Building teams that multiply: Stoic leadership and the art of making people feel special with Yasar Ahmad

In this episode of the Leaders in Talent Podcast, Adriaan Kolff sits down with Yasar Ahmad, one of the most influential voices in global recruitment, for a deep, unfiltered conversation on what actually builds high-performance teams and scalable companies.This is not theory. It’s real leadership under pressure, from bootstrapping and crisis management to culture design, candidate experience, and decision-making frameworks that scale.If you lead people, build companies, or hire talent, this episode is your operating manual.Timecodes:01:22 Introduction: Yasar Ahmad and the conversation ahead02:27 Entrepreneurship, anxiety, and the early years of building a company08:23 Radical transparency and the hardest leadership decisions10:01 When your team comforts you, culture in action11:06 Why your worst employee sets the standard12:22 Yasar’s leadership journey and learning through experience15:09 The 5-minute journal and building self-awareness17:06 Stoicism and controlling what you can control18:40 The Belgian Horse Effect explained20:16 Emotional regulation and leading without whiplash22:04 High standards, North Stars, and continuous development30:23 Decision frameworks and how leaders think under pressure31:56 Mission, values, and culture that actually work36:30 Marketing, content, and experience design in recruiting39:29 Making candidates feel like the main character42:24 How better interviews dramatically improve hiring outcomes45:44 Why words and tone change everything49:43 Recruiting is sales and why that matters51:26 Final reflections and closing thoughts____________Follow Yasar Ahmad:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasarahmad/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Yasar_AhmadTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yasarahmad_Website: https://www.yasarahmad.com/___________________________Connect with Matchr: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matchr/Get in touch with us: https://www.matchr.io/who-we-are/contact/___________________________Connect with Adriaan Kolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriaankolff/___________________________RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/leaders-in-talent/feed.xml___________________________Need a Recruitment Support? Embed Matchr’s expert recruiters directly into your team. Seamless integration for immediate impact on your hiring process.Learn more: https://matchr.io