We recently connected with Andreas Pettersson and have shared our conversation below.
Andreas, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My resilience primarily comes from experiencing significant hardship in life, as well as being a CEO for 7 years and an executive for over 10 years. I’ve realized that all the smaller micro-actions I’ve taken throughout life have made me increasingly fearless. This fearlessness has made me much more resilient because I don’t get overwhelmed or overthink different situations—I simply act.
I understand that the only way to overcome fear and build resilience is through action. The opposite of resilience is fear, stagnation, rumination, and anxiety. I’m also a strong proponent of Stoicism as a philosophy. I believe that by practicing principles from Stoic philosophy and cognitive behavioral therapy, you can build even greater resilience. For example, circumstances don’t impact us directly—it’s how we choose to react to situations that matters.
Regarding personal hardships, losing my father at an early age, losing grandparents early in life, witnessing the deaths of friends who passed before turning 30, and experiencing my own health challenges (two heart surgeries and having my heart restarted 10 times) made me realize that life is long if you know how to use it. Accepting and embracing death as part of life was transformative—once you’ve done this, resilience becomes a natural mindset.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
https://www.leadersadapt.com/speaking/
Leadership Advisory and Entrepreneurship Journey
I have lived through the pain and made all the common mistakes that most entrepreneurs make on their first journey. This experience explains why most startups fail within the first couple of years.
I believe many entrepreneurs approach their challenges with a W-2 corporate mindset. They overthink things, fail to take action, and don’t move the needle forward. They spend too much time thinking and aiming in a direction instead of recognizing that they’re already ready to move. They just need to pick one specific direction and then act—action is the only way to progress. You can’t over-educate yourself or think your way there.
In my leadership advisory, I teach both the mindset required to effectively start an entrepreneurial journey and the business strategies, management processes, and procedures that entrepreneurs need to quickly accelerate their businesses and focus on what truly matters. I often say, “Concentrated efforts lead to concentrated results.” Many founders are visionaries who think they can do anything and everything, but if they’re not focused on doing things with a specific purpose, they will struggle.
I am a leadership advisor who works with entrepreneurs at various stages, particularly before they reach eight figures in revenue. I help founder-CEOs get from 7 to 8 figures in revenue, put the right leadership in place, and create an organization where they don’t have to be the chief problem-solver and bottleneck for the entire organization.
In addition to working with founders, I’ve noticed that many of them ask me to help groom or amplify one of their existing executives or vice presidents who has been identified as a rising star or someone with potential to quickly grow into a C-level position. I work with these individuals to prepare them for C-level roles.
Sometimes, I’m also approached by vice presidents who are trying to determine whether they should stay in their current position or move on, whether they’re the right fit for their role, or why they’re not being recognized or promoted. I help them further their careers by shifting from a tactical to a more proactive and strategic mindset, often by increasing their awareness of how they operate and how they help others in their organization.
Typically, these executives need to focus on high-value projects, overcome concerns about delegation, and eliminate fear around hiring people who may be more skilled than they are and grooming them as part of a succession plan. Many vice presidents struggle to delegate and give away authority, which results in them spending too much time being tactical and micromanaging. My approach is that if they work themselves out of a position by building a strong team, the organization will find a new position for them because what all C-level executives look for are leaders who can build autonomous teams and develop people who create growing organizations.
I offer a leadership assessment for vice presidents, directors, and even C-level executives aspiring to CEO positions. I’ve seen the same patterns occur repeatedly, so I created this assessment to provide them with a comprehensive report of what they can do to advance their careers.
Additionally, I run a CEO peer group for those ready to scale their businesses rapidly. This group focuses on ensuring everyone takes action and isn’t just there for networking and socializing. The goal of the CEO peer group is to achieve results, take action, and grow both their businesses and themselves as individuals.
Many existing CEO peer groups lack go-getters; participants may create awareness about issues but don’t take action. In my peer group, members hold each other accountable, and I meet with each person monthly to ensure they’re progressing toward their commitments. I believe it’s extremely important to be part of a CEO peer group, but if you’re in the wrong one, you may actually slow down and find validation for complacency and resistance. I carefully select my peer groups and have left several that weren’t aligned with my personal and business goals.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
# Three Most Impactful Areas in My Journey
I believe the three areas that have been the most impactful in my life and career are:
## 1. Having Mentors, Coaches, and Advisors
Having mentors, coaches, and advisors around me was transformative. They made me hyper-aware of my capabilities and helped channel my skill sets, core values, and strengths toward specific targets. When you’re younger and inexperienced, it’s nearly impossible to see this clearly for yourself.
## 2. Taking Action Despite Insecurities
The second crucial element was taking action. I was an insecure overachiever—another way of saying I had impostor syndrome when I was younger. I’m not entirely sure where this came from, but I believe that having ADHD and struggling with focus sometimes made me stop believing in my own abilities. I didn’t realize how intelligent I was until my mid-20s, as I had been telling myself from an early age that I wasn’t capable of certain things.
I failed high school initially and had to repeat it (you can do that in Sweden). Once I redid it and gained better control of my brain, I delivered much better results—top grades, admission to the right college, and so on.
The key takeaway here is ensuring you take action. The only way to overcome insecurity, self-doubt, and questions of self-worth (with or without ADHD) is by taking action and getting confirmation that you’re capable of accomplishing many things.
I believe every single person on this Earth has a unique ability. Some people go through their entire lifetime before realizing what it is, some never realize it, and some discover it early. Going back to my first point, I had many people around me who recognized my superpowers. Combined with taking action and moving quickly in the direction we collectively saw, I gained results and developed even more self-awareness. When this happens, you begin living with purpose—you see the path and understand what you’re capable of doing. That’s when massive transformation occurs.
The counterpoint to this is that people, especially in the U.S., tend to over-educate themselves. They spend too much time aiming, thinking, analyzing, looping, and experiencing anxiety instead of actually doing. When they fail, they become afraid to try again. The trick is recognizing that rejection and failure are the best teachers—you just have to start again. For some reason, many people in the U.S. don’t do this. In Europe, we have a different problem where people lack compliance because social welfare systems take care of basic needs, so people don’t have to fight as hard.
This is where a coach, mentor, self-awareness, and insights serve you very well because they give you the ability to start that journey yourself. If you don’t have a mentor or coach, start reflecting and listening when positive things happen to better understand your core values. I also have tests available on my Instagram where people can download an ebook called “12 Steps to Finding Your North Star.” If you follow these steps, you can effectively self-mentor and self-coach.
## 3. Divergent Thinking for Problem-Solving
The third thing that has made a massive impact on my career and life is realizing that every single problem has hundreds of solutions. People tend to recognize only the first solution that comes to mind and then get stuck there.
What I’m really talking about is being a divergent or bilateral thinker—having the ability to see multiple or many solutions to the same problem. Most people only have the capacity to see a few alternatives to every problem, but it’s been proven repeatedly that most children have the ability to see many different solutions, to be very creative, and to think divergently at a young age. Unfortunately, the school system tends to teach one problem, one answer, which doesn’t serve you well in adult life.
You need to always ask: What if the opposite is true? What if this isn’t the optimal solution? What if my cognitive bias or stereotyping is wrong? What if my brain is telling me to find the answers I want rather than the better ones?
Taking a step back, sometimes slowing down and thinking about something for just a few more minutes, gives you an opportunity to see things from different angles in complex, high-pressure situations—especially when there are many people, competing wills, and politics involved.
This approach has been valuable in my entrepreneurial journey, giving me the ability to inspect and adapt, which is partly why I named my company “LeaderSet.” I believe people should always be adapting, staying curious, and seeing new perspectives.
I often tell people that you can do the same thing for 10 years and gain only one year of experience. Conversely, you can live one year in a very complex, challenging environment and gain 10 years of experience. If I live to be 100 (though I don’t think I will), I want to have accumulated a thousand years’ worth of knowledge and experiences. I can only achieve this through curiosity, seeing different angles, and living my life enriched by other people’s experiences.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
# How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: Impact and Reflections
I think one of the most important books I have read in the last 5 years is “How to Think Like a Roman Emperor.” It’s a book about Stoicism as a philosophy, interpreting Marcus Aurelius’ learnings. Written by Donald Robertson, who I believe is a cognitive behavioral psychologist, the book explores Marcus Aurelius’ life and applies his philosophy to modern-day society, especially within leadership and self-management.
The chapters cover essential topics such as how to speak wisely, follow your values, conquer desire, tolerate pain, relinquish fear, conquer anger, and face death. I believe that people who haven’t experienced death, true pain, or learned to conquer fear should read this book. Every chapter is filled with valuable learnings, mindsets, and practices that can help you overcome these challenges and become a much more effective person.
I actually gave this book to a 19-year-old, thinking he might not fully understand it from his current perspective. I was partly wrong—he not only understood the book but was able to apply its principles in his startup. I believe this book can be transformative even before your brain fully develops (the frontal cortex continues developing until your mid-20s). It will change how you learn to manage and separate feelings from reality, giving you a deeper understanding of yourself and others around you, and how they are living their lives purposefully or not.
I’ve seen many CEOs who should read this book because they are addicted to dopamine hits from running their businesses. When they don’t get that dopamine hit—perhaps their business, spouse, or other sources fail to provide it—they start making poor decisions, almost as if they want to sabotage themselves just to feel something.
I gave this book to another CEO who was struggling because he wasn’t in love with his wife anymore. I wanted him to understand that before making a rash decision, he needed to recognize that the issue might not be about his wife but rather his understanding of his emotions, desires, and his ability to cope with and relinquish fear. He needed to conquer his desires, which are addressed in chapters from this book.
I’ve given this book to almost every person I’ve coached and mentored. Everyone has their own interpretation of it, which I think is what makes it so amazing—it offers new interpretations of life, mindset, and perspective with each reading. I’ve read it five or six times myself, and every time I discover something new, develop a new reflection, learn something new, or see the world in a different light.
The book has been particularly impactful for me personally because I’ve dealt with significant fear after developing heart issues. I was afraid of having a stroke or dying. This book helped me understand and accept that death is part of life. You need to read such a book and spend time reflecting and meditating on it to truly understand and accept this reality—that death is part of life, and life is long if you know how to use it.
I think many people make their lives very short, mundane, and boring. By reading such a book, you come to accept things differently. Overcoming fear of death was one of the last fears I managed to relinquish over the past 5-6 years. If life ends, life ends, and I know I’ve lived an amazing life. I’m at peace knowing life will continue on this planet, people will be happy, my family will be taken care of, and everything will be fine.
This perspective has also given me focus to live more purposefully, ensuring that when I die, I can leave something for my family so they won’t struggle and can live more comfortably.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.leadersadapt.com/
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- Other: https://www.leadersadapt.com/speaking/
Image Credits
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