Susanne Ekström

I Coach CEOs to Build Winning Companies Where People 💜 to Work (SME:s) | +$30M Client Profit Generated | Top Ranked Management & Leadership Creator Globally (#1 in Sweden) | Serial Entrepreneur

💡 Are you enthusiastic about waking up in the morning to be the master strategist of your company, or are you dreading another day spent fighting fires and not getting anything significant done?

👋 Hey! I'm Susanne, a CEO Coach, entrepreneur, #1 international bestselling author, and the founder of BeASmarterLeader and SEE Management.

𝐌𝐲 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: To guide CEOs like you in reaching the top of your game.
I specialize in turning your big business dreams into reality, making your company richer, your team happier, and your business more robust.
And if you're up for it, we'll boost your bottom line by $499k in 99 days.


𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞: Back in 2001, life was amazing. I co-owned a big Swedish dot.com company and started our Netherlands office. I invested my heart, time, and money into it. But then, everything fell apart when the company went bankrupt. I lost everything, and it was devastating—going from a dream job to no job at all.


𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠: We made these 4 epic failures!
⛔ We didn't delegate effectively
⛔ We weren't ready for massive growth
⛔ We didn't have streamlined processes in place
⛔ We, the C-Suite, stopped listening to our people


𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝: Combining 20+ years in management consulting, over a decade in leadership, and hard-earned lessons from my dot.com collapse led me to develop a foolproof system to help CEOs like you:
✅ Boost your profits
✅ Keep your best people
✅ 'Buy back' +8 hours a week
✅ Build a scalable business model for growth


Great leaders aren't born; they're made.
True transformation can be challenging, so I've designed my system to help you save time, reach your potential, and become a top-notch CEO. 


𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫: Strategies to:
⭐ 'Buy back' your time so you can lead, not be 'all-over the place'
⭐ Create a CEO role that you'll absolutely LOVE having
⭐ Create space for innovation & big-picture planning
⭐ Create trust, structure, and sustainable growth
⭐ Build a winning, scalable company culture



𝐌𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬: CEOs of SME companies on the U.S. East Coast, Canada, and Europe.
But why is this Swedish lady targeting the U.S. and Canada?
The mindset around the importance and value of a coach differs in the US and Canada from the rest of the world. I also love to speak English.
𝘚𝘔𝘌 = 𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮-𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦


𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩: Book a 15-minute Opportunity Call today!
👉 https://calendly.com/susanne-ekstrom/15mincall

Susanne Ekström
📞 +46 70 205 40 44
✉ susanne@beasmarterleader.com
🌐 www.beasmarterleader.com

Founder & CEO | BeaSmarterLeader

🔥 We help CEOs and Owners of Companies with $5-20 Million in Revenue, Strategically Work ON the Business Instead of Being Stuck IN it.

BeaSmarterLeader is 100% dedicated to helping CEOs and Owners across dynamic industries scale business operations and obtain unparalleled marketplace advantages to unlock transformative, growth-driven futures.

As the Founder & CEO, I work confidently with you while providing all of the dynamic tools and coaching methodologies required to take your business to the next level with The CEO Profit System!

Ultimately, I’m here to help enable the conditions for your peak performance, and you'll drive your business forward in ways previously unimagined. Sign up today to double your profits and cut your daily workload by 50% in less than 4 weeks!

👉 www.beasmarterleader.com/ceopsli (With a Large Discount)

Ever hired someone brilliant… but “a little odd”?
🤔 Maybe they avoided small talk.
🤔 Could never sit completely still.
🤔 Had problems with eye contact.
🤔 Laser-focused on obscure details.
🤔 Struggled with time management.
🤔 Or asked questions no one else dared to ask.

You might have chalked it up to personality.
But what if it was neurodiversity?

Yesterday, I shared a personal post about my son and me, both navigating life with ADHD and autism in different ways. Today, I want to discuss what that looks like in your company.

Because here’s the truth:
You already have neurodivergent people on your team.
- Some have been diagnosed.
- Most haven’t.
- And many won't dare to tell you even if they have been diagnosed.

If you don’t know how to lead them, you’re leaving potential (and revenue) on the table.

CEOs ask me, “How do I support these folks without lowering the bar?”
That's the wrong question.

The right one is: "How do I design a culture that brings out the best in every kind of brain?"

Especially when one of those brains might be… your own. 💜 

Because many of the founders and execs I coach have ADHD or autism themselves, and they’ve spent decades compensating, masking, or white-knuckling through systems that were never built for them.

Tomorrow, I’ll share about how to leverage neurodiversity as a leader, without burning out or losing control.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 - look around your team.
- Who’s been labeled “difficult,” “intense,” or “disorganized”?
- What might change if you saw them through the lens of neurodiversity?
- And most importantly, do you know what it means to be neurodivergent?

This is personal for me. As a mom. As a founder. 
Because when we get this right, everyone wins.


👉 Anything you'd add?

PS. I'll add the link to yesterday's post in the comments.

I Coach CEOs to Build Winning Companies Where People Love to Work (SMEs) | +$30M Client Profit Generated in the Last 5 Years | #1 International Best-Selling Author | Serial Entrepreneur

How do you know if someone on your team might be neurodivergent?
Short answer: You often don’t.
Longer answer: You notice patterns. And you lead accordingly.

Because not everyone will tell you they have ADHD or autism.
Some don’t even know themselves.
But their behavior might whisper it.
If you’re listening.

As a mom to a son with ADHD and autism, and in my work with founders and teams, I’ve learned to watch for two kinds of signs:

𝗖𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀
- Asks unexpected questions that challenge assumptions
- Hyper-focused one moment, totally distracted the next
- Struggles with transitions or shifting between tasks
- Strategic brilliance, but forgetful with logistics
- Comes across as blunt, intense, or “too much”
- Thrives with structure… or resists it entirely
- Sensitive to noise, light, or smells

𝗣𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝘂𝗲𝘀
- Avoids or resists eye contact
- Constantly fidgeting or can’t sit still
- Forgets next steps unless written or visual
- Looks disengaged, but later recalls everything
- Tunes out during long explanations or detailed talks
- Needs headphones, sunglasses, or quiet spaces to focus
- Paces while thinking or prefers movement to concentrate

These aren’t flaws.
They’re flags that someone might need something different to thrive.

Not lower expectations, but more transparent communication, better scaffolding, or more autonomy.

You don’t need a formal diagnosis to support someone’s best work.
You just need to notice how they work best, and meet them there.

That’s not therapy.
That’s leadership. 💜 


👉 Anything you'd add?


PS. This is my 4th and last post on neurodivergence, for now.
I'll add the links to my previous posts in the comments.

If your company can’t run 30 days without you, you don’t own a business.
You 𝙖𝙧𝙚 the business.

I was sitting with a CEO who was exhausted.
He told me, “𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴.”

That’s the reality for many CEOs.
The business runs, but only because they’re pushing every lever.
It feels responsible. It feels necessary.
But it’s also the ceiling on growth.

Here’s what I see again and again:
❌ Culture depends on their mood that week.
❌ Decisions get stuck waiting for their approval.
❌ The CEO’s calendar is owned by everyone but them.
❌ They delegate activity, not ownership, so work bounces back.

And then the shift happens.

When the CEO reclaims their time, everything changes:
✅ They spend hours painting the bigger picture instead of chasing details.
✅ Their leadership team starts owning results, not just tasks.
✅ Culture becomes the engine, not the weight.
✅ The company scales beyond them. Finally.

That’s when leadership becomes lighter.
That’s when growth feels possible again.

If your company had to run for 30 days without you, what would break first?
If you don’t like your answer to that question, send me a DM.
We’ll discuss how to make the change. 💜 
 
 
👉 Anything you'd add?

Are meetings making you money... OR costing you? 
 
I'm pretty frankly really frustrated with how we treat our people's time when it comes to meetings. 
 
If you were a machine that stopped, we would try to fix you (the machine) asap to keep production flowing, BUT we tend not to have any problem inviting people to meetings without questioning how much of their time we consume. 
 
Even worse, if we don't have a clear goal and agenda for the meeting, people will feel frustrated and stressed. 
 
Cutting down the number of meetings and/or meeting time is one successful way in which you can: 
 
✅ Reduce costs 
✅ Delete the frustration of boring meetings 
✅ Make your business more productive & profitable 
 
...at the same time. 
 
A study at Bain & Company found that a single weekly meeting of mid-level managers costs one organization $15 million annually! 
 
Do you think those meetings generated more than $15 million annually? 
 
Are the meetings within your company making or costing you money? 💜 

👉 Anything you'd add?

CEOs: You make million-dollar decisions...
...but are you treating your own time like a 10x growth lever?

Most leaders think they are stuck in "2x tasks" (incremental growth).
The reality? Most are stuck in 0x tasks.

If your revenue is $8M–$20M, your time is worth ~$2,000 per hour.
But you're likely spending it on "low-leverage" tasks that yield $0 in new value.

𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗻 "𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸" 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝟭𝟬𝘅 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗽:
💰 CEO Effect: Reclaiming 8 hours a week = $16,000 in unlocked value every week.

💰 C-Suite Effect: If 5 leaders reclaim 8 hours (at $500/hr), that’s $20,000 per week.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁?
That’s $1.8M in leadership capacity currently being "leaked" into zero-ROI low-value busy-work.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟭𝟬𝘅 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁:
↠ Stop doing the "0x" low-leverage tasks that don't move the needle.

↠ Reinvest those 48+ hours into the 20% that creates 10x momentum.

↠ Watch your impact 10x as you ditch your "Firefighter" mode.

👉 What is one low-leverage task you are doing today that provides $0 in growth?

PS. You can't build a 10x future while living on a 0x schedule. 💜

Are you planning your agendas, or are your meetings a time-suck?

Lisa, a CEO with 85 employees, conducted many meetings that kept her busy almost all week.

When she had some time in between the meetings, she had a line of employees who wanted to:

💢 ask questions
💢 get her decision on a specific matter

She rarely had time to work on her essential tasks during office hours.

WHAT DID WE DO?

We:
〰️ Drastically decreased the meeting time
〰️ Implemented the tips for crafting a "Killer" agenda


THE RESULTS WERE:
✅ 45% more free time in just 3 weeks
✅ Better prepared, motivated participants
✅ Enhanced accountability/results pre & post meetings

...& this was just the first step on our list for her & her people to be more productive.

Do you want to be the next Lisa? 💜
Send me a DM with the word "Killer."


👉 Anything you'd add?

How to Design a Killer Agenda

From pitch black to a life worth living in 2,5 months.
How I helped my son turn his life around.

I’m a single mother of two sons, and one of them has autism and ADHD.

Little over 2,5 years ago, he had been home for 4 years, 24*7.
❌ Not going out at all
❌ Not attending school
❌ Not having any IRL friends
❌ Not doing ANYTHING with his life

So, about 30 months ago, I started transforming our relationship completely.

This led him to move to a specialized boarding school and ‘restarting’ his life!

From being 4 years behind in school when he started, he’s now on track to graduate from high school in 3 months' time (only 1 year behind).

If you are a parent of a child or children with autism and/or ADHD, and you’re:
😢 Feeling you’re failing your kid
😢 Feeling love and affinity is lost
😢 Feeling like everything is hopeless
😢 Feeling like there’s nothing more you can do

I GET YOU! 💜
This is how I felt for many years.

HOW COULD I MAKE THIS POSSIBLE?
I attended a course, and while I was participating, it hit me hard.

〰I want to FIX my son!
〰Because this is NOT the life I was supposed to have.
〰AND I’m the reason we’re stuck!

Even if we have a great relationship, something needs to change.

I need to shift the way I speak to him and the way I listen to him.

I also realize – I can love him for everything he is and also for everything he isn’t.

For me, my kids are the most important thing in my life.

Seeing one of them not ‘participating in life’ has been totally devastating.

But now, I see a future for him. 💜

This video shares one of the questions I got when I spoke at the LeadHERship Unveiled, a 3-day virtual summit, about my journey as a person, a CEO coach, and a mother.

PS. If you know a parent like this, please tag them in a comment.

PPS. The link to my whole speech is here: https://lnkd.in/eyNk_WeQ



👉 Anything you'd add?

In 5 words or less, what advice would you give a CEO who's always busy and never has time?

If you're a CEO with ADHD or autism, you're not wired for business-as-usual.
You're wired for vision, velocity, and out-of-the-box thinking.

You can’t lead the way everyone else does, and you don’t have to.

You’ve probably been told to be more organized, more consistent, more emotionally neutral, more… something.

As a mother to a son with ADHD and autism, and also in my coaching work with neurodivergent founders, I’ve seen:

💫 Pattern recognition that’s lightning-fast
💫 Brains that leap to insights no one else sees
💫 Creative thinking that breaks through walls others never question

You’re not “too much.” You’re exactly enough when you stop trying to lead like someone else.

The key isn’t to mask or muscle through.
It’s to design a business that matches your brain. 💜 

It’s about building systems around your strengths and delegating tasks around your struggles.
- Hire great people who love the details
- Set check-ins so nothing relies on memory
- Shape your role around what energizes you

This isn’t about doing less.
It’s about doing what only you can do.
And building the right team to do the rest.

Neurodivergent leadership isn’t a liability. It’s a competitive edge.
But only if you stop fighting yourself...
and start building systems that fit.


👉 Anything you'd add?

PS. This is my 3rd post on neurodivergence. I'll add the link to my previous posts in the comments.

PPS. This is how my son explains what his ADHD/autism brain sounds like:
https://lnkd.in/e3JxK3VP (video credit to connorcallec, it's not my son)

Imagine being a CEO and having hours back in your day. Unthinkable? 
Here is the reality... 👇 
 
❌ 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀:
↳ Micromanage employees 
↳ Fail to delegate effectively 
↳ Fail to prioritize your calendar 
↳ Spend much time on low-priority tasks 
↳ Attend meetings without a clear agenda 
 
✅ 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀: 
↳ Paint the big picture for your company 
↳ Develop & execute a strategic plan 
↳ Build a kickass company culture 
↳ Lead & inspire by example 
↳ Recruit & nurture talent 
 
 
And...
DITCH the Chief Problem Solver hat! 💜 
 
 
👉 Anything you'd add?

𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀
- Avoiding hard conversations, Westley Harnett
- Too many "priorities" at once, Jill Avey

The Day I Earned My Place -- with a Kebab Pizza!!
When I was new at a management consulting firm, I was invited to join a colleague at a client site.

As soon as I arrived, the CEO told me:
“We have a special tradition for new consultants, haha, you’ll see.”

At lunchtime, he took me to a pizzeria and said,
“This is your challenge. No other consultant has ever finished this.”

He ordered me the "House Special” - a kebab pizza loaded with sauce, fries, and extra everything.

I thought, "This is my moment," so I ate the whole thing.

He looked at me and said, “Wow. Not even I have finished it. I always leave the crust!”

And then he said, “I’m in love. Shall we go home and share 2 kilos of tenderloin?”

That afternoon, as we walked around the office, he kept telling people:
“She ate the whole pizza. She ate the 𝙒𝙃𝙊𝙇𝙀 pizza.”

Looking back, it was more than just a funny memory; it was also a test of my resilience.

Here’s what I learned about leadership from that pizza challenge.

- 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀
It wasn’t about the pizza. It was about showing up, saying yes, and giving something your best shot - even when it’s uncomfortable, unusual, or hard. 

- 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁
Had I refused or given up halfway, the outcome might have been different. Often, people respect the effort even more than the result, but in this case, finishing was what mattered.

- 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻 “𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀”
Whether it’s the first big client meeting, a difficult decision, or (yes) a giant pizza, teams test how you show up under pressure. Leaders remember that and help others succeed in those moments.

- 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿
Yes, we laughed. But I also felt accepted. Leaders create moments that people remember. Those moments often mix challenge, kindness, and fun.

Sometimes leadership starts with a pizza. 💜 


👉 Anything you'd add?

Uncomfortable conversations - how do you deal with them?

Are you approaching them head-on, delaying them, or sticking your head in the sand and hoping they will solve themselves somehow?

This is what I'll be talking about in today's episode of 'Uncomfortable Conversations' on e360tv.

Hi all - time for a poll!
What do you say about this one? :)

If you could travel back in time and relive your life, would you choose the same career/life?

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

Vaughan Broderick

Innovation coach helping you & your organisation thrive in disruption | Teaching proven practical methods to help people innovate | UC MBA | Follow for posts about startups, innovation & leadership

If you're leading change in your organisation, you've probably seen this pattern:

Smart people working hard, moving fast - and still building things that don't stick, don't scale, and don't really matter.

I know, because I lived it for over a decade.

By 2018, I'd built an award-winning mortgage and insurance brokerage - and was completely burnt out. Brilliant people exhausting themselves on work that didn't last.

That experience changed how I see innovation.

I sold the business, took my family backpacking through 23 countries, searching for a better way.

I found an approach that changed everything:

Stop guessing. Start discovering.
Stop doing innovation to people. Start designing with them.

Today, I help leaders and teams make change work inside real organisations - with real constraints.
I've worked with hundreds of leaders across NZ and Australia - founders, executives, government teams - all asking the same question: "There has to be a better way, right?"

My work focuses on the part most innovation efforts fail at: turning good ideas into implemented change.

My approach is called DUCTRI - a framework that extends design thinking to include Resourcing and Implementation. It combines design thinking, AI tools, and behavioural science for making change work in complex organisations.

I've captured this in Innovation in Action, co-authored with Christian Walsh, including the complete toolkit and case studies from 300+ real-world projects.

What happens when you work this way:
→ Solve the right problems before committing resources
→ Teams align with clarity, not pressure
→ Change actually sticks

If you're tired of workshops that go nowhere, pilots that never scale, and good ideas dying in PowerPoint - I understand.

There is a better way.

I know because I've lived both.

INNOVATION IN ACTION (Book)
A practical system for solving the right problems and creating lasting change.

"The essential playbook for turning ideas into impact."
Jeremy Utley, Stanford d.school

"A book for people tired of innovation theatre."
David J. Bland, Co-author, Testing Business Ideas

“This is a book that helps you not just innovate, but truly change systems for good.”
David Meates, MNZM (Ex NZ Health CEO) 

→ Join the waitlist: https://innovationinactionbook.com

FUTURE-STATE THINKING NEWSLETTER
Weekly insights on design thinking, AI & behavioural science.
→ Subscribe: https://vaughanbroderick.com

CONSULTING · WORKSHOPS · TRAINING
Advisory, workshops, and training to move from stuck ideas to implemented change.
→ Get in touch: https://vaughanbroderick.com/connect/

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