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Speaker · CEO · Talent Advisor

Talent isn't retained. It's cultivated.

Toxic culture pushes out talent 10 times more than salary does. (MIT Sloan Management Review)

This is about what to do on Monday morning, for CEOs and founders who are done winging it.

Start the journey Let's talk
Profile
Corporations suffocate in bureaucracy. Startups burn out in chaos. The problem is rarely strategy; it's the soil your team grows in.

I help you prepare the ground. I'm Manu Soriano, Speaker, CEO and Advisor with more than 20 years transforming organizations through human talent.

Manu Soriano — Speaker and Advisor
Manu Soriano Speaker · CEO · Advisor
W Executive España View profile on LinkedIn
Since 2008 Leading high-performance teams
+250 Professionals developed
ES · TR International experience
+10,000 Executives interviewed
~20,000 LinkedIn community
Top Voice LinkedIn · 2025
Methodology

The cultivator's process

Five tools, one system. From alignment before you hire to an employer brand you can actually prove. This is what I work on with you on Monday morning.

01
The 3 Ps, in short
Manu Soriano · In Spanish

Crecer bien es disfrutar del camino

Business, Leader and Person, in short. Spoken in Spanish.

Seeds

The 3 P Map. Alignment before you hire. "They join aligned, or they don't join. Gut feel is not a hiring strategy."

The 3 Ps · Aligned purposes

Business: what problem we solve and for whom Leader: how I lead, what's non-negotiable Person: what they want to build over the next 3 years
02

Soil

The Reality Contract. The culture that happens when nobody's watching. "Most bad exits started as bad entries."

The 3 components · 30/60/90 days

Results: what's expected, when and how Real competencies: which behaviors actually work here Promotion and Exit: clear terms to move up and to move on
03

Water

The Rewards Loom. Emotional salary isn't perks: it's a weave of 5 levers × 3 levels. "Nail the Hygiene and lean into your Cultural Signature."

The 5 levers × 3 levels

Levers: Compensation · Benefits · Wellbeing · Recognition · Development Hygiene: market fairness, the bare minimum Differentiation: attracting the specific profile Cultural Signature: what ONLY you do
04

Journey

Four seasons. 1,000 days. "Design a journey, not a tenure. Move your talent before they move on."

The 3 milestones of the cycle

Day 1, Landing: clear expectations, Contract signed Day 100, Rhythm: first results and real feedback Day 1,000, Reinvention: a new cycle, mobility or a clean exit
05

Light

Provable Storytelling. "Your employer brand isn't your website, it's your repeated behavior. If it can't be checked in an interview or a reference, it isn't your story. It's advertising."

The story in 4 acts

Real origin: the concrete problem you saw, no myths The hard call: what you sacrificed for consistency How work happens here: 3 observable behavioral norms The proof: a ritual or data point that backs it up
Ecosystem

The branches of the tree

Speaker & Keynotes

Talks on leadership, organizational culture and talent for corporate events, conferences and high-level forums.

Book a talk →

Advisor

For CEOs and founders of small and mid-sized companies who feel talent no longer stays for the money. I don't sell recipes. I ask the questions no one on their board dares to ask them.

Let's work together →

Library & Podcast

The Between the Lines newsletter, the Echoes of Leadership podcast and the knowledge library on talent and leadership.

Explore the content →
Newsletter · Between the Lines

The Library

Knowledge isn't stockpiled. It's cultivated. 64 editions on leadership, talent and culture. No algorithms. You choose what to read.

Closing a chapter
Personal

Closing a chapter

 Closing the year is finding your north again
Personal

Closing the year is finding your north again

 Be water, my friend
AI

Be water, my friend

 What really drives a career
Personal

What really drives a career

 What if putting yourself out there wasn't vanity?
Leadership

What if putting yourself out there wasn't vanity?
64 editions 28 months 13 topics
Explore the full library →
YouTube · Manu Soriano

Cultivate Talent on video

Talks, recorded keynotes and reflections on leadership and high-performance teams. View the full channel →

Echoes of Leadership
How to Adapt Your Talent Attraction to a Competitive Market
#37   Talent

How to Adapt Your Talent Attraction to a Competitive Market

 How to Compete in AI and Scale with Culture and Team
#36   AI

How to Compete in AI and Scale with Culture and Team

 Why Leaders Who Listen to Their Body Make Better Decisions
#35   Wellbeing

Why Leaders Who Listen to Their Body Make Better Decisions

 What Nobody Explains About the Financial Sector
#34   Investing

What Nobody Explains About the Financial Sector

 The Real Value of the Headhunter: People Before Revenue
#33   Headhunting

The Real Value of the Headhunter: People Before Revenue

 All episodes
31 episodes View all →
31 episodes Leadership · Talent · Culture
View all episodes →
Keynotes & Conferences

Talks that move the room

From boardrooms to packed auditoriums. Strategic rigor with real stories. I don't talk about leadership from theory: I've lived it.

01

The power of passion:
turning energy into impact

How to turn personal energy into collective momentum and measurable results.

Personal leadership
02

Cultivate talent:
the new code of leadership

From "retain" to "cultivate": culture, trust and purpose as a competitive edge.

Talent Cultivation
03

Purpose recharged:
the personal transformation that drives the leader

Consistency, habits and meaning to inspire high-performance teams.

Executive development
04

The visible CEO:
influence and talent attraction in the digital age

Strategy, narrative and presence to build trust and attract talent.

Personal brand
05

From zero to culture:
how to scale a business without losing its soul

The keys to growing fast without losing purpose or culture.

Scaling & culture
06

The 5 Tools
to Cultivate Talent instead of retaining it

Seeds, Soil, Water, Journey and Light: the complete system for cultivating teams that grow from within.

The Cultivate Talent system

Organizing an event and looking for a talk on leadership or talent? Let's talk →

Manu on stage
Manu Soriano giving a talk Talent in Company Award Manu Soriano speaking on a panel at a conference Poster of the 16th Caja Viva Business + Finance Congress with Manu Soriano as speaker
Manu in action
Top Human Leader 2023 Passion as the engine of Talent — Top Human Leader 2023

Passion as the engine of Talent

Top Human Leader 2023 Award · View certificate →

Frequently asked questions

What people ask me most

Who is Manu Soriano?

CEO and founding partner of W Executive España, the Iberian arm of the European W group. Beyond running an executive search firm, I work in human capital: I help CEOs and leadership teams design how they cultivate the talent they already have and the talent they need to attract. I've spent more than 20 years in the sector, first at Michael Page (Madrid, Barcelona, Istanbul) and since 2022 at the head of W. I'm a regular speaker on talent, culture and leadership, author of the Between the Lines of Leadership newsletter and host of the Echoes of Leadership podcast. LinkedIn Top Voice 2025.

What is Cultivate Talent and how is it different from traditional talent management?

Cultivate Talent is the thesis I work from: talent isn't retained, it's cultivated. Retention is a cage; cultivation is a system. Traditional management focuses on holding people in place; Cultivate Talent focuses on creating the conditions for them to flourish. It comes together in five concrete tools: Seeds (alignment before you hire), Soil (the reality contract), Water (the rewards loom), Journey (the seasons of talent across 1,000 days) and Light (provable storytelling).

What does a talent advisor like Manu Soriano do for a CEO?

I work with the CEO on the talent decisions that move the P&L, not the ones that only move the org chart. I diagnose the real culture (the one that happens when nobody's watching), design the cultivation system (the five tools applied to your business) and work with you on what you're going to do on Monday morning. I don't show up with a generic deck; I show up with a plan that survives Monday.

What kind of companies does Manu Soriano work with?

I mostly work with three profiles: CEOs and founders of small and mid-sized companies who have left founder mode and need the team to sustain the growth; HR directors and VPs who need tools and arguments to take to the board; and C-suite executives (CEO, COO, CHRO, CFO), whether they're firmly in their role or weighing a move.

What does Manu Soriano speak about in his keynotes?

I give talks to CEOs on why toxic culture pushes out talent 10 times more than salary does, and what to do on Monday morning to reverse it. My three pillars are: Cultivate Talent (versus retaining), leadership in moments of transition (mergers, successions, AI, market shifts) and culture as a competitive advantage (culture isn't implemented, it's cultivated, and it moves the P&L).

How do you book Manu Soriano for a keynote or event?

Through the contact form on this site (the Let's talk section). Tell me the date, the format (in person or online), the type of audience and, if you can, the angle you want me to take. If the event fits my schedule and the topics I work on, I'll get back to you with availability and a proposal within a few days.

What is the Between the Lines of Leadership newsletter?

It's my biweekly newsletter on culture, talent and leadership. More than 60 editions published and +4,500 subscribers. The format isn't academic: I take a reference from film, books or pop culture, cross it with a real business situation and pull out a lesson you can actually apply. It's all archived and searchable by topic in the Library section of this site.

Where can you listen to the Echoes of Leadership podcast?

On YouTube, Spotify and all the usual podcast platforms. More than 30 episodes published, with long conversations with CEOs, founders and talent leaders in Spain. The full episodes with summaries and platform links are in the Episodes section of this site.

Contact

Let's plant a
seed together

If you want to talk about a keynote, an advisory engagement or simply explore whether it makes sense to work together, drop me a line. I usually reply within 48 hours.