#117 The Power of Diversity with Bjorn Ekelund

A key aspect of Leadership is realizing that you cannot be in every detail of a project for your organization. Instead, you have to trust your team to run experiments, fail often and quickly and provide you with feedback of what is working and sometimes more importantly, what’s not working. So, how do you let go of being in control of all the details? What ingredients are needed to create a culture of collective responsibility instead of control?Today Deepa speaks with Jan Gilg about the limits of a controlling culture. Jan tells us how we can create empowered workplaces that build trust and growth for all.Jan’s Tips for Avoiding Control Culture:Clarity is key. Give your employees the freedom to make decisions. Giving them this environment lets them get out of their comfort zone and grow. Stay away from the “how”.Over communicate with team members. Give boundaries and set up the right framework.Fail often, fail early is a key philosophy, not only in the Technology industry.Total consensus is not the goal in projects.As a leader- the more concerns you can hear, the better.Vulnerability is needed for all of these aspects of a product: running experiments, having feedback sessions and how things are going, and there is a sounding board as well. Articulate a clear vision and strategy in addition to acknowledging nothing is going to be perfect. Create the safety to have open communication, including challenges. This creates collective responsibility in the system.It’s important to acknowledge and accept the realities of the world and life. We need to give employees more flexibility.You have to take time to create team spirit which builds collaboration and connection. Everyone needs to feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves, make sure you connect your people to that purpose and vision which will unlock potential and motivation. This creates amazing things.We hope you liked this episode! Let us know, what’s a piece of advice from Jan that you’d like to start incorporating in your organization?Please feel free to connect with Jan and Deepa through LinkedIn to continue the conversation.About JanJan Gilg is President and Chief Product officer of SAP S/4HANA, which is SAP’s flagship product that encompasses ERP, finance, and supply chain. In this role he has global responsibility for the development, delivery, and product management of SAP S/4HANA, SAP’s Industry solutions, as well as the Digital Supply Chain portfolio. He is a cloud evangelist, a customer advocate and a business problem solver.  He is based in Walldorf Germany, but lived in the US for many years.Thanks for listening and stay cool! Visit the show website at (http://www.meetmypotential.com)Follow Deepa on LinkedIn...

Have you ever felt a disconnect between who you are outside of work and who you are at the workplace? Have you ever felt like you can’t be with the politics and the way restructuring and tough decisions are made inside your organizations? Today Deepa speaks with Anjana Sivakumar about authentic Leadership. Anjana has real tactical advice that you can start to use immediately. These are things they don’t teach you in business school!Anjana’s Tips for Authentic Leadership:Authentic Leadership starts with knowing who you are and having a good sense of your personal values. You have to feel comfortable in your own skin. And this comes across in every role you have - be it Executive, parent or child, volunteer.How to stay true to yourself while dealing with sensitive information at work and dealing with colleagues/friends.Don’t feel like you need to stay in a rigid box in a Leadership role. Bring your personality to the role.Being Authentic builds trust and connection. Acknowledge the uncomfortable or hard things. Don’t go easy and blame another person, own your mistakes. We lose a lot of time doing impression management and stressing over these situations!Communicate organizational changes and then listen to others as they go through their emotions.We hope you liked this episode! Let us know - what’s hard about being authentic in your Leadership role? Do you feel comfortable enough to be human? Please feel free to connect with Anjana and Deepa through LinkedIn to continue the conversation.About Anjana Anjana Sivakumar is a dynamic HR executive with over 20 years of experience across various industries. She has worked with C-suite and senior leaders in numerous global organizations, both large and small. Her experience spans various facets of HR, from talent and leadership development to operating model and organizational design to DEI strategy development and implementation.Thanks for listening and stay cool! Visit the show website at (http://www.meetmypotential.com)Follow Deepa on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepanatarajan/)

As a highly driven person, you are so good at problem solving. And most likely, you have been promoted again and again because you get things done, you achieve and solve the problems at hand. But at a certain point, these problem solving traits do not help you get to the next level. So, are you ready to take your leadership to the next level? Today Deepa speaks with Tony Stead from Airbus Defence and Space about stepping into Leadership. It’s important to acknowledge the different mindset that is needed between management and leadership - leadership requires letting go and building collective responsibility. Let’s move from management into leadership!Tony’s Tips for Stepping into Leadership:As a manager, you can be great at all the doing, problem-solving. Leadership is more about stepping back and reflecting - seeing the whole picture. When you are growing within your company, the way to stand out is to deliver results. When you are promoted to a higher leader, you have to focus less on delivering as an individual and focus more on the bigger picture and delegating to your team. Leadership is about letting go.Leaders need to focus on the problems of tomorrow instead of problems of today. Making the transition from management to leadership is much like going from a parent to a grandparent. Leadership is about finding the needle in the haystack. It isn’t about knowing everything. You can’t lead with buzz words. You will lose connection with your team.We hope you liked this episode! Let us know - where are you getting stuck between moving from management to leadership? And where are you succeeding at becoming a leader? Please feel free to connect with Tony and Deepa through LinkedIn to continue the conversation.About Tony Tony Stead is currently based in Munich working for Airbus Defence and Space. He has been working within the Middle East and Europe for the last 15 years. He focuses on the agility of the team, the agility of the business and the agility of the project to improve our operational effectiveness and ways of engaging the stakeholder community. Tony is also a Fellow at the Institute of Leadership and Management.Thanks for listening and stay cool! Visit the show website at (http://www.meetmypotential.com)Follow Deepa on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepanatarajan/)

Have you ever been in a meeting thinking, “I have the best idea - no one else’s even comes close to mine”?Then this episode is for you! Today Deepa speaks with Bjorn Ekelund about diversity and the need for all perspectives to be shared by everyone on the team and organization. We tend to believe our own thoughts and processes are the right way, but it is so important to hear from everyone and get curious about ideas and structures. Bjorn’s Tips for Diversity Ice-Breaking:It’s difficult to discuss cultural differences because it is so much a part of our identity. Culture is not only a personal matter; it is important to business.We have been given a certain structure for how to succeed at life through our upbringing and culture. Every person is unique.Diversity Icebreaker is about getting a group together to recognize differences and our own processes. Many times what happens is the participants realize it is very easy to have an individual think their way is better than another person’s way. The process brings awareness and consciousness to each person so that going forward they will acknowledge another person’s idea differently.We need all perspectives, this is a level set for the icebreaker. It creates understanding and respect for the team. It creates psychological safety.Go find someone that you disagree with and talk through the topic with openness and curiosity. Managers and Team Leaders who expect the unexpected will make the best leaders. Listening is a powerful tool.We hope you liked this episode! Take the challenge this week and go find someone to disagree with. The point of this conversation is to get curious about their different viewpoints rather than arguing who is right and who is wrong. Be open to learning something new!Please feel free to connect with Bjorn and Deepa through LinkedIn to continue the conversation.About Bjorn Bjorn Ekelund is a psychologist with over 25 years experience. He is most known for creating the Diversity Icebreaker – a concept that combines assessment of cognitive styles with an experiential learning seminar. Besides running his own companies, he has been lecturing at management schools in organizational psychology and international management. Learn more about Diversity Icebreaker here - https://diversityicebreaker.com/. Thanks for listening and stay cool! Visit the show website at (http://www.meetmypotential.com)Follow Deepa on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepanatarajan/)

Is your organization looking to build and sustain an innovative growth culture? What is holding you back from fully embracing this change?Today Deepa speaks with Tobias Klein about the essential shift organizations and senior leaders need to make this culture change happen. It is not sufficient enough to only build an organization with knowledge and expertise. So what else is needed?Tobias’ Tips for Making the Essential Shift:It’s time to take a look at the inner game of leadership.Cultivating a culture of failure is key. The point is not about failure, it is about how you move forward from the failure.Organizations need to take a look at how they measure success and how they reward their employees.Societal norms have set us up to have to finish what we start - but it is necessary to evaluate when is it time for something to stop, to come to an end.You cannot do everything at once, everything cannot be the priority.The top level leadership should take the time to ask and listen to their bottom levels. Empower the younger employees to be creative and innovative. Don’t be afraid of trying new things.Critically look at your recruiting approach. What values are you looking for and what is missing from your current team? It’s important to have shared values.Everybody is better than you at one thing. This is a great way to embrace and include everyone on your team. We hope you liked this episode! Let us know - what are the values that your leadership team shares? When was the last time you spoke about your organization’s values? It’s so important to be on the same page. Please feel free to connect with Tobias and Deepa through LinkedIn to continue the conversation.About TobiasTobias Klein is a Chief People & Culture Officer at SEBA Bank. He has full accountability for building, maintaining and continuously improving the entire HR Life Cycle. He has implemented objectives and key results as one of the 1st financial institutions in Switzerland. He believes to win the marketplace, you have to first win the workplace.Thanks for listening and stay cool! Visit the show website at (http://www.meetmypotential.com)Follow Deepa on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepanatarajan/)

Leaders are often judged by their decision-making. So, how do you make better decisions? Is there a formula to making better decisions? Today Deepa speaks with David Siegel, author of Decide and Conquer, where he offers three main principles for better decision making. David’s Tips for Making Better Decisions:Not making a decision is actually still making a decisionCulture matters, don’t ignore behaviors.Don’t only make decisions based on tangible items. There can be a lack of accountability around toxicity. Be kind and nice as a leader! You can be nice and clear. Surround yourself with people who will disagree with you. This will ultimately lead to a better decision. Make sure you ask your team to disagree with you before the meeting. Repeat the same message many times in order to change your organization’s culture.Embrace optionality - think about what options you can give yourself based on the decisions you make.Be careful when decisions are made by your ego. Be willing to share about your mistakes and failures. Remember that being vulnerable as a leader will make you a better decision maker, which will lead to becoming a better leader. The vulnerable leader creates a culture of learning and developing by being open about their own failures and successes. We hope you liked this episode! Let us know - what’s the hardest part of making a decision for you? Please feel free to connect with David and Deepa through LinkedIn to continue the conversation.About DavidDavid Siegel is the Chief Executive Officer of MeetUp, with 20+ years’ dramatically growing revenue and profit in digital media, subscriptions and e-commerce. He has recently authored Decide and Conquer. He is a motivational leader with full decision-making and P&L ownership. His experience includes M&A, turnarounds, scaling operations and growing post startup phase. David is a Management Professor at Columbia and has an MBA from The Wharton School. Thanks for listening and stay cool! Visit the show website at (http://www.meetmypotential.com)Follow me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepanatarajan/)

Change agents can be a buzzword, and you may want to be one. But have you ever thought about how humans have acted as agents of change towards this planet? Instead of listening to nature and letting it show us the best way, we have created and controlled nature. Now shift this metaphor to you and your organization. Are you taking responsibility for your development? What would it look like if the collective group allowed you to figure out the best way for you to grow? What does it mean to shift from being Agents of Change to Stewards of Change? This is a paradigm shift. How can we unfold the potential within each of us? Listen to this conversation with Trevor Comyn and Deepa to start exploring these ideas. Trevor’s Tips for Rewilding Leadership:Rewilding Leadership is a metaphor taken from agriculture. It is a concept to play with.Instead of bending nature to our will, we can become stewards and allow nature to show us the way. This is believing and trusting in the cyclic nature of life.  In this stewardship model, ownership is taken by the individual and collective responsibility is in the system. Before starting development, it is important to start with why. Why are we developing? Instead of focusing on the problem, focus on the shift needed in the person.It is important for everyone to feel psychological safety in order to encourage personal development within an organization.Collective learning is the key to sustain change and keep accountability. Becoming a part of a community that has a shared goal is the best way to grow. We can read all of the books and articles on developing leadership, but until you start an open conversation with others you won’t be able to fully integrate all of your learning. You are part of this learning community, thank you for listening and please let us know how we can best support you.We hope you liked this episode! Please feel free to connect with Trevor and Deepa through LinkedIn to continue the conversation.About TrevorTrevor Comyn is the Director of Knowledge, Learning and Development at Mills and Reeve, where he has been for over 16 years. He is currently focused on developing a deeper understanding of adult development theory. Trevor is a systemic coach and believes team coaching can deliver meaningful results for both organizations and individuals.Thanks for listening and stay cool! Visit the show website at (http://www.meetmypotential.com)Follow me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepanatarajan/)

Have you ever heard of the idea to have people stand on airplanes instead of being seated? Does that sound crazy to you? Do you immediately think that is not possible? Well don’t jump to that conclusion yet.Today Erwin De beuckelaer joins Deepa to discuss innovation, change and challenging assumptions. Every team and organization needs to set the right foundation for innovation to happen - this includes psychological safety, setting the right candor and being explicit about critiques on the idea instead of on the person. Erwin shares his best practices for engaging with innovation from his experience.Erwin’s tips for Innovation and Change:It can be hard to bring change to highly regulated areas, but also the most rewarding.Signaling is a great tool when bringing up new ideas. Frame the conversation of innovation to your audience. You are signaling the type of responses you want to receive.Every belief about if an idea will work or won’t work is an assumption. It is important to test assumptions. Testing an assumption will then offer a shared belief in your team.There should be a story that is told with innovation and new changes within the business. You have to know the very clear “why” in the change and how the “why” changes at every level of the organization.It’s easy to think of innovation in terms of products. Don’t forget that innovation can be applied to culture and team management too. Teams can get stuck doing the same thing, don’t be afraid to check in with your team and see what’s working or not working. Find something to test together as a team!Give yourself permission to innovate - it’s easy to get caught in perceived barriers.Signaling can be a powerful tool for you to create breakthroughs in your ecosystem. You and your crazy ideas are needed, don’t give up. If you need a place to start your innovation, pick up a paper and pen and answer this question, “What would I do if I gave myself full permission?”. Set a timer for 10 minutes and see what you come up with! We hope you liked this episode! Please feel free to connect with Erwin and Deepa through LinkedIn to continue the conversation.About ErwinErwin De beuckelaer is a guest professor at the University College of Ghent and the Director of Innovative Capabilities at The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. He is transforming innovative practice and culture for the Quality & Compliance in Clinical Trials team. He is an expert in design thinking, digital health, strategy definition and business process management. Thanks for listening and stay cool! Visit the show website at (http://www.meetmypotential.com)Follow me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepanatarajan/)

It is the beginning of a new year and the perfect time to reflect on the way you lead. As you move forward into 2022, let’s make sure you are thinking about being strategic in your leadership.Today Victoire de Lajudie joins Deepa to discuss - what is a strategic leader exactly and how do you keep your strategy alive throughout the year.Victoire’s tips for being a strategic leader:Being a leader is being strategic. Make sure you think about your strategy before diving into a project.Leaders should: learn fast, fail fast, and have empathy.Learning includes curiosity and pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.A mission can be short–term. The most important piece is for everyone to know and stay connected to why they are working on the project.Creating a vision needs a team, it is a collective responsibility. Dream big and don’t get stuck wondering “how”.Ask questions to keep your organization on track for culture change and strategy.Challenge the stories and assumptions that run your organization.Vulnerability is needed for connection and connection fuels collective work.What practices do you put into place to reflect on your goals? Do you write in your journal or have an accountability partner? Remember being a strategic leader does not end in January - keep going throughout the year.We hope you liked this episode! Please feel free to connect with Victoire and Deepa through LinkedIn to continue the conversation.About VictoireVictoire de Lajudie is VP, Head of Group Strategy at Michelin. She previously worked with Sanofi and McKinsey. She has a Master of Science, Applied Mathematics & Economics from Ecole Polytechnique.Thanks for listening and stay cool! Visit the show website at (http://www.meetmypotential.com)Follow me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepanatarajan/)

We learn from some of the most successful people. Nils Michael’s leadership has brought him extraordinary results and he created that with people. He was the Head of A400M Retrofit at Airbus Defense and Space and he now heads Center of Competence for Programme/Project Management (PM).Listen to this episode to hear what key factors have contributed to Nils’ success with teams and projects.Key Points from this Episode:Start journaling. You’ll be surprised by how much clearer you will be when writing ideas down. Journaling also forces you to reflect on what is happening and how best to move forward.Foster a sense of belonging for your team. Bring the organization’s purpose to the individual level.Team building is necessary for every team. And it keeps motivation up on the project throughout. An example of this could be to come together as a team to support a charity that everyone can connect to.Remember to celebrate hard - you work hard, make sure you take adequate time to celebrate those successes and failures as a team.You always need to be yourself and be able to look into the mirror with pride. If you start acting not within your values, then that creates a problem.Don’t fall into the mode of compliance and control. Believe in yourself and your team.Remember that change does not happen overnight. That doesn’t mean that we need to give up.Being a good project manager is being a good leader.Change should be considered positive, look forward to it.We hope you liked this episode! We’ve written up a wonderful article based on this interview, it is in our latest issue of Samskara magazine. I hope you will subscribe here! About NilsNils Michael is the Vice President Head Of Programme Management at Airbus Defense and Space. Prior to that he was the VP of A400M Retrofit & MRO Programmes. He has a history of working in the European aviation and aerospace industry. He was part of the German Air Force for 10 years. Thanks for listening and stay cool!Visit the show website at (http://www.meetmypotential.com)Follow me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepanatarajan/)