The Vertical Climb 1.4 | Leading Beyond Our Blind Spots | Andre Viljoen, CEO Air Mauritius

"So tell me, Andre, do you think he heard you?" One question in a car started a 20-year journey for an airline CEO. 📖 Mentioned in this episode: SOAR, the Fiji Airways special edition by Shashank Nigam (SimpliFlying) → https://www.fijiairways.com/en-sg/media-ce... In episode 4 of The Vertical Climb, Sandra Viljoen and Margot Vannelet sit down with Andre Viljoen, CEO of Air Mauritius, former CEO of Fiji Airways and South African Airways, and Sandra's husband. Andre is refreshingly honest about his own blind spots: the Type 8 need for control, the "tormentorship" style of leadership he once wore with pride, and what happened the first time he tried to show his team some vulnerability. In this episode: → How one blind spot made meetings silent and the corridors loud → Where Andre's need for control came from: "Are you a man or a mouse?" → Why overcorrecting a blind spot can be just as false → The four domains of systemic development → How a leader's blind spots shape the whole culture → The VIP meet & greet idea the front line had suggested "100 times" → The engineer nobody listened to, and what changed the same day → "One big thing": practising leadership like an Olympian → "The problem is you": Andre's first coaching session → Value-based leadership, 200% accountability and the courage to speak up "Leadership is not about eliminating our blind spots. It's giving ourselves permission to see them sooner, and the courage to work on them." (Sandra Viljoen) CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome to The Vertical Climb 00:45 Introducing Andre Viljoen 02:53 Sandra and Andre: 25 years together 04:16 From the army to chartered accountant to airline CEO 05:49 What makes a national airline different 07:37 Today's topic: blind spots 09:12 "Leadership is tormentorship" 10:28 "Do you think he heard you?": a wake-up call in the car 13:13 How Sandra and Andre first met 18:49 Discovering the Type 8 need for control 20:28 "Are you a man or a mouse?" 24:30 Showing vulnerability, and overcorrecting 28:47 The four domains of systemic development 32:16 How a leader's blind spots shape the whole organisation 37:43 Listening to the front line: the VIP meet & greet 41:00 Women's Day: the engineer nobody heard 43:04 "I don't have time": why CEOs skip the inner work 45:40 One big thing: practising like an Olympian 50:04 The leader as a coach 51:38 "The problem is you": Andre's first coaching session 55:17 For leaders who keep avoiding their blind spots 58:18 Self-mastery is the starting point 1:01:35 Your thinking drives your behaviour 1:04:39 Fiji Airways: standing alongside the giants 1:05:56 Andre's aspiration for Air Mauritius 1:07:12 Value-based leadership and the courage to speak up 💬 What's the blind spot your team sees, but you don't? Tell us in the comments. 👍 If this episode opened a door for you, like, subscribe and share it with a leader who needs it. ABOUT THE VERTICAL CLIMB A podcast about the inner journey of leadership: honest conversations with CEOs, business leaders, HR professionals and coaches about the moments and beliefs that shaped the people behind the titles. Season One: Conscious and Systemic Leadership ◀️ Previous episode: 1.3, Enneagram & Shadow Work with Waiman Ip Min Wan ▶️ Next episode: 1.5, Tough vs Nice Leadership with Anthony Leung Shing 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6BRqKmjrv... 🍎 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-... ABOUT NEW BEGINNINGS & SYSTEMIC DEVELOPMENT The Vertical Climb is produced by New Beginnings, a Mauritius-based practice specialising in systemic leadership development and executive coaching for leaders and teams. Its Systemic Development Framework helps CEOs, executive teams and HR leaders transform leadership and culture, starting at the top and cascading through the organisation, across four pillars: Self-Mastery, Relational Mastery, Leadership Mastery and Systemic Integration. Because it's not systemic if you don't develop yourself first. 🌱 New Beginnings: https://newb.mu 🧭 Systemic Development: https://systemicdevelopment.com 🌐 The Vertical Climb: https://theverticalclimb.com #Leadership #BlindSpots #TheVerticalClimb