Leading with Empathy and Accountability: Vanan Murugesan
“JUST SIT FOR 15 SECONDS AND LET YOURSELF WIN.”
Episode Description
In this episode of Leadership Matters, Vanan Murugesan, Executive Director of Sahan Journal, joins host Kaylee Thomsen to unpack servant leadership, responsibility, and what it means to lead with humanity. Vanan shares how Spider-Man’s “great power” lesson shaped his view of privilege and duty, and why leadership is an everyday practice – not a single test. They discuss balancing empathy with accountability, setting high expectations, and building teams on shared experience. Vanan also opens up about quiet self-doubt, the “15-second” practice of celebrating wins, and a COVID-era moment that reshaped how he thinks about fairness, work, and community hope. The conversation closes with a powerful Jürgen Klopp quote on helping people feel valued, respected, and needed.
“To create a situation where everybody feels important, enjoys themselves, knows their jobs, feels respected and feels needed – that’s how life should be.” -Jürgen Klopp
Photo: Stepro, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2022-07-21_Fu%C3%9Fball,_M%C3%A4nner,Freundschaftsspiel,_RB_Leipzig_-_FC_Liverpool_1DX_2243_by_Stepro.jpg
Chapters
- 00:00 Intro: Meet Vanan Murugesan
- 02:22 Spider-Man and the Meaning of Responsibility
- 04:21 The Daily Grind of Meeting Expectations
- 05:37 Why Servant Leadership Fits Him
- 07:41 Leaders Who Shaped His Approach
- 10:35 The Shift From Making Things Happen to Building the Platform
- 11:17 What Executive Coaching Has Taught Him
- 13:43 Balancing Empathy With High Expectations
- 16:40 Solving Problems Together, Not Alone
- 18:09 The Jürgen Klopp Leadership Quote
- 22:03 Why He Forgets to Celebrate Wins
- 24:16 Asking for Help to Notice What He's Missing
- 24:33 Learning Something From Every Person He's Managed
- 27:06 Stepping Into the Executive Director Role
- 29:44 The Inner Voice That Says "Not Good Enough"
- 31:20 Learning to Sit With a Win for 15 Seconds
- 33:48 Passing the Lesson On to His Kids
- 36:41 What Gives Him Hope Right Now
- 39:01 A Defining Moment at North Market During COVID
- 42:49 Privilege, Luck, and the Responsibility of Leaders
More In The Series
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