got a bit tired of the term because they say, "Look, we have a vision here. We have a vision there." This all this, this, this usually ends up as some sort of poster on the wall, and then it's n usually vision, mission, and values. And then they see, "Okay, we have marketing. I see that." And then it's not it, it, it, it is not lived by at all. And it changes every other year: new CEO, new vision, mission, and values. So how can leaders still use this vision building you talk about in a credible way without people saying, "Oh, yeah, just the next one. Let's just let this one pass because we survived the last three as well"?
Marianne Abib-Pech
Yes. It's an interesting question because I, I, I believe it's actually pretty healthy and normal when you get a, a top job as a leader. You want to leave your trace. You want to leave your trail, right?
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
As long as the mission of the company the mission is something that we will never reach. It's the North Star. That's the mission, right? The vision needs to be personal to the person who has the helm of leadership. So I as long as there is a continuity on how is your vision getting us closer to the mission, then I, I'm okay with people tweaking the vision to make this vision theirs, right?
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Changing of vision
Marianne Abib-Pech
the world is very uncertain. The world is very chaotic. So I think that there is a natural ability to always try to make a vision relevant to the world.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
As we live today. But if you take an helicopter view and I think I say that quite a bit in the book on adjust to circumstances, adjust to circumstances, adjust to circumstances, and even in the strategic play strategic strategic ability, building your strategic ability, I think that moving forward the element of vision is probably going to disappear.
Marianne Abib-Pech
And we're going to go, "What's the mission? How are we going to get there? What where do we want to go that will always take us into a, a, a journey of excellence?" And then it's going to be about adjusting strategy constantly to, to pretty much react as best as we can to changing circumstances.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
So I understand that in a corporate environment, everybody is now rolling their eyes on the vision.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah.
Marianne Abib-Pech
But I think, you know, at the end of the day, it's pretty normal in the world we live in today. And forget about the vision. Go back to what is the mission of the company? And more importantly, what are the values?
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Because I think even more from a recruiting standpoint and everything what people what make people want to join a company and what people make what makes people want to be effective and, and, you know, driving this company is the mission and the values.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm. Excellent. And of course, values that need to be lived by, by the leaders in the organization. Excellent. Two more questions. So you also talk about the accelerators of leadership. And of course, any leader loves to accelerate what they do. So what are the accelerators of leadership people can expect in your book?
Marianne Abib-Pech
So three accelerators of leadership. And again, you know I, I said in at the beginning that leadership is a state of mind. Leadership is about shaping society. But leadership is also about being off your time and in your time. And the, the second edition has as a bonus chapter, which is the accelerator because I really wanted to make it current.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
I mean, the ultimate leadership sign is currency. So in my book, literally, the three accelerators are neurosciences because it, it is for me the brain, how you how can you use your brain? How can you create relationship by short-circuiting or short-cutting the social element and getting to the core of what makes us all the same? We have a brain. We don't have the same brain. We will all have a brain. So cutting through complexity and understanding the neurochemical, the body language, the amygdala, and everything, it's a it's a, a, a wealth of knowledge that accelerates you and allow you to be much more efficient and, and build relationship faster.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
The second has to do with the world we live today. Again it's crisis communication. I think, you know, in business or in life it's all about news cycle these days. And the, you know, the most dramatic is the news cycle, the better. So handling crisis communication very well is super important in leadership today. And the last part, obviously, it's about artificial intelligence.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
And the bonus chapter is actually not telling you how to use artificial intelligence, but telling you why artificial intelligence can be an accelerator and, more importantly enhance your brand, enhance you as a person, and accelerate your business.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
I want to say that going back to the networking leadership is never exercised in the vacuum. And the best things you create are always team exercise.
Niels Brabandt
Mm-hmm.
Marianne Abib-Pech
So this very bonus chapter, I had the great pleasure to co-write it with Alan Stevens, an expert in crisis communication; Michel Morvan, the OECD expert of artificial intelligence; and Nicolas Costa, a consultant from Alvarez and Marshall, where specifically working on transformation, leadership transformation, and applying neuroscience neuroscience tools to transformation.
Niels Brabandt
Excellent. I think these are the perfect final words. One question, of course, I have. When people now say, "I think Marianne can be really helpful for us," how can people get in touch with you when they want to have you as a consultant speaker, trainer, coach, or probably for a keynote speaker for their conference? How can they get in touch?
Marianne Abib-Pech
So I'm on LinkedIn at mariannaabipelsh. And also, you can find me at my website, mariannaabipelsh.com. And I'm always happy to help. And I think, you know, leadership is about shaping society. And we all can do that every day.
Niels Brabandt
I think these are the perfect final words. Marianne Abipelsh, thank you very much for your time.
Marianne Abib-Pech
Thank you.