The Future Of Less Work How Should Leaders Accelerate Their Experiences with Dr. Paul Achleitner
What if experience isn’t what it used to be—but still exactly what we need? In a world where the rules change faster than we can accumulate wisdom, how do we lead when the past is no longer a reliable playbook?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Dr. Paul Achleitner—former CFO of Allianz, Supervisory Board Chair of Deutsche Bank, and author of Accelerate Your Experience—to explore how leadership must evolve when expertise alone won’t cut it.
From leading by asking questions to embracing ambiguity, Paul challenges traditional notions of authority, judgment, and performance. Together, they examine why legitimacy now matters as much as results, how remote work is reshaping learning and innovation, and why intellectual humility—not overconfidence—is the most future-ready skill of all.
If you’ve ever wondered how to lead in a world of AI, why overperformance can be as risky as mediocrity, or what it really takes to stay relevant when experience itself is being disrupted—this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Want to dive deeper into this topic? Read Nirit’s Forbes article, "Is AI Making Your Experience Obsolete At Work?", to explore these ideas further.
Guest Information:
Dr. Paul Achleitner is a globally recognized investor, advisor, and board leader with a distinguished career at the highest levels of international finance, industry, and governance. He is best known for his decade-long tenure as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank, where he continues to serve as Chair of the Global Advisory Board. A former partner at Goldman Sachs and Chief Financial Officer of Allianz SE, Achleitner has helped steer some of Europe’s most influential institutions through periods of transformation. He began his career in academia and consulting—first in research at the University of St. Gallen and Harvard Business School, then at Bain & Company—and has served on the boards of Bayer, Daimler, MAN, and RWE. Beyond corporate leadership, he contributes to global dialogue through advisory roles with Deutsche Bank, Allianz, Hakluyt, HPS, and Hedosophia; nonprofits including the Alfred Herrhausen Society, Brookings, Bilderberg, and the Munich Security Conference; and academic institutions such as Harvard Business School, WHU, Bocconi, and the University of St. Gallen. An Austrian citizen based in Munich, he and his wife, Professor Ann-Kristin Achleitner, are also active startup investors.
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/A/bo257334367.html
Chapters:
00:00 – What does it mean to accelerate your experience?
02:27 – Why leadership needs curiosity over control
05:31 – How trust and humility reshape the future of leadership
08:19 – Why legitimacy now matters as much as performance
11:12 – Can overperformance be as dangerous as underperformance?
13:49 – What remote work changes about learning and innovation
17:17 – How do we build cohesion without shared space?
19:24 – Is experience earned—or built through reflection?
21:36 – Why adaptability beats overconfidence
24:15 – What mindset should leaders carry into the future?