Pre-Zero Sports Talk
Pre-Zero Sports Talk is built on real conversations beyond the game.
Hosted by Sid Bensalah, with over 30 years of global sports industry experience, the podcast explores sport as a platform for deeper conversations about leadership, faith, performance, purpose, identity, community, and impact.
This is not only a podcast about sport. It is about what sport reveals about people, how we lead, how we handle pressure, how we pursue meaning, and how we build lives, teams, and communities with purpose.
Through honest, long-form conversations with athletes, coaches, leaders, founders, innovators, and changemakers, Pre-Zero Sports Talk explores the deeper why behind performance, success, resilience, clean progress, human potential, and the future of sport.
Topics include sports leadership, coaching culture, athlete well-being, faith and purpose, human performance, community impact, clean progress, sustainability, innovation and technology, governance, and sports business.
No filter. No bias. Straight talk.
Subscribe and join real conversations on sport, leadership, faith, performance, purpose, and life beyond the game.
Pre-Zero Sports Talk
Leadership Beyond the Leader with Björn Vikard
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Episode #102 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk features leadership advisor and former COO Björn Vikard in a raw, honest, and deeply insightful conversation on leadership, succession, trust, systems thinking, and high-performance culture.
Drawing on more than 20 years of experience across Sweden, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, and Thailand, Björn shares hard-earned lessons on cross-cultural leadership, rebuilding broken trust, founder dependency, organizational culture, and why great teams collapse when leadership becomes overly centered on one individual.
Using powerful examples from Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, the All Blacks, Olympic systems, and family-owned businesses, this episode explores how leaders can build organizations, teams, and cultures that last beyond them.
We also dive into communication, marriage, parenting, AI’s impact on leadership, “gemba” leadership, sports development systems, and the importance of humility, self-awareness, and accountability.
A powerful long-form conversation for leaders, coaches, founders, athletes, and anyone interested in leadership beyond titles and ego.
Timestamps
00:00 Leadership Beyond the Leader
02:59 Culture Shock in Sri Lanka
09:49 Why Relationships Matter in Asia
12:28 Trust, Character & Self-Awareness
21:40 Systems Over Hero Leaders
27:54 Sports Coaching Cycles
31:54 Founder Succession Fears
40:49 Difficult Conversations With Owners
56:37 Different Levels See Different Problems
57:39 Gemba Leadership Explained
01:01:58 Rebuilding Broken Trust
01:09:52 Marriage & Communication
01:13:29 AI & The Future of Consulting
01:22:26 Lightning Round
01:31:06 Final Thoughts & Quote
Learn more about Björn → https://bjornvikard.com/
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