Most leaders think they know why people resist change—but they are usually wrong.
In this episode of Lead the Team, Ben Fanning sits down with Andrea Sorrenti, Deputy CEO of MSX International, to expose the hidden truth about corporate transformation: it’s not resistance holding your team back, it’s fear.
After nearly three decades leading global teams through major automotive industry shifts, Andrea shares the raw leadership lessons that only come from painful, real-world mistakes.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- The Discipline of Staying: Why spending 30 years at one company taught him what job-hopping never could.
- The "Fear" Factor: How to communicate "what's in it for them" to help your team embrace massive technological disruptions like AI.
- The Supplier of the Year Trap: Why winning is the exact moment you need to double down, not sit on your laurels.
- "Pick Up the Damn Phone": Why human connection and face-to-face interaction are becoming an executive's ultimate competitive edge in an AI-driven world.
Whether you’re a CEO, executive, founder, or an ambitious professional navigating leadership under pressure, this conversation will challenge you to build a culture that welcomes big ambitions.
Timestamps:
00:00 – The real reason teams resist change (It’s fear, not resistance)
02:03 – What 30 years at one company teaches you about execution discipline
04:02 – How to break out of being "pigeonholed" in your career
05:11 – The crucial skill of articulating your ambition to leadership
08:36 – How to reinvent yourself without losing your core identity
09:38 – Getting thrown into the deep end: Andrea’s hardest career shift
12:31 – Overcoming executive fear in the age of AI disruption
15:11 – How MSX scales capabilities with AI while protecting human connection
17:42 – "Pick Up the Damn Phone": The battle against corporate email culture
19:44 – The costly mistake made after becoming Supplier of the Year
22:27 – Reading your audience: A universal principle for leading across cultures
24:40 – Roger Federer’s 54% rule: Processing executive failure
28:04 – How radical transparency with a customer saved a failing market
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