Fractional CIO | IT Strategy for High-Stakes M&A | Faster M&A, Smoother Exits | De-risking IT & unlocking value | Author

Most technology integrations miss their synergy targets. Not because the technology is wrong, but because the right leadership wasn't in place early enough.

That's where I come in.

I'm an Interim / Fractional CIO specialising in Transformation & Resilience. I work with CEOs and boards of multi-site, acquisition-led businesses, typically PE-backed, 500–10,000 employees, to turn technology from a source of risk into a source of value.

When integration timelines slip, cyber posture is unclear, or the estate has grown faster than the team can manage, I step in to stabilise delivery, simplify complexity, and build a roadmap the board can trust.
Recent engagement:

VetPartners (BC Partners-backed, £1B revenue, 14,000 staff, 9 countries). Built the Group IT Strategy from scratch. Created acquisition integration blueprints. Accelerated new practice onboarding by 30%. Simultaneously ran IT operations for 540 UK practices.

Career outcomes:

£700M+ M&A technology integration across the platform and bolt-on acquisitions
£15M+ annual EBITDA contribution through operational excellence and cost optimisation
Technology leadership across automotive retail, consumer goods, and veterinary services

Clients call me when:

→ Integration is off-track, and synergies are at risk
→ The board wants cyber confidence before exit, audit, or due diligence
→ Technology is a red flag in the data room
→ They need senior leadership fast—without permanent headcount

I also serve as NED (Digital & Technology) at Age UK, and I've published on AI governance, IT leadership, and board-level technology strategy.

Available for select interim and fractional mandates.

Let's talk: DJ@Starkhorn.co.uk

Daniel J. Jacobs

Top #6 Leadership Influencer 🇩🇪 (Favikon-Ranking) | Ex-Site Director | Master Blackbelt | Leadership & Operational Excellence Expert | 3X Author | I help Department & Site Heads build High Performing Teams 🚀

🚀 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇-𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒?
 𝐈 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

Over the past decade, I have delivered workshops on High Performance, Leadership and Personal Development to more than 2.000 employees.

👉 MY PURPOSE:
→ My mission is to inspire people to unlock their potential, so that they spread engagement, empathy and effectiveness.
→ I help Senior Executives build High Performing Teams and empower individuals to enhance their leadership skills and performance.
→ I am the Founder and Managing Director of The Mindset Challenger GmbH.

👉 MY CORE OFFERING: High-Performing Team Workshop
→ Take Your Team to the Next Level - Transform in 2 Days
→ 🎯 Practical. Inspiring. No fluff.
→ ✅ Real change in just 2 days
→ 🏆 1st place in Excellence Awards

👉  FURTHER TRAININGS: 
→ AI-Empowered Leadership (Smart Leadership, Amplified by AI)
→ Inspirational Leadership (Role Model, Visionary, Coordinator, Coach)
→ Modern Performance Management (Empathy & Growth Mindset)
→ Optimal Team Setting (DISC Model)
→ The Art of Inspiration (Influence & Communication)
→ Create Leaders - Not Followers 
→ Time Management (Flawless Execution System)
→ Resilience & Stress Management
→ Find your Purpose (Personal & Team WHY)
→ Effective Workshops (Train-the-Trainer)
→ How to Manage your Boss & Colleagues
→ Energy Management 

👉 MY PORTFOLIO:
→ Trainings & Workshops
→ Team Offsites Facilitation
→ Team Coaching
→ 1-1 Coaching
→ Key Note Speeches
→ Outdoor Workshops
→ Published Books (High Performing Organisation, High Performance, The Art of Inspiration & The Mindset Challenger)

👉 MY BACKGROUND: 
→ Head of Operational Excellence & Training (Lonza)
→ Site Director (Grünenthal)
→ Factory Manager (Coca-Cola)
→ Production Manager (Nestlé)
→ Market Focused Improvement Pillarleader – Operational Excellence (Nestlé)
→ Industrial Performance Specialist (Nestlé)

👉 MY CORE COMPETENCES: 
- Building High Performing Teams & Organisations
- Leveraging AI for Maximum Leadership Effectiveness
- Offsite Facilitation
- Driving Cultural Change
- Leadership Development
- Facilitating Training & Workshops
- Executive Coaching

If you want to know more about these topics you can:
→ 🌐 Visit my website: www.themindsetchallenger.com
→ 📨 Subscribe the weekly "High Performance" Newsletter (features section) & get a free PDF copy of my book "High Performance"
→ 📞 Contact me directly: Tel. +41-79-6686983 or Email: info@themindsetchallenger.com

Daniel Hartweg

Lincoln's greatest weapon wasn't an army.

It was a room full of people who disagreed with him...
 
And trusted him anyway.

Here's what most leaders will never have the courage to do:

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln handed power to the 3 men 
who publicly called him unfit to lead.

He didn't do it out of weakness. 

He did it because he understood something most leaders never will:

The strongest rooms are built on truth, not comfort.

This is the leadership playbook history forgot to teach you.

1/ 💪 HIRE BETTER THAN YOURSELF
↳ Hire people who intimidate you a little 
↳ Choose skill over agreement 
↳ Surround yourself with better, not easier

2/ ⚡ TURN CONFLICT INTO CLARITY
↳ Debate before every big decision 
↳ Reward the person who pushes back 
↳ Silence in the room is a red flag

3/ 🧠 MASTER YOUR EGO BEFORE IT MASTERS YOU
↳ Pause before reacting 
↳ Attack the idea, never the person 
↳ Choose truth over pride, every time

4/ 🧭 KNOW WHAT YOU WILL NEVER COMPROMISE
↳ Name your non-negotiables now
↳ Write them. Share them. Live them.
↳ Hold the line when tested

5/ ⏳ TIMING IS A LEADERSHIP SKILL
↳ Spot the decision you're forcing right now 
↳ Ask what you still don't know 
↳ The right move at the wrong time still fails

6/ 🗣️ MAKE YOUR WORDS MEAN SOMETHING
↳ Find the belief your team already holds 
↳ Lead with meaning before facts 
↳ Speak to the why — not the what

7/ 🎯 ALIGN ON THE GOAL — FREE THE PATH
↳ Fix the destination. Free the route. 
↳ Let smart people find the way 
↳ Control the outcome, not the process

Most leaders want a team that agrees with them.

Lincoln wanted a team that would tell him when he was wrong.

That's not a leadership style. That's a leadership standard.
And it's the reason we still talk about him 160 years later.

Which of these 7 hits closest to home for you right now?
Drop your number below 👇 I read every comment.

♻️ Repost this if it made you think someone on your feed needs to see it. 
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Former Site Director & Head of Operational Excellence | Master Blackbelt | 4X Author | Transforming High-Performing Teams & Culture for Executive & Site Leadership

Lincoln hired his 3 biggest enemies. Then won the war

Apple was worth nothing when he returned.

Today it's a $3 trillion empire.

The difference? 

Not the products.
It was the team.

Most leaders hire talent. 

Jobs built obsession. 

Here's the elite team blueprint nobody teaches you:

01/ Hire for Obsession, Not Just Skills Talent is common. 
↳ Ask "What have you built just because you had to?" 
↳ Reject those who separate work from identity 
↳ Hire people already doing the work unpaid

02/ Kill Mediocrity Before It Spreads 
↳ Address underperformance within 72 hours 
↳ Never lower the bar for comfort 
↳ Make excellence the norm, not the exception

03/ Protect the Team from Noise 
↳ Cancel meetings with no clear output 
↳ Let builders build — handle politics yourself 
↳ Remove anything not move the work forward

04/ Pressure Reveals Character 
↳ Set one target per quarter that feels impossible
↳ Debrief failures so the whole team learns 
↳ Reward the attempt, not just the result

05/ Make the Mission Bigger Than the Product 
↳ Replace KPIs with a mission that gives chills
↳ Start every week with "why this matters" 
↳ Make every new hire feel the weight of their seat

06/ Simplicity is a Team Discipline 
↳ End every review asking "what can we remove?"
↳ Make "explain it in one sentence" non-negotiable 
↳ Penalize overcomplication like a missed deadline

07/ Build a Team That Outlasts You 
↳ Identify your replacement and develop them now 
↳ Document your team's unwritten rules today 
↳ Measure leadership by what happens without you

The greatest product Steve Jobs ever built wasn't the iPhone.

It wasn't the Mac.

It wasn't even Apple.

It was the standard he set for what a team could become.

That standard is still running the most valuable company on earth.
Build your team like that.

♻️ Repost this if it changed how you think about building a team. 
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Steve Jobs The Man Who Got Fired — Then Built a $3T Empire

Your team isn't underperforming.

They're missing these 7 principles that 

separate average teams from elite ones:

I learned these by studying Japanese leadership...

And they completely changed how I build high-performing teams.

📌 Save this. You'll come back to it.

1️⃣ IKIGAI (生き甲斐) - Purpose
↳ Help each team member find their "sweet spot"
↳ Intrinsic motivation beats micromanagement every time
↳ Ask "What energizes you?" not just "What are your KPIs?"

2️⃣ KAIZEN (改善) - Continuous Improvement
↳ Innovation becomes a habit, not a one-time event
↳ Replace "big bang" launches with daily 1% gains
↳ Psychological safety to fail small and learn fast

3️⃣ WABI-SABI (侘寂) - Embrace Imperfection
↳ Ship the imperfect v1.0, then iterate publicly
↳ Leaders who share mistakes build trust faster
↳ Perfectionism kills momentum—done beats perfect

4️⃣ SHINRIN-YOKU (森林浴) - Strategic Rest
↳ No-meeting Fridays, walking 1-on-1s, mandatory PTO
↳ Rest isn't weakness, it's competitive advantage
↳ Burnout destroys what performance builds

5️⃣ KINTSUGI (金継ぎ) - Growth Through Failure
↳ "What did we learn?" not "Who screwed up?"
↳ Your team's scars create breakthrough innovation
↳ Failed projects become case studies, not career-enders

6️⃣ SHOGANAI (しょうがない) - Strategic Acceptance
↳ "What can we control?" redirects energy from complaining
↳ Distinguish problems to solve vs. constraints to accept
↳ Less drama, more execution

7️⃣ OUBAITORI (桜梅桃李) - Individual Growth
↳ Diverse strengths beat cookie-cutter culture
↳ Stop comparing Team A's velocity to Team B's
↳ Personalized growth plans—some need stretch, some need mastery

The best teams I've worked with?

They don't obsess over metrics.

They obsess over meaning, growth, and trust.

Western leadership focuses on what we DO.
Japanese leadership focuses on who we BECOME.

♻️ Repost this to help other leaders build better teams.
➕ Follow me Daniel Hartweg for more leadership insights that actually work.

7 Japanese Leadership Principles 

Napoleon Bonaparte conquered most of the known world. 

Then lost everything in 4 years.

Not to a stronger enemy. 

Not to bad luck.

To himself.

Here are his 7 leadership mistakes modern leaders still make today:

1. Past Wins Distort Judgment 
↳ Every victory hides a new risk 
↳ Audit your wins like your losses
↳ Wins narrow your lens, not widen it 

2. Ignored Warnings 
↳ Make dissent safe or pay the price
↳ Silence from advisors is a red flag 
↳ The room grew quiet, and he let it 

3. Rigid Strategy 
↳ Genius on paper collapsed in the field
↳ Plans don't survive contact with reality 
↳ Build checkpoints before you need them

4. Logistics Neglected 
↳ The unglamorous details carry everything 
↳ Stress-test operations, not just ideas
↳ Supply lines failed before armies did 

5. Ego Over Evidence 
↳ Confidence filtered out the truth 
↳ Seek data that disagrees with you
↳ He believed what he wanted to believe 

6. Fatigue Ignored 
↳ Silence is not strength, it's a warning 
↳ His army broke before he noticed 
↳ Track energy, not just output

7. Late Course Correction 
↳ Pride postponed the inevitable 
↳ Exit bad decisions before they exit you
↳ Every day of delay cost more than the last 

The fall of an empire is never sudden. 

It's 7 small decisions made by someone who 
stopped questioning themselves.

Which of these 7 do you see most in leadership today? 

Drop it in the comments. 👇

♻️ Repost this if it made you think someone on your network needs to see it.  ➕ Follow me Daniel Hartweg for daily leadership insights that cut through the noise.

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