1. LEADERS
on
By Chris Surel
Partner
Dr. Tobias Silberzahn
#002

2. At A Glance
Tobias

3. LEADERS
on
Please rotate
your phone
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4. “I lost several family members to cancer. Based on
this experience and my background in biomedical
research, I have dedicated my career to advancing
'healthcare innovation' for the benefit of patients
and health systems.”
> Partner of McKinsey & Company
Strategic, digital and organizational work with pharma and medical device
companies, digital health companies and ministries of health
> Leader of the global Health Tech Network
A community of > 400 digital health companies and
> Host of the MedTech R&D Industry Roundtable
> Lives in Berlin, Germany

5. My Favorite…
BOOK PLAYLIST APP
Spotify Discover Weekly
Jan Blomqvist
Various meditation apps.
Particularly “Metta meditation” as
I love the positive mindset
it fosters.

6. How I Work
01

7. My Typical Work Day
WORK TIME MEETINGS/CALLS 15-20
E-MAILS >150
FOCUS TIME (NO MEETINGS/ EMAILS/ CALLS) 60m
(MICRO) BREAKS 5-10It varies
08:00 AM
LUNCH
12:30 – 13:00 PM
(sharp)
varies

8. How I Stay Focused
> Regular stretches, to counteract being hunched in front of
the computer
> Doing 1-2 calls per day while walking outside (I try to take
about 15,000 steps per day)
> Short breaks (1 minute) throughout the day to do breathing
exercises to activate the parasympathetic nervous system

9. Me and my Phone
HOW I SWITCH OFF DISTRACTIONS
To be honest, I am not very good at switching off distractions...
07:45AM
1st CHECK
22:45PM
LAST CHECK
Saturday
Sunday
Vacation
Office Hours
ALWAYS
ON
SOMETIMES
OFF

10. How I Travel (forBusiness)
# TRIPS/YEAR
150
ON A PLANE/TRAIN I TYPICALLY
REST WORK
MY TRAVEL KIT ESSENTIALSMODE OF TRANSPORT
10% 80% 10%
> Photos of my wife and kids
> Sleep mask and ear plugs
> Vitamin D (wintertime), multivitamin, minerals

11. How I Recharge
02

12. WHEN did you start
caring about
recovery and WHY?
I started caring about stress management about
5 years ago. I realized that I had a wonderful
life, family and job, work on things I really care
about, but felt quite stressed on a day-to-day
level.
I started with meditation, then improved my
sleep habits and increased the amount of deep
sleep I got per night.Afterwards, I experimented
with nutrition and am very happy with my low-
carbohydrate diet and intermittent feeding
(formerly known as intermittent fasting) during
the week. On Saturdays and Sunday afternoon,
I have my “cheat days“ when I eat tons of ice-
cream with my kids.
Chris
Tobias
Tobias

13. How I Switch OFF
Meditation and breathing exercises - in particular
"metta meditation" where I meditate with a mindset
of gratefulness and positivity. There is so much to
be grateful for... this really helps me to switch off the
little worries and focus on the bigger picture.

14. And Recharge My Batteries
For years, I really struggled with recharging my batteries. I was brought up with the principle
that you first finish your work and then you relax. But what if - at least in my perception - work
never ends?
In the past, this meant that I worked very long hours, slept too little, felt bad the next day and
so on. When I looked into the topic from a scientific perspective (I am a biochemist by training),
I found out that lack of sleep directly correlates with anxiety.
A real vicious cycle…

15. And Recharge My Batteries
I broke the vicious cycle by increasing my deep sleep (with sleep masks, ear plugs etc.) and
the amount of sleep I get (increasing my sleep in increments of 15 mins over the course of
several months).
Today I sleep a bit more than 7 hours on average with a healthy amount of deep sleep. It´s
incredible how this change has paid dividends: I am a happier person, a better husband and
father – and more successful at work.

16. How I Sleep
7h 30m
11:30 PM
07:00 AM
WEEK WEEKEND
9h 30m
MY #1 SLEEP TIP
“Stopping to eat at 8:00 PM and switching off by reading a book and
thinking about what you are grateful for looking back at the day."
MY MORNING ROUTINE
• Warm shower with
gratefulness practices
• 2m cold shower with
breathing exercises
(Wim Hof)
• 1 minute yoga stretches
11:30 PM
09:00
AM

17. How I Eat
BREAKFAST
-
LUNCH
12:30PM
DESCRIPTION
• Salmon (fried or smoked)
• Fried egg & bacon
• Raw vegetables (avocado, carrots,
tomato, pepper, cucumber)
DINNER
19:30PM
DESCRIPTION
• Cheese
• Fish
• Meat
• Raw vegetables (avocado, carrots,
tomato, pepper, cucumber)
MY #1 NUTRITION TIP
“For me, it was a real revelation when I cut down on sugar and carbohydrates. I suddenly had so much
more energy during the day, felt less tired in the afternoon, was more concentrated.”
DESCRIPTION
• I do "intermittent feeding" and eat only
between 12 and 8 PM.
• As such, I have a large glass of water
and a cup of coffee for breakfast.

18. My Typical Weekend
1h00m
SATURDAY
WORK
REST
> Spend time with my
wife and kids
> Go for a run
> Book a massage
2h00m
SUNDAY
> Going out with my 2
small kids
> Visit the many lakes
outside of Berlin

19. My Vacation
TOP 3 ACTIVITIESFREQUENCY & LENGTH
“We are explorers... we haven't gone
to the same place twice.”
3
Weeks
2
Weeks
1
Week
< 1
Week
Vacations Per Year
4+
Weeks
1x
1-2x
• Playing with my wife and kids
• Sitting in the sun and reading a book
• Enjoying local food and wine
FAVORITE PLACE
2x

20. My Tracking
MY DAILY DATA
CHECK
• Total sleep (aim >7 hours)
• Deep sleep (aim 90 minutes)
• Lowest heart rate during the night
• Heart rate variability
• Body temperature during the night*
• Steps during the day
*this gives me an early indication that I might be getting ill – important info when you have two kids that bring home all sort of infections from kindergarten)

21. Recovery in Business
03

22. How Important is Recovery For
Being a Great Leader?
NOT
IMPORTANT
RATHER
IMPORTANT
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
VERY
IMPORTANT

23. My #1 Advice
For People Working in High-Stress Environments to Sustain Their
Energy, Performance, Health & Happiness…
Well, I am still on my own journey
towards greater wellbeing and
happiness and keep discovering new
things. As such, I feel there are better
people to give advice. I can just share
the 4 things that helped me most:

24. My #1 Advice - 1/4
For me, it was really important to spend time and think
about "my purpose" in life. A particularly strong trigger to do
this was a few years ago, when within 2 years my father
passed away and my son and my daughter were born. This
felt as if my life had reached "half-time": The first half of my
life, I had a father. The second half of my life, I now am a
father myself. This made me think about what I find
meaningful and what kind of person (and father) I want to
be.
The result of this process was that I am dedicating my
career to healthcare innovation. And I try to be a modest,
kind, positive and respectful person each single day... that's
the intention I set each morning during my breathing
exercises.

25. My #1 Advice - 2/4
Being focused on keeping two small children alive,
my wife and I realized a few years ago that our
marriage had become quite "operational" as we were
focused on children and work most of the time. It was
a real breakthrough for us when we spent a week
with Robert Gass and Judith Ansara at a couple's
retreat that helped us see ourselves as two
individuals and our marriage as a "sacred third" that
needs love and attention from both of us. From that
moment onwards, we have spent one week just the
two of us each year to be fully there for each other
and ensure that we grow as a couple.

26. My #1 Advice - 3/4
As a fact-based scientist, I found it
very helpful to get myself a
tracker/wearable (see above) that
helps me understand my body, how I
react to stress, alcohol, bad food
etc.

27. My #1 Advice - 4/4
Finally, I found it very helpful to get into meditation to
understand my emotions and bodily sensations (which I
had pretty much ignored for years). It was an eye-opener
to be "present" with myself when I was stressed: I learned
to distinguish between my thoughts/story in my head, the
underlying emotions (for example, anxiety) and the bodily
sensations that came with these emotions (for example, a
tense "knot" in my stomach).
Being aware of these things increases the likelihood that I
am able to make conscious decisions in difficult situations
instead of being triggered, responding on autopilot and
regretting my behaviour afterwards.

28. How We Help
Our Employees
Sustain Their
Energy, Health &
Wellbeing
We have a program called "MyExperience"
that helps colleagues to "be at their best".
It includes most of the things
related to health and wellbeing in the
workplace: Purpose, sleep, fitness, nutrition
and stress management. I am honoured to
lead this program for McKinsey Germany
and see the positive impact this program has
on individual colleagues and the company
as a whole.

29. What’s your #1
advice to your
25-year old
self?
If you work hard, are
modest, kind and helpful,
good things will happen
almost automatically.
At least that's my
experience so far...
Chris
Tobias
Tobias
Do more of the things that
make you happy!

30. Thank you for sharing your valuable
insights Tobias
Chris

31. Tag someone
who’ll find this
valuable and a
leader you want
to see here next.