High-Performing Leadership Teams Are Built, Not Bought
High-Performing Leadership Teams Are Built, Not Bought  
Podcast: The So What from BCG
Published On: Wed Feb 25 2026
Description: What makes a leadership team truly high performing, and why does it matter for the entire organization? Judith Wallenstein, CEO Advisory Global Lead of BCG, and Khadija Ben Hammada, Chief People Officer of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, explore this topic and more. They share how CEOs can build executive teams grounded in trust, purpose, and psychological safety. When the top team clicks, the whole company moves faster and with more clarity.Learn more: https://lnk.to/so-what-general-show32Learn More:Judith Wallenstein, Managing Director & Senior Partner, Global Lead, CEO Advisoryhttps://www.bcg.com/about/people/experts/judith-wallensteinKhadija Ben Hammada, Member of the Executive Board and Chief People Officer for Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germanyhttps://www.emdgroup.com/en/company/management/executive-board/khadija-ben-hammada.htmlSubscribe to BCG’s YouTube channel: https://goo.gl/hsFsVTVisit us at https://www.bcg.comChapters(00:00) Intro(00:17) How do you build a high-performing leadership team?(01:36) What makes a team work?(02:12) What does a high-performing team feel like?(03:45) How much of team success depends on the CEO’s behavior and decisions?(05:55) When hiring, what are you looking for — what’s the secret sauce?(08:47) What should the CEO–Chief People Officer relationship look like?(09:50) What did you learn as chief of staff that you apply on an executive team?(11:42) How do team members to elevate collective performance?(13:01) How should leadership adapt in an era of uncertainty?(16:35) How do you keep a team successful when key people move on?(19:27) What's steps should leaders take now to create a top-performing team?(21:03) OutroThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp