Skip to main content
Notifications
  • Do you need it as an event organizer?
    ×
  • For Promoting Webinars
    ×
  • Here are tips
    ×
  • For Holding a Perfect Event
    ×
  • Here are the steps you need to follow
    ×
  • Upgrade
  • Blog
  • Login
  • Sign up
  • Speakers
  • Organizers
  • Agencies
  • Events
  • How it works
  • SkillCamp
  1. Home
  2. Find a speaker
  3. Emilia Bunea
Emilia Bunea's cover banner
Gold
Emilia Bunea's picture

Emilia Bunea

PhD
Leadership scholar
VU University Amsterdam
Country or state 
Netherlands
Available to 
Global
Fee 
Languages 
English
Volunteer:
Yes

Personal Details

Bio

Emilia Bunea is an inspiring speaker both for executive and for wider audiences. Her TED talk, “Why leaders should take their leisure seriously”, has been viewed over a million times. In 2021 she wrote and produced the world's first cinematic management case study, "Clara Banu at Crossroads Life", to be used by educators around the world for teaching leadership to executive and MBA audiences. Central among the case materials is "Crossroads Life", a one-hour film that has received numerous film festival awards.

Having spent nearly two decades in the C-suite, as CFO and later CEO in the financial services industry, Emilia is particularly interested in bridging academic and practitioner perspectives on leadership.

Emilia was CEO of Metlife Romania (an operation with 2 million customers) from 2014 to 2017, CFO of ING Insurance Europe (overseeing a $20bn balance sheet) from 2010 to 2014 and held other CEO and CFO positions prior to that. She holds a PhD in management from Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, she is an alumna of the London Business School’s Senior Executive Program and a CFA charterholder. She is currently on the supervisory board of an asset management company.

Emilia's research focuses on the subject of leaders’ passionate hobbies (formally known as “serious leisure”) and she has interviewed numerous CEOs of major corporations.

Emilia’s research has been published in Frontiers of Psychology, was featured by Harvard Business Review, Les Echos, London Business School Review and was widely mentioned in the general press (The Wall Street Journal, GQ, Le Monde, etc).

Current position (3)

Leadership scholar

VU University Amsterdam

Supervisory Board member

Raiffeisen Asset Management Romania

CEO

ed.movie

Degrees (2)
PhD in leadership
VU University Amsterdam
2014 to 2020
Executive MBA
University of Washington, Seattle
1994 to 1996

Presentations

Presentations (4)
"Leisureship": serious leisure as a leadership development asset

A passionate non-work interest can be a great ally in your leadership development and career. Insights from Emilia's research of "serious leisure", as featured in HBR, London Business School Review, Les Echos, Times of India and other.

Target audience: all corporate levels

The present value of charisma, authenticity and inspiration: Leadership for finance professionals

Authentic leadership, storytelling and sense-making are crucial for leaders' progression and have their own special challenges when it comes to finance leaders. Emilia has 12 years experience as CFO, including being responsible for a €18bn balance sheet, and may be the only Chartered Financial Analyst who researches and teaches leadership.

Target audience: finance managers, managers in the investment industry

Authentic leadership and women: so much more to do

A helicopter view on the state of research regarding gender in leadership, combined with insights from interviews with top female leaders and from Emilia's own experience in the C-suite, and with practical strategies for women leaders.

Target audience: women (aspiring) leader networks; general corporate leadership (presentation adapted to a diversity angle); women (aspiring) leaders in finance (presentation adapted to the specific challenges of female leadership in finance).

"Crossroads Life": a real-life leadership journey

What does leadership mean, in a large organization? How do you juggle managing never-ending change projects and delivering day-to-day results? Will “being true to yourself” help or hinder your success once you’ve been promoted? Is being a leader all in the eye of the beholder? The impostor syndrome: something that only happens to others? Is “politics” a dirty word? What are the sources of power in organizations?
You are invited to discuss these and other questions as we plunge into the world’s first cinematic management case: “Crossroads Life”, developed in cooperation with Harvard Business Publishing, based on real events and created with professional actors and an award-winning director.

Workshops (1)
Peak performance leadership
Full day
(View workshop agenda)

Effective leadership means firing on all cylinders. How much under-utilized "fire" is there in you? In this workshop:

Past talks (3)
Up Close with Faculty: Women's leadership
London Business School
London
February 26, 2020
Peak performance leadership
GAIM OPS Conference
Cayman Islands
April 21, 2020
"Leisureship": How serious leisure boosts your leadership
Meltwater Global Leadership Summit
Amsterdam
February 10, 2020
  • All (10)
  • Videos (3)
  • Photos (3)
  • Slides (3)
  • Press information (1)
Why leaders should take their leisure seriously | Emilia Bunea | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool
Dr. Emilia Bunea: Sustainable passion, a key to future-proof leadership.
Intro to Crossroads Life_HEFFI
Warsaw Stock Exchange 2019
Warsaw Stock Exchange 2019
Porto business school 2018
Porto business school 2018
Why CEOs Devote So Much Time to Their Hobbies
Pratiquer un hobby avec passion : un atout pour diriger
London Business School Review article
This speaker hasn't uploaded any one sheet yet.
Media kit

Books & Articles (5)

Why CEOs devote so much time to their hobbies
How athletic hobbies benefit women's leadership
"Grace under pressure": How CEOs use serious leisure to cope with the demands of their job
Pratiquer un hobby avec passion: Un atout pour diriger
Why global managers need passionate hobbies

Expertise (17)

Leadership
Business
Authentic Leadership Executive Development Change Leadership Corporate leadership Strategic Leadership Finance Professionals Future of work Female Leadership Work-Life Balance Finding Passion Corporate Diversity Diversity and Inclusion Ethics Serious leisure CFOs

Clients

Metlife
Meltwater
Coface
CFA Institute

Awards & certifications (2)

CFA charterholder
CFA Institute
2001
Non-Executive Director Diploma
Financial Times
2012

Reviews

Testimonials (1)
  • We invited Emilia to speak at Meltwater's 2020 Global Leadership Summit after seeing her Ted Talk about how leaders benefit from enjoying leisure activities or passions, a topic we found to be very fitting given our audience. Emilia's rare combination of C-suite experience and academic knowledge of the leadership field makes a visible difference from the start. My colleagues found her presentation not only thoroughly entertaining but also deeply thought-provoking. For leadership development seen through an unexpected lens, Emilia is your go-to expert.
    Leor Distenfeld
Recommendations
Why choose me? 

Acclaimed TED speaker and one of very few leadership researchers with experience as a corporate CEO.

Social media
Affiliations
Society Speaker Directory
Similar to Emilia
  • Mike Evans's picture
    Mike
    Evans
    Speaker/Author
    Mike Evans
  • Jeremy Brown's picture
    Jeremy
    Brown
    Director, Open Innovation Labs - EMEA
    Red Hat
  • Andrea Paul, MD's picture
    Andrea
    Paul, MD
    Public Speaker, Founder
    Andrea Paul, MD
  • Libby Cole's picture
    Libby
    Cole
    Owner, Certified Coach, Speaker
    Expand Coaching and Consulting, LLC
  • Professor Samson Williams's picture
    Professor Samson
    Williams
    Professor
    University of New Hampshire
  • Speakers
  • Agencies
  • Events
  • How it works
  • Blog
  • Upgrade
  • Podcast
  • About us
  • Organizers
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy policy
  • FAQ
  • API
  • White Label Terms
  • Contact
  • Corporate Speakers Bureau & CRM
  • Motivational speakers
  • Leadership speakers
  • Business speakers
  • Inspirational speakers
  • Keynote speakers
  • Corporate speakers
  • Celebrity speakers
  • Top 50 Business Speakers
  • Top 50 Leadership Speakers
  • Top 50 Motivational Speakers
  • Top 50 Technology Speakers

Get speaking tips & so much more!

Twice a month we send you speaking tips, training ideas and lots of useful updates.

© 2022 SpeakerHub
All rights reserved.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • SoundCloud
Developed by Integral Vision