Having belief and purpose, a conversation with Mercedes Alonso, Executive Vice President Renewable Polymers and Chemicals at Neste. Ep #6

“… I think for me, when you've got a team, first of all, you have to have a very, very clear purpose to the team. Why does this team exist? What was it achieving? How does it serve the bigger purpose of the company”In this episode, Tom Van Dyck is in conversation with Rob Shaw, Leading in Operations Programme Manager at BP.  They discuss adapting to the changing business and social environment, the trust equation, challenges and paradoxes of safety - from physical safety in the workplace to psychological safety, to tight-knit teams - and how it all can lead to winning an award.The Leadership Sessions is a podcast series of captivating conversations withexceptional leaders from around the world, sharing their insights, experiences,thoughts, and personal opinions about what leadership means and what it takesto be effective.TPC Leadership is a dynamic global partnership, specialising in leadershipsolutions that deliver cultural transformation and financial impact. With officesaround the world, covering 100+ countries, a network of 350+ partners, consultants and associates from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds,TPC Leadership delivers transformational leadership solutions in service ofpeople and business results.

“Your job is to find the riot and go and stand in the middle of it; that’s kind of what you’ve got to do. You can’t hide from it! “In this episode of The Leadership Sessions, Tom Van Dyck, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership, and David Sloman, COO of NHS England explore the challenges of leading in unprecedented times, addressing the elephant in the room as a means of enabling teams, and the importance of providing teams with the environmentand context to be able to find and implement solutions.The Leadership Sessions is a podcast series of captivating conversations withexceptional leaders from around the world sharing their insights, experiences,thoughts, and personal opinions about what leadership means and what it takesto be effective.TPC Leadership is a dynamic global partnership specialising in leadershipsolutions that deliver cultural transformation and financial impact. With officesaround the world, covering 100+ countries, a network of 350+ partners,consultants and associates from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds,TPC Leadership delivers transformational leadership solutions in service ofpeople and business results.The NHS, the National Health Service, was launched in 1948, born out of a long-held ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth.Today, the NHS in England deals with over 1 million patients every 36 hours. Itemploys more than 1.5 million people, putting it in the top five of the world’slargest workforces, together with the US Department of Defence, McDonalds,Walmart and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

“In the civilian sector, you're always at war with your competition, you're alwaysstruggling to survive”, ... a conversation with Vincent MartinelliIn this episode of The Leadership Sessions, Tom Van Dyck, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership, and Vincent Martinelli, Chief Operating Officer at Boston Fusion Corporation explore the importance of respect, commander’s intent, and the challenge of always being at war with the competition.The Leadership Sessions is a podcast series of captivating conversations withexceptional leaders from around the world sharing their insights, experiences,thoughts, and personal opinions about what leadership means and what it takesto be effective.TPC Leadership is a dynamic global partnership specialising in leadershipsolutions that deliver cultural transformation and financial impact. With officesaround the world, covering 100+ countries, a network of 350+ partners,consultants and associates from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds,TPC Leadership delivers transformational leadership solutions in service ofpeople and business results.Boston Fusion develops cutting edge algorithms and analytics to transformmassive amounts of data into strategic assets. Their resulting technologies andsystems work with humans to support situation awareness, option exploration &selection, planning, and individual & team decision making. Boston Fusionspecializes in artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistical and probabilisticmodeling, and optimization. The firm partners with academics, other smallbusinesses, and large system integrators, to bring the latest technology fromearly research to operational use.

“Disregard your level in a company, and disregard your level of empowerment, because it's really about your clear vision of impact” a conversation with Cécile Rénier.  Tom Van Dyck, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership, and Cécile Rénier, Vice President Europe Customer Support & Success at Wolter Kluwer explore negative role models, leadership impact, authenticity, and helping others to be aware of themselves.  In this episode of The Leadership Sessions, Tom Van Dyck and Cécile Rénier discuss the controversial nature of negative role models, the importance of having a clear vision of leadership impact, and the benefits of diverse thinking  and understanding what is triggering the vision of others.   The Leadership Sessions is a podcast series of captivating conversations with exceptional leaders from around the world sharing their insights, experiences, thoughts, and personal opinions about what leadership means and what it takes to be effective.    TPC Leadership is a dynamic global partnership specialising in leadership solutions that deliver cultural transformation and financial impact. With offices around the world, covering 100+ countries, a network of 350+ partners, consultants and associates from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, TPC Leadership delivers transformational leadership solutions in service of people and business results. Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. 

“It is extremely powerful… just simply to have the courage of saying, you know your stuff go and do it”.”In this episode of The Leadership Sessions, Tom Van Dyck and Mercedes Alonso discuss the challenges and benefits of diversity, the meaning of authentic leadership and the opportunity of having the patience to let different opinions and different experiences influence decision making.The Leadership Sessions is a podcast series of captivating conversations with exceptional leaders from around the world sharing their insights, experiences, thoughts, and personal opinions about what leadership means and what it takes to be effective. Tom Van Dyck, Senior Partner at TPC LeadershipMercedes Alonso, Executive Vice President Renewable Polymers and Chemicals at Neste.TPC Leadership is a dynamic global partnership specialising in leadership solutions that deliver cultural transformation and financial impact. With offices around the world, covering 100+ countries, a network of 350+ partners, consultants and associates from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, TPC Leadership delivers transformational leadership solutions in service of people and business results.Neste, based in Finland, is the world's leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel, and works on solutions for the chemicals and polymers industry to address global issues, such as plastic waste, pollution and climate change.

 “Back to the fundamentals of leading yourself”, a conversation  with Laurent Jacquet Tom Van Dyck, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership Belgium, and Laurent  Jacquet, Partner at TPC Leadership Belgium explore Going back  to the fundamentals and taking complete responsibility for our  lives. Tom Van Dyck, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership, and Laurent  Jacquet, Partner at TPC Leadership Belgium. “Ask what is it that I believe in… because if we don't, we feel lost,  we don't feel authentic, relationships are not strong enough…” Having recently published his book “New Leaders” Laurent delves  into his personal mission to create better leaders. From the hockey  pitches of international competition, Laurent traces the influences  and reflections that have led him to develop a clear philosophy  and approach to help new leaders immediately step up and add  value to their teams. Their discussion focuses on the need to  understand oneself, to question one’s own beliefs and opinions in  order to be authentic in one’s interactions, motivations and  relations, and how this is just as true for old hands as it is for new,  junior leaders.The Leaderships Sessions is a podcast series of captivating conversations with exceptional leaders from around the world  sharing their insights, experiences, thoughts, and personal  opinions about what leadership means and what it takes to be  effective.  Laurent Jacquet, Partner TPC Leadership Belgium in Brussels.  Tom Van Dyck, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership.  TPC Leadership is a dynamic global partnership specialising in  leadership solutions that deliver cultural transformation and  financial impact. With offices around the world, covering 100+  countries, a network of 350+ partners, consultants and associates  from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, TPC Leadership delivers transformational leadership solutions in  service of people and business results.

Tom Van Dyke, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership, and Eelco van Eijck, Managing Partner at executive search firm Amrop in Amsterdam. “Building a personal brand and staying authentic, it’s the paradox of executive authenticity”Their discussion focuses on managing the delicate balances between crafting an executive brand while also managing to deliver leadership authenticity, and the opportunities of striking the right cultural and inspirational notes while navigating the complexities of improving diversity and inclusion. The Leaderships Sessions is a podcast series of captivating conversations with exceptional leaders from around the world sharing their insights, experiences, thoughts, and personal opinions about what leadership means and what it takes to be effective. Eelco van Eijck, Managing Partner Amrop in Amsterdam. Founded in 1977, AMROP is one of the world's largest international retained executive search networks with the widest geographical coverage of any executive search organization. For four decades, Amrop has been advising dynamic organizations on identifying Leaders For What's Next - adept at working across borders, in markets around the world.Tom Van Dyke, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership. TPC Leadership TPC Leadership is a dynamic global partnership specialising in leadership solutions that deliver cultural transformation and financial impact. With offices around the world, covering 100+ countries, a network of 350+ partners, consultants and associates from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, TPC Leadership delivers transformational leadership solutions in service of people and business results.

In this 3rd episode of the Leadership Sessions, host Tom Van Dyck talks with Karl Lechat, previously Managing Director for Skoda in Belgium and recently promoted to lead the new bicycle project and d’Ieteren, one of the oldest and largest family-owned business in the country.  “Integrate this aspect of curious boldness, go a bit further than yourself, learn, step out of your comfort zone, do something different … don’t have any regrets…” Their discussion ranges broadly, covering topics that include the motivation and leadership of teams during COVID, empowering teams to innovate even during times of tight resources and exceptionally complicated circumstances and how each of us should strive for curious boldness and a return to normal! The Leaderships Sessions is a podcast series of captivating conversations with exceptional leaders from around the world sharing their insights, experiences, thoughts, and personal opinions about what leadership means and what it takes to be effective.  Karl Lechat is a senior leader at D'Ieteren Group. In existence since 1805, and across family generations, D'Ieteren Group seeks growth and value creation by pursuing a strategy for the long term for its businesses. D'Ieteren Group is one of the largest groups in Belgium and a leading player globally in several sectors employing over 30,000 people. The Group currently has the following activities: D'Ieteren Auto distributes Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, Škoda, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Porsche and Yamaha vehicles in Belgium. It is a World leader in other categories with brands such as Carglass, Autoglass. It also owns the iconic Moleskine brand. Tom Van Dyck is a member of the Management Board of TPC Leadership and managing partner of TPCL Belgium.TPC Leadership is a dynamic global partnership specialising in leadership solutions that deliver cultural transformation and financial impact. With offices around the world, covering 100+ countries, a network of 350+ partners, consultants and associates from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, TPC Leadership delivers transformational leadership solutions in service of people and business results. 

In the 2nd episode of the Leadership Sessions, host Tom Van Dyck talks with Brandon Strong, head of finance with Google"“If people think you have the best interest at heart, then they are open. Trust equals phycological safety, open to ideas and the unvarnished truth.” Their conversation covers topics that include how phycological safety is a key factor at Google and what that means and how it impacts teams. Also, the key success factors for managing high performing teams and how to hire the right people for the right job!  The Leaderships Sessions is a podcast series of captivating conversations with exceptional leaders from around the world sharing their insights, experiences, thoughts, and personal opinions about what leadership means and what it takes to be effective.  Brandon Strong is a senior leader at Google in San Francisco. With more than 60,000 employees in 50 different countries, Google makes hundreds of products that are used by billions of people around the world, from YouTube and Android to Gmail and of course Google Search.Tom Van Dyke, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership. TPC Leadership is a dynamic global partnership specialising in leadership solutions that deliver cultural transformation and financial impact. With offices around the world, covering 100+ countries, a network of 350+ partners, consultants and associates from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, TPC Leadership delivers transformational leadership solutions in service of people and business results. 

The Leaderships Sessions is a podcast series of captivating conversations with exceptional leaders from around the world sharing their insights, experiences, thoughts, and personal opinions about what leadership means and what it takes to be effective. Annelieke Jense is the Chairwoman of TPC Leadership and managing partner of TPCL The Netherlands.Tom Van Dyck, Member of the Management Board of TPC Leadership and managing partner of TPCL Belgium.TPC Leadership is a dynamic global partnership specialising in leadership solutions that deliver cultural transformation and financial impact. With offices around the world, covering 100+ countries, a network of 350+ partners, consultants and associates from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, TPC Leadership delivers transformational leadership solutions in service of people and business results.