Bringing EQ-driven leadership into companies.

Interview by Valeria Camia, journalist, web director Corriere dell'Italianità, to Manuela Andaloro Senior Advisor and Board Member, for Corriere degli Italiani

A successful entrepreneur, an ambassador of gender equality, and a mother, Manuela Andaloro tells her story. 

Business woman Manuela Andaloro has been the CEO of SmartBizHub since 2017. Together with her team, she does management consulting, especially in the field of new technologies and sustainability, working with multinationals and government agencies throughout Europe. Manuela travels often and is active in advocating and raising awareness on diversity, gender equality and on the balance between family and work. She was recently nominated for a major award on gender diversity. For many years, she has been advocating “diversity and inclusion” in companies. Could Manuela picture her current reality when, just a twenty-year-old student at IULM University in Milan, she got her first corporate role as an analyst at ACNielsen, working hard to keep up with her studies?

Manuela has been not only a successful entrepreneur in recent years, for over 17 years she has had important roles in leading financial companies in Europe, since 2012, she’s also a mother. A mother of two small children (4 and 6 years old), in Switzerland, a country in which achieving a balance between family and work is particularly complicated. Maternity leave is granted for only 3 months and fathers are excluded, as opposed to a European average of 6 to 12 months (or even 3 years in Germany) of leave, which in many cases can be shared equally between both parents. If wage parity remains a dream, the same goes for career opportunities, respect for diversity and promotion of social inclusion.

“Finding a balance between career and family is one of the hardest challenges that my husband and I – along with hundreds of parents with careers, I have met over the years – are facing in Swiss society, which in most cases still gives women the role of housekeepers and child carers. This concept is deeply rooted in the culture of this country. I still remember this chat I had with a doctor I had consulted because I felt tired after the birth of my first child and my return to work 5 months later. I remember the doctor asking me why I kept on working. It was shocking. And that was just the beginning. I was shocked again when I went back to work, first part time, then full time. Society in many cases expected me to be mainly a mother”, says Manuela, who considers herself lucky, because “there was still a job for me when my maternity leave was over if you consider that one in seven women in Switzerland loses her job when she becomes a mother.” Not to mention the economic situation, as private nurseries and kindergartens, that can provide more flexible times to allow parents to work, are very expensive and so precluded to many.

To be honest, Manuela actually had some thoughts about giving up her career, or taking a break. It was never easy to leave my children with the babysitter or at the nursery until late, to work and travel even on weekends, and being under the critical eye of society. But Manuela did not give up. She was courageous and aware of the need to break up with an obsolete, individualistic and non-empathic mindset, which does not leave enough space for women and is unable to cope with the new global picture of society and its stakeholders.

— Images, left to right: Manuela Andaloro moderating a FinTech international event in January 2019 in Zurich (credits: British Embassy Bern); speaking about adapting our working cultures to reflect a more modern world and diverse society, June 2019, Amsterdam. (Credits: EWPN, Money 2020); on stage speaking about new role models and leadership, October 2018, London (Credits: PayExpo); Balancing private life and work on a weekend. —

The trump card that can reconcile career and family, says Manuela, is a new type of EQ-driven leadership. “The best leaders of today invest their time and energy in understanding the people they work with and their teams. It’s the EIQ, or emotional intelligence quotient, which experts say has become today more important than IQ and is a better index of success for people, companies and society. This is why we must work to change the old mindset: a new approach will not only favour women but will also foster a type of leadership based on empathic soft skills. In the digital age and its new challenges, women should not be fighting to integrate themselves into a system that has proved to be disastrous as it supports only one model, the alpha personality, mostly very dominant figures. I met women that had old-fashioned leadership styles, not very cooperative and participatory, and men who lead in an inclusive way and pay attention to the social fabric outside and inside the company. Adopting a leadership based on arrogance, blind self-confidence and lack of empathy does not work today, in the face of the probable failure of liberal democracies, the negative influence of social platforms, the climate crisis, artificial intelligence and the associated risks. Both women and men should all work together to transform the mindset of companies (and politics), making room for the new facts on the ground”.

For women, it means they have to learn to believe more in themselves, to not settle for less and to act, without always waiting for the right moment in decisions concerning private and working life – to have a child or to accept a new role of great responsibility that involves changes. “Sacrificing one’s ambitions even before trying is harmful to oneself, to other women, to new generations and to the men that are witnessing this behaviour”.

On 14 June, over half a million women and men across Switzerland joined the demonstrations following the strike, plus all those who participated in a “digital” way. What do you wish for, Manuela? “I wish for strong governmental reforms and independent inspections of companies to assess corporate culture, and diversity within them. And I also expect each of us to raise awareness of issues of vital importance, in each of our daily roles, as mothers, fathers, teachers, workers, leaders. Starting from making our children aware of the importance of equality, inclusion and an open mind-set to face today’s new challenges”.

Valeria Camia with Manuela Andaloro

Manuela Andaloro is a senior professional with over 19 years of executive experience in global roles in financial services, business strategy and digital transformation, having lived in Milan, London and Zurich and worked for firms such as Nielsen, Financial News and UBS. Since 2017, she is the Founder of Swiss-based SmartBizHub, a management consultancy specialising in marketing, positioning, communications, sustainability, future tech and future work. Manuela is a professional speaker, a published author, and an editorial consultant for various leading publications on the topics of finance, social shifts, impact, culture and leadership. She serves as advisory board member of various Swiss and international organizations, and as a board member of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Europe. Manuela is a D&I champion and advocate for EQ- driven leadership, speaks English, Italian, German and Spanish and lives in Zurich with her husband and two children. 

As published in Corriere dell’ Italianita’ cover story, 30 July 2019 view original article in Italian here.

Do not wait for leaders. Become them.

“In terms of promoting diversity in the industry, there are some easy steps that could be taken to try and break the image of financial services as a realm of male domination. Increasing the number of women speakers at major industry events sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s still something event-coordinators struggle to do. Organisations like EWPN are playing such a vital role in breaking these patterns, not only by empowering women, but also by promoting women in the payments industry who deserve recognition, who would be overlooked, in many cases, by their male counterparts.”

— Angela Yore, MD, Advisory Board EWPN

Left to right, Chloe Templeton, Megan Caywood, Manuela Andaloro, panel moderated by Angela Yore

The world is in desperate need of great leaders—whether in business or in politics. Yet, many leadership opportunities are withheld from half of the workforce.

Even with all the progress we’ve made for equality in so many important ways, women are still severely underrepresented in business leadership positions. Women-led companies make up only 4% of Fortune 500 companies, a trend that holds steady throughout most business sectors.

According to the latest World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, “Female talent remains one of the most underutilized business resources.” In some industries, like finance, this is especially clear.

In finance, as career level rises, female representation declines. Although 46 percent of financial services employees are women, at the executive level, it’s only 15 percent. (WEF 2017 data)

The outlook looks better than when I started my career 19 years ago, or even since my banking days 2 years ago, yet, much remains to be done, starting from raising awareness on role models who lead leveraging their high EQ.

New role models are crucial to break the cycles of outdated cultures, inspiring women and men to a new identity of leadership, one that leverages skills such as collaboration, empathy and trust, helping younger generations of women and men to rise to a new identity of leadership, one that doesn’t take only one form.

But how are we all driving steadily this very much needed change? What new real models for women and men are we raising awareness on? Men are as much trapped in most of this “alpha-male” world as women are. Times are changing, a clear reflection of this is the increasing number of millennials (women and men) who are less than fascinated by old corporate working models and by old and outdated environments.

The lure that many large corporations once had in attracting and retaining talents is long gone, replaced by new working models, attractive start-ups, high impact lean companies that favour calm competence over loud arrogant behaviours.

Millennials are not alone on their quest. It’s enough to think of how many people we know above 40, men and women, who are daily trying to change the way they work, to find more meaning in what they do, to leave behind the old ‘work life balance’ to find sustainable ways to create a winning synergy between their work and their life.

It was a great honour to join last year one of the leading events in the payments and Fintech sector for their first ever all-women panel.

Beyond the now well-known benefits of gender balance, our goal was to share learnings, experiences and stories from diverse female role models,  raising awareness on new, different types of female leadership and successes.

As the two thousand guests gathered, it became apparent that women represent still a stark minority  in the sector, and at the same time,  that interest in the topic of gender balance and of leverage of the female brains is ever so relevant for men and women alike. 

The payments industry is not unique in gender inequality: traditional payments companies have been technology and finance driven, both mostly male-dominated industries that have somehow landed in a fairly versatile space.

The panel I was invited to sit on was expertly moderated by Angela Yore, Founder of SkyParlour, EWPN board member and leading advocate for women empowerment in the FinTech space. Fellow panellists were Megan Caywood, then Chief Platform Officer at Starling Bank, now Global Head of Digital Strategy at Barclays Bank, and Chloe Templeton,  Head of Mutuals and Women in Finance at HM Tresurey, now International Policy Lead for Women's Economic Empowerment at the Department for International Development (DFID).

We spoke about the importance of empowering women and men to achieve diversity and close the gender gap, and of how to frame and invest in our own personal brand.

What follows is a snapshot of our panel discussion with key take-aways.

Question: “What to do about the fact that confident women leaders are often seen negatively?”

Megan: “Be confident anyway. We need confident women leaders. The world doesn’t benefit by us shrinking so that others aren’t intimidated.”

Question: “Can you tell us more about the Women in Finance Charter?”

Chloe: “In 2016 HM Treasury launched the Women in Finance Charter which commits signatory firms to make significant progress on improving the representation of women at the most senior levels of their organisation. Over 270 firms have signed the Charter, who together employ more than 750,000 staff.”

Question: “Why is the number of women on boards still so low?”

Angela: “When I say to the Fintech leaders I work with, ‘why is your board so lacking in diversity?’, the tame response I often get is that women are simply not applying! And it’s true that women only represent 29% of staff in the sector and white men dominate the boardroom. Men still make up the majority of high paid jobs in financial services but good things are beginning to happen and . California is leading the way as the first US state to require women on corporate boards and PwC is the first of the big four to ban all-male job shortlists.”

Question: “How can women’s voices be heard more?”

Manuela: “A famous statement of Christine Lagarde post financial crisis quotes `If Lehman Brothers had been a bit more Lehman Sisters ... we would not have had the degree of tragedy that we had as a result of what happened.` Beyond the obvious what this highlights is that women are normally naturally more risk-averse than men. Which is very good for most businesses but can be backfiring when it comes to promoting ourselves in the workplace and our role in society. Our own personal brand should be the best representation of our values across our personal and professional lives, and should be out there.”

M.

(info@smartbizhub.com)

———-

For more information:

Women in Finance Charter materials here.

Analysis of the Charter’s impact here 

Firms who want to sign the Charter can do so here

Payexpo 2019

FinTech: the new finance between innovation and culture

This week I had the incredible privilege of hosting as master of ceremony and moderating one of the most important events in the annual calendar of Swiss financial institutions and UK-based successful FinTech companies: the 4th UK FinTech Mission to Switzerland. 

On January 24th, 2019, the UK FinTech Mission to Switzerland, organized by the Department for International Trade, brought together high-ranking government representatives, Swiss financial innovators, successful UK FinTechs, and famous leaders for two thought-provoking panel discussions.

Strong numbers behind a successful platform. The three previous events generated over CHF 50 million in signed business and provided a strong business platform for over 150 attendees. The 4th mission saw 28 UK and 33 Swiss companies present, discussing innovation and future impact on society in the over 115 one-to-one meetings that took place.

The driving forces that helped shaping success. High-ranking government representatives, including Jane Owen, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation and non-resident Ambassador to Liechtenstein, Catherine McGuinness, Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee, City of London, leading Swiss financial representatives, such as Jos Dijsselhof, CEO of SIX,  Switzerland's principal stock exchange, Noel McEvoy, Director Department for International Trade and the Scottish Development International for Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as senior representatives of the British Embassy Berne and the British Swiss Chamber of Commerce, were present and played a key role. Why do such events generate such great interest? As Jos Dijsselhof stated, the anwer is simple: because together we are stronger. Such strong platforms stimulate new business relationships amongst participants, resulting in job and wealth creation in Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and in the United Kingdom.

Is the current political turmoil a threat?

SIX’s CEO Jos Dijsselhof clarified early on in his speech that “Despite Brexit and the renegotiation of the terms of UK’s relationship with the rest of Europe, the bond between UK and Switzerland remains strong. The UK remains a leading center for FinTech in Europe. In 2018 alone, it attracted GBP12 billion of investment—of the respective EU total of GBP20 billion. At SIX we are predestined to play matchmaker in FinTech field. Finance and technology are in our DNA.”

What is SIX’s role? SIX is often defined as the backbone of the Swiss financial center “providing the technical infrastructure, running the Swiss stock exchange, as well as financial information, security, and payment services.” Among its shareholders and clients are 127 national and international banks. “It speaks for innovation, efficiency, stability, and security in the financial sector.”

What about Brexit? Jos addressed the topic in reassuring but careful terms: “what we do know is that with the UK's exit from the EU, Europe and the UK likewise face significant challenges – in both political and economic terms. We are discussing these challenges of Brexit, the risks – as well as the opportunities – for the financial industry, at length here with our peers in Switzerland. What remains undisputed is that the UK and Switzerland are significant economic and trading partners. If I were to quote just one figure, it would be this: each day there are over 80 direct flights between Switzerland and the UK.  Both countries benefit immensely from these close relations. Swiss companies provide around 93,000 jobs in the UK, while British firms account for about 27,000 jobs in Switzerland.

The UK and Switzerland are also investing in each other. Direct investments run into dozens of billions of Swiss francs. Swiss banks play an essential role in London's financial industry. Market access to the United Kingdom is vital to the Swiss financial market infrastructure. SIX generates up to 80% of its income in the area of trading with downstream segments (clearing and settlement) in European countries, particularly in the UK. “All areas that SIX does business in have offices in London; our stock exchange works closely with London's stock exchange and many other companies in the UK. All these touch points make the need for a good relationship evident, as it enables us to share knowledge, establish partnerships and build on each other's strengths.”

This means that significant disruptions must be avoided and that UK and Swiss financial service providers need to be able to continue doing business after Brexit in the same way as before. In a first step safeguarding the status quo and legal stability is essential.

Why Switzerland? Switzerland is to a certain extent destined to innovate. And it does so very well: Global Innovation Index named Switzerland to be the most innovative country in the world, not once, but seven times in a row. Many CEOs talk about the importance of innovation, but do they walk the talk? What are they doing in specific terms?

 How is SIX driving innovation? SIX has recently launched a venture fund worth 50 million Swiss Francs - around 38 million Pounds. The aim is to promote innovation in the Swiss financial sector. The Innovation Team is developing services for shareholders and the Swiss financial center. 

Let’s talk societal impact. “Our noblest task as entrepreneurs is to bring people together – across all cultures and languages, across all borders, despite potential political difficulties.” concluded Jos Dijsselhof.

Business does not divide people; it unites them. It invests in innovation and helps to ensure that new ideas spread around the world. Ideas that benefit as many people as possible.

What is the current status quo of the relationship between Switzerland and the UK ?

A very interesting update came from Noel McEvoy, Director Department for International Trade, who confirmed how vital is assuring continuity, to ensure this, only last week 5 agreements were signed while all efforts are being made to keep the dialogue going between the two largest financial centres in Europe, such as London and Zurich.  “Both nations are keen to grow and collaborate to ensure increased prosperity, and there are dialogues taking place on mutual market access.” he confirmed.

 Continuity and EU. At present, relations between Switzerland and the UK are largely based on the bilateral agreements with the European Union, which will cease to apply to the UK after its withdrawal from the EU. In preparation for exiting the EU, the UK has initialled five bilateral continuity agreements with Switzerland, covering trade, citizens’ rights, non-life insurance, land transport and air services.

The bilateral continuity agreements replicate the existing EU-Switzerland arrangements as far as possible and will come into effect as soon as the implementation period ends in January 2021, or on 29 March 2019 if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Panel 1: New Finance: How customer demand made it happen , with Stephen Ingledew, CEO, FinTech Scotland, Katharina Bart, Senior Contributor, Finews, Gavin Littlejohn, Chairman of FDATA Global and Convenor of the Fintech Stakeholder Group of the UK Open Banking Implementation Entity, Keith Phillips, Executive Director, The Investment Association, Michael Coletta, Blockchain Developer Emerging Technology Lead, London Stock Exchange Group and moderator Manuela Andaloro, CEO, SmartBizHub

How do we keep driving sustainable change?

One of the key discussions that took place on stage saw an incredibly knowledgeable line-up of top experts in their respective fields, such as Stephen Ingledew, CEO, FinTech Scotland, Katharina Bart, Contributor, Finews Senior, Gavin Littlejohn, Chairman of FDATA Global and Convenor of the Fintech Stakeholder Group of the UK Open Banking Implementation Entity, Keith Phillips, Executive Director, The Investment Association, Michael Coletta, Blockchain Developer Emerging Technology Lead, London Stock Exchange Group.

The goal of the panel was to portray the new financial landscape, acknowledge its driving forces, such as customer demand and client savviness, and discuss predictions on themes such as blockchain, international payments, machine learning, Internet of Things, and AI.

Q. Stephen, as CEO of FinTech Scotland, if you look at the FinTech ecosystem, at the fusion of financial services and technology, what do you think it can deliver from a social and societal impact perspective, in the short and long term?

A. Fintech is a movement, economic and social, it is vital to access new consumers who may not have been served in the past. It brings a diverse range of societal benefits, inclusion, and diversity.

Q. Katharina, customer demand seems to have shaped the industry. How do you see the role played by women and younger generations in finance? 

A. SRI (sustainable and responsible investing) and women are the Holy-grail in FinTech. Another aspect is diversity and inclusion, some way to go but over the past couple of years we have witnessed positive change and increased awareness. Another aspect is the fragmented provision of services in FinTech. It is a fast moving sector and trends change quickly, the new generation should not be seen as disloyal, they are simply savvy, choosier and more sophisticated.

Q. Gavin, in Switzerland, historically a conservative financial centre, the adoption of open banking has so far been very limited. How do you think open banking will benefit society as a whole and solve the ever growing challenge of complexity, when it comes to having access to the right product or solution at the right time, for example?

A. In a complicated product, a simple product is waiting to come out. Complexity drains the UX of benefits. Open Banking is a waypoint to further opening of the financial system. In my opinion pensions will next on the agenda. Collaboration is vital, it enables the industry and leads to enabling enabling technologies.

Q. Keith, if we think at the FinTech applications across the whole value chain, where do you see the most significant disruption coming from? 

A. The investment association is focused on the buy-side in FinTech, RegTech and WealthTech. Social mobile tech will likely be a major disruptor. A cluster of FinTech is focused on data, possibly a wave of disruption from that front too.

Q. Michael, what do you envisage for the future of FinTech? Where will real disruption (if at all) be coming from?

A. In terms of disruption, blockchain is not as great as is often made out to be. Disruption occurs in financial services as part of a complex ecosystem. Could a FinTech really disrupt and displace a large infrastructure player? Maybe but unlikely.

Q. When will FinTechs be judged like the large established players?

Gavin: It is a fundamental shift, they will be judged differently as per the current environment.

Q. Is it fair to judge the customers as loyal or disloyal? Were they ever loyal?

Katharina. Yes, they are simply savvy consumers. A semantic issue. Personally, I have been looking for a new bank for 18 months—still looking. Am I disloyal? No.

Gavin. Inertia Tax comes to mind, we should be looking at how to reduce the inertia tax (extra costs incurred and months spent looking for a different solutions) and friction.

Q. There seems to be a lot of energy and excitement around Open Banking. How do you measure the success of OB (since launching 12 months ago in the UK)?

Gavin. It is a process that will accelerate over the next 12 months. The shift to APIs is increasing in speed, so API growth will be a measure.

Panel 2: Is work working against us? Establishing new role models: Women in New Finance , with Catherine McGuiness, Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee, City of London, Maria Leistner, Group Managing Director, General Counsel at UBS, David Bundi, Head RegTech, PwC Legal Switzerland, Angela Yore, MD & Co-founder, SkyParlour, Petra Arends-Paltzer, Founder, Swiss Legal Tech Conference and Manuela Andaloro, CEO, SmartBizHub.

In the early afternoon we were joined by an incredible group of change-makers who represent and stand for a new identity of leadership: I had the pleasure to discuss the future of work and the importance of raising awareness on different role models with Catherine McGuiness, Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee, City of London, Maria Leistner, Group Managing Director, General Counsel at UBS, David Bundi, Head RegTech, PwC Legal Switzerland, Angela Yore, MD & Co-founder, SkyParlour, Petra Arends-Paltzer, Founder, Swiss Legal Tech Conference.

What is the status quo when it comes to women in finance and role models. Is work working against us?

Of the CEOs who lead companies on the 2018 Fortune 500 list, just 24 are women. That translates into a 4.8%, down 25% on 2017.

Why? Increasingly research suggests that one of the key reasons why women do not rise to the top in the same numbers as men is due to systemic barriers, funneling one particular type of person to the top, and that is not usually a woman.

Because of this, the focus should not be on integrating into a not-so-good system, but on transforming it and improving it. This is where often initiatives such as “lean in” leave many women wondering, should we lean into a system that is entrenched in a working world that’s outdated, limited and controlling, or should we instead go deeper and work on changing the culture?

New role models are crucial to break the cycles of outdated cultures, inspiring women and men to a new identity of leadership, one that leverages skills such as collaboration, empathy and trust, helping younger generations of women and men to rise to a new type of leadership, one that doesn’t take only one form.

The FinTech scene has gained increasingly attention over the past two years, its evolving trends seem to foster a culture of gender equality and to act as a catalyst for diversity.

Today in both Switzerland and in the UK, the percentage of senior women in Tech and Financial services, sits between 15% and 20%, and a July 2018  research by LendIt on women in FinTech found that:

1.         Average percentage of senior women employed at FinTech companies is 37%.

2.         Average percentage of women in the C-Suite at FinTech companies is 19%.

Better, but still not shifting the needle. And yet, the impact of women on the financial services industry and FinTech is more pronounced than in others.

Because organizational leadership often strongly influences product development and overall customer experience, FinTech companies with women executives are better positioned to respond to the needs of female customers, a major market segment with potential for growth that is frequently underserved by financial services providers.

So, is it possible that the so called “new finance” is helping to shape a new culture around the future of work, and having a significant impact on the success of the industry itself?

Panel discussion with (left) Manuela Andaloro, Catherine McGuinness, Maria Leistner, David Bundi, Angela Yore, Petra Arends-Paltzer

Q. Catherine, you chair the committee responsible for policy, strategy and direction for the City of London Corporation, you regularly meet with government and financial representatives from across the UK and the EU. What is the gender ratio at senior level you see in your role and also, if we look at the blending of work and life, it has never been more apparent than in today's always-connected and always-on culture, do you think the new generation’s quest for a better “work-life integration” will help changing the status quo permanently in the long run?

A. In the Square Mile we have 37% of women in the workforce. This needs to improve. The current mentality is still all “suits and ties”. However the millennials and younger generations are changing this by demanding flexible working patterns, and bringing even greater diversity. As a woman in my role: when I first started there was pressure for me to represent diversity, be a role model. This is not what I wanted, I was there for my role, irrespective of gender, it didn’t feel comfortable to be an advocate initially, but then I soon saw evidence in the workplace that women really were not being treated equally to men, when it came to promotions for example, so I decided I would step in and stand for gender equality and diversity.

Q. Maria, when it comes to career and employment, women and men increasingly want to be inspired by real life leading examples, in an effort to implement a permanent cultural change. There is however a lack of leadership models that stresses women’s hearts and minds when pursuing a career. What role do you think the cultural element and the belief that “they will not manage it”  plays in convincing many women to avoid the experience of motherhood, or to drop their careers?

A. Countries are different in what is culturally acceptable. I lived in the UK for a long time and have recently moved to Switzerland. There is no perfection anywhere on the topic if equality and diversity, however there has been some improvement in flexibility for women in leadership positions. The stats mentioned with regards to women in FinTech are very disappointing.  Technology itself and the tech world are a potential driver of change of diversity: it is a chicken and egg situation. Diversity and inclusion can significantly improve the FS sector. If we don’t change how we work, we won’t be able to address the needs of clients. Like Catherine, initially I resisted the role model label for many years, then came to realize that it is a duty, helping to change the status quo and raising awareness on the unconscious bias deeply embedded that plague the workplace and its culture.

Q. David, If what we read and hear about millennials holds true, they don’t seem to be driven by the thought of working hard for the next 40 years and then retiring. Rather, they are driven by the idea of building a life and career that can withstand the continuous reinventions that the 21st century will require. They take a lot of criticism in the media for sporting a sense of entitlement, but seem to have interesting strenghts such as embracing change, especially technological, wanting to work smarter, not harder, embracing their passions, professionally and personally. What do you think we can learn from their stance on work and life and how can we implement it sustainably in our working cultures?  

 A.     A very interesting quote of Steve Jobs that comes often to mind is “You need to find what you like.” The workforce of the future and the culture we create and bring forward must focus on how we can complement each other. The key is, what makes each and everyone special? The younger generation should be credited for their willingness to try and test. We should be looking for and hiring employees who don’t replicate what we do. The digitalization of business has changed the nature of how we work – and, accordingly, what skills we need to succeed, so even more so, the vital skills in the future will be around the human element and EQ. Personally I have a very good experience with diversity: it simply works and it impacts positively the business and its bottom line. We as panellists, as advocates, need to be bold and supportive to push diversity.

Q. Angela, while the world is a considerable distance away from achieving complete gender equality, the Nordics have emerged as a front runner. When people think of countries like Sweden, stylish designs and minimal lifestyles often spring to mind, but gender equality is one of the cornerstones of modern Nordic society. These countries continuously stand out in the Global Gender Gap Report, which measures equality in all areas from education, employment to economics. Out of these countries, Finland has the largest female labour-force participation, as 83% of women, including mothers, work full time. What do you think has worked well in these countries that could be replicated across Europe? Also, do you think quotas play a part in their success?  

A. Nordics have it right: The culture is there, policies are strong and enabling. Both elements are required. They are not present in a similar way in the UK, or elsewhere in the EU.  In the Nordics for example, 10% of income is spent on child care, that percentage increases to 35% in the UK. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. As CEO of my own company, I now get to make decision and stand for what I believe, but initially as senior woman in the tech corporate world it was tough, when I announced my pregnancy to my then boss, his comment was: “ Oh dear, Angela, this changes everything”.  I will let you digest that. I set off and started my own business and have never looked back. My advice to women, and men, who don’t fit in outdated cultures is simple: Be bold. It usually pays off.

Q. Petra, if we look back at 2008 and the financial crisis, a famous statement of Christine LaGarde (Managing Director and Chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund) still holds true: “if it had been Lehman Sisters rather than Lehman Brothers, if would still be here”. That obviously points at the fact that women are normally more risk averse than men,  however, that often has an effect on their careers and the risks they take, not going for “that” job or not doing really positioning themselves and their value in their organization.  What are the key drivers for change?

A. The key driver will be a change in client demand: Clients will seek out companies with diverse workforces. We have an incredible enabler these days: technology. Technology will work towards gender equality. In all this, role models will be vital to inspire women and men. Another vital element is to step out of the comfort zone, to ask, to demand equality. Self-confidence to genuinely establish  themselves is a key factor, and so is genuine collaboration among women.  

Q. How does performance affect the diversity drive?

Angela. The gender pay gap is disastrous. Take BBC News presenters: same role, same experience, male TV anchors earn 30% more than their female counterparts. What is the rationale?

Q. How do you feel about the pressure on males to hire female or face discriminatory allegations?

Maria. It is about the quality, of course performance is critical, pushing for diversity to get things moving more quickly might lead on certain occasions to errors. Personally, I am in favour of quotas. 10 years ago I was against but the speed of change on the gender equality topic has been too slow not to resort to quotas.

 Catherine: I am personally in favour of targets rather than quotas. But targets with teeth. Culture is what we need to address most of all.

Manuela Andaloro, Maria Leistner, David Bundi, Catherine McGuinness, Angela Yore, Petra Arends-Paltzer

Targets with teeth. When discussing the importance of gender equality in the workplace, concrete rather than glass ceilings, and bias embedded in cultures that belong to history books.  

Corporate culture creation, improvement, and change rests with the organization's top leaders. Through their actions, communications, and the values they embody, leaders set the example for others to follow, and the tone for what is important and valued in the organization.

The good news is that CEOs and supporting executives across the globe are realizing that corporate culture is not simply a feel-good catch-phrase, but rather the linchpin to an organization's overall performance.

Once CEOs embrace their role in establishing and leading the corporate culture, the sky is the limit for both personal, organizational and societal potential.

M.

(info@smartbizhub.com)

Impact: shaping, and throwing your heart into it.

Sociologists tell us even the most introverted of people will influence over ten thousand others in an average lifetime. How many people we have knowingly and unknowingly influenced in our lives so far? How can we best leverage on this power? We hear daily about leadership, and yet we are left wondering who are the real leaders?

Clockwise, Mariarosaria Taddeo, Riccarda Zezza, Manuela Andaloro

Riccarda Zezza, CEO of Life Based Value and Manuela Andaloro, CEO of SmartBizHub and international blogger, joined forces to create a series of interviews aimed at portraying impact makers and leaders who are driving change and innovation worldwide, and in doing so, are raising awareness on a new successful type of genuine leadership. 

New role models who base their success on strategic 'soft' skills, such as empathy, creativity, communication, those incredible few who spark energy and strength as they positively impact others and society.

(Interview also published in Italian on www.maam.life)

After a very successful first interview with Chiara Condi (“Women, they should stop asking what they’re worth”), we continue this month with an open discussion with Dr. Mariarosaria Taddeo, Researcher Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, and Deputy Director of the Digital Ethics Lab, on her work, her values and commitment to Artificial Intelligence and its applications to a vast variety of sectors.

1.     Mariarosaria, I would like to reveal a few aspects of your professional life and the impact you have had. Shall we start with who is Mariarosaria today?

Once I read Italo Calvino’s lecture ‘On Lightness’. I copied a passage that I keep framed in my home office: “The sudden agile leap of the poet-philosopher who raises himself above the weight of the world, showing that with all his gravity he has the secret of lightness, and that what many consider to be the vitality of the times—noisy, aggressive, revving and roaring—belongs to the realm of death, like a cemetery for rusty old cars”.

It must have been 15 years ago when I first read that book. Sometime I think I have managed to achieve that lightness, but then it does not take long for me to realize I am still not there. That lightness requires constant training. It comes with a proper understanding of the world and of human nature. So I continue to strive for that lightness and to gain a better understanding of the order of the world.

More mundanely, I am a scholar. As a scholar I have passion for understanding things and solving (conceptual) problems. I like analytical thinking, precise language; a certain order in the way things are done. I am also a woman, which to me means braveness, smartness, determination, integrity, irony, elegance.

So, today, I am someone who is working to become a better scholar, a better woman, a better person; some days it looks like I succeeded, some other days less so.

2.     When I say work-life balance, what do you envision?

I envision fun. I do not see a real distinction between work and life. The idea of balance implies a trade-off, as if one (work) came at the expense of the other (life). This is unacceptable. It should not be the way in which the two are related. I am committed to the idea that our jobs should be part of our plans to spend our lives well, not a sacrifice to go through life.

I do the job that I have wanted to do since I was a child. I enjoy it tremendously: it enriches my life, it enables me to express core aspects of my personality, it keeps my curiosity alive and gives me the opportunity to grow as a person. At the same time, I am fortunate enough to have wonderful friends and family with whom I can share my passions, my ideas, my doubts and this helps with my work.

I realize that this is not the case for most of us. And I believe that it is important to change this. We need to have in place the right infrastructures, support, means, and leaders to prevent work from becoming alienation; that the hours we spend working do not become time subtracted from our lives. It is a complex matter, one that requires urgent and careful consideration.

3.     Where do the synergies between your professional and personal goals lead you daily?

Inevitably, personal and professional lives feed each other. Together they always take me on new adventures. Some days feel like being caught between Scylla and Charybdis; one needs tremendous skills to navigate through a rough patch of water and have a clear sense of the hazards therein. Other days are like having just passed Scylla and Charybdis; you look back and try to see what went well and what did not go well but with a sense of achievement. Some other days are like being at the mouth of the Straits of Messina and preparing for the challenge. The lesson learned from these ‘adventures’ is exactly this: there are days in which the risk is either ahead, past or in front of us and it is important to remember this all the time and not to lose perspective.

4.     Why does management have such a bad reputation in some corporations? If it is because of bad management, how does one not become one and how can you thrive among them?

I work in academia so I am not sure about management in a corporation. I’ll answer your second question, ‘how not to become a bad manager’, which seems more broad. From my experience it is important to reach a balance between internal and external factors.  

Internally, good managing rest on the ability to build the right team. This means getting and maintaining the right talent and resources and then carefully balancing the inevitable social and political dynamics that will emerge within the team. It is also about making sure that the ambitions of the leader are or become the ambitions of all the team members, making sure that the success of the team means the success of all its members. Finding the right equilibrium between managing and empowering the team members is also crucial. Externally, a good manager has the responsibility to understand the bigger picture, to foresee risks and emerging opportunities and to get the team ready to mitigate the former and harness the latter. Not an easy task.

University of Oxford

5.     What is the biggest professional mistake women are still making – what should we stop doing?

There are two mistakes. The first one is, fortunately, increasingly less common, and it is to forgo ambitions or goals that appear to be at odds with cultural norms (for example, some jobs are male-dominated so women are less encouraged to undertake them) or at odds with one’s personal aspirations (starting a family, for example). To sacrifice these ambitions before even trying is detrimental to oneself and to other women. It is like a self-imposed censorship, with the caveat that it also harms other people. It is always worth trying, trying harder, and perhaps even failing.

The second mistake is making it all about being women and allowing it to be a relevant factor in career choices, more relevant than skills, background, experiences, more than one’s plan and ambitions. Do not get me wrong, protecting and fostering diversity in the work place is crucial. Ensuring equality is fundamental. I believe that it is everybody’s responsibility (women and men) to ensure that diversity and equality are respected. But this is different from proving one’s ability and value in the workplace which should have nothing to do with gender. We, as women, need a fair playing field not a different one to show that we can be an asset in our workplaces. Confusing fair with a different is dangerous and may only bring us more discrimination.

6.     Will the millennial generation be a very different kind of leader?

To some extent yes. The values of this generation seem to be more aligned with social and environmental sustainability. At the same time, leaders also have to deal with external factors (economic, political, technological), so these values will shape future leaders to the same extent in which they will shape future societies.

7.  There is a large debate going on around the future of work, talent retention, women and millennial’s values. What do you think the future holds for old-school organizations?

Millennials are the biggest generation in history. They have strong values and are growing and getting ready to take over a leading position. Old-school organizations will have to adapt to new models of management if they want to retain resources and talent when competing with more modern organizations. Old-school management will face pressure from their competitors and hopefully also from laws and regulations which will increasingly foster values such as diversity, equality, and environmental sustainability.

8.  What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?

Three perhaps. One is a paper published in Nature “Regulate Artificial Intelligence to avert cyber arms race” (with Luciano Floridi), in which we described the next wave of cyber conflicts and the risks that they may pose for international stability. The second is related to the first one and is a theory for deterring attacks in cyberspace. The theory has been published in Strategic Analysis Hybrid CoE – The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats and it is likely to fill an important gap in our understanding of cyber conflicts and ways to avoid their escalation. The third one is broader and it is not my own discovery but it is equally important. It is the research and achievements of the Digital Ethics Lab. The group has been very successful. Its success makes me tremendously proud and it is a constant source of inspiration and motivation for me

9.  How do you recharge your energy?

It depends on the moment: trips to Puglia, dinner with friends, a conference call with my sisters, a good book, horse back riding, even clubbing sometimes, are at the top of my list.

10.  What drives you at the end of the day?

It is the passion for understanding things; in finding the truth; in solving a problem but also in getting better at my job and growing as a person. As a scholar, the ambition is to advance human understanding even only a bit and to use this understanding to shape our world. In my case, this means better understanding the dynamics of the impact digital technologies have on our lives and environment and shape this impact so that it will foster human flourishing and respect for our environment.

11.  What does impact mean for you? How would you describe the impact you have had on people and on the world?

Impact is about shaping: offering an approach, a model, a way of thinking or doing things that others find insightful and start using. As a scholar my impact is perhaps mostly related to the way we think about cyber conflicts and the way we should regulate them. My research contributed to a shift in the way we deal with this phenomenon from an old approach based upon analogies with conventional conflicts to a new, original approach based on a deeper understanding of the nature of these conflicts.

I may also have an impact as a lecturer and mentor by shaping the work of some of my students or even just the way they approach some aspects of their future work.

 12.  A few final words of wisdom and tips for our career-oriented impact-makers, professionals and entrepreneurs alike, women and men?

I can only share the same lesson that was passed onto me when I started working in this area, “throw your heart into it”. Once you make a decision, risk it and commit to it. I should also add that one should be aware that very rarely a single decision can be made which inadvertently makes other decisions, too, which can subsequently impact other aspects of life and the lives of other people. This is why making the right decision is not easy at all; such is life.

—-

This interview is a collaboration between Manuela Andaloro and Riccarda Zezza.

Women? They should stop asking what they're worth.

Clockwise: Chiara Condi (left), Riccarda Zezza, Manuela Andaloro

Riccarda Zezza, CEO of Life Based Value and Manuela Andaloro, business strategist and international blogger, interview Chiara Condi, Italian-American based in Paris, thirty year-old founder of Led By HER , a non-profit which empowers women who have suffered from violence through entrepreneurship. The organization gives different forms of entrepreneurship a voice, and raises a new form of awareness about gender based violence.

(Interview also published in Italian on StartupItalia!)

——————-

Sociologists tell us even the most introverted of people will influence over ten thousand others in an average lifetime. Can you imagine how many people we have knowingly and unknowingly influenced in our lives so far? How can we best leverage on this power? We hear daily about leadership, and yet we are left wondering who are the real leaders?

Riccarda and Manuela’s idea is to create a series of interviews aimed at portraying impact makers and leaders who are driving change and innovation worldwide, and in doing so, are raising awareness on a new successful type of genuine leadership. 

New role models who base their success on strategic 'soft' skills, such as empathy, creativity, communication, those incredible few who spark energy and strength as they positively impact others and society.

We start with Paris-based Chiara Condi, Italian-American, thirty year-old founder of Led By HER , a non-profit which empowers women who have suffered from violence through entrepreneurship.

Q. Much has been written about you over the years. Today I would like to reveal a few angles of your professional life and the impact you have had. Shall we start with who is Chiara today?

A. I would say that I am at a crossroads of my life right now because I have spent the last ten years of my life working on gender equality and women’s empowerment issues and the last five years building up a nonprofit organization Led By HER, which carries out advocacy and programs for women’s entrepreneurship and women’s rights. This work that we have carried out on the ground over the years was very formative, it has given me new ideas and the willingness to do more. At this time it pushes me to advocate to try to change things on a new level through the visibility that I have gained.  It has provided me with new ideas and visions of what we can do that can make a big difference for women and now more and more I feel that it is my job to make those ideas heard. That is why I try to participate as much as I can in conferences, media and international dialogues, because I think that it is more important than ever to raise awareness around these issues.

Q. When I say work-life (balance), what do you envision?

A. I think that there is no perfect formula about how to divide time in your life.  The only thing that that has worked for me has been setting priorities and making each decision based on those priorities.  That way I never have to feel bad about the choices I made or about saying no to something. And I believe that instead of always quantifying the time we spend on things in our life maybe we should be qualifying it instead.  I do this in my own life by being fully present with whatever I am doing at the moment, whether that is work or my personal life. Even if it’s something small that I am allowing myself I enjoy it fully.  When I am doing whatever I am doing at a given moment in time nothing else matters. When I try to apply this all-encompassing rule to my life I see that I feel much more fulfilled.

“Make sure that the first person you serve is always yourself because that is the only way you will truly help others.”

— Chiara Condi

Q. Do you see any connection between parenting and management?

A. Yes I believe that good parenting like good management is all about leadership development. Your role as a parent is to develop your child into an independent free thinking adult who will do his best in life. Much in the same way in companies you foster people’s potential and talents so that they can be the best version of themselves.  That is when they will also give you your best. I also think that fulfilled individuals can become a company’s best asset.

Q. Who were or are your female and male role models, professionally?

A. I do not think I have formal role models, but I am very inspired by the women we helped through Led By HER because they taught me that whatever happens in life you can still show up and change your life. And if they believe that every day can be the start to a new life, then all of us should.  Whenever I think of them any excuse that I build up in my life not to show up falls to the ground.

 Q. Where do the synergies between your professional and personal goals lead you daily?

A. Embodying your own goals is an important aspect of success. I care much more than I ever did about that and how I treat myself and run my own life. Only once you achieve that equilibrium in your own life can you unleash the potential to carry out great things. And it is not about major things, but rather about how you show up in your life daily.

Q. How can women, and new leaders, pursue a different type of leadership, and avoid some of the pitfalls that bad managers – we’ve all had at least one! – make?

 A. One of the greatest qualities of the new leader is empathy. Understanding the people you have in front of you, their potential and where they want to be will enable you to make the best arise out of the people you work with. Great leaders see potential and work with it.

Q. What is the biggest professional mistake women are still making – what should we stop doing?

A. Not asking for their worth. I interviewed many women around the world and I realized that if there was a common denominator in their struggle it was credibility.  The truth is that while a man’s work is taken at face value, a woman’s work is not. Women expressed that they have to prove themselves and work twice as much as men to prove that they deserve something.  But we cannot stop there and surrender ourselves. Even if the world is this way and these are our circumstances why can we not work on being so aware of ourselves and know our own worth to claim what we deserve? Every time you are asking for that promotion or negotiating that raise do it, go for it, for yourself and for all women because it is time we teach the world what we are worth and not settle for anything less.

Q. Why does management have such a bad reputation in some corporations?

 A. If we are afraid of management it could be because we are associating it with an old style of doing things. I think that now more and more corporations are realizing that people are their first and most precious resource and that their biggest asset should be cultivating them.  I think the best survival skill in any environment is always to be yourself.  Whatever decision you make don’t make it come from your environment but from you, that is is the only way you will be OK with whatever happens around you.

Q. Will the millennial generation be a very different kind of leader?

 A. Yes I think we are moving towards a leadership of questions rather than a leadership of solutions. A good leader is someone who asks all the right questions, not someone who already knows the answers. Innovation has turned the world on its head because it has taught us that hierarchy does not exist. Good ideas can come from anywhere and the best leaders are those who will be able to seize things rather than impose them.

Q. There is a large debate going on around the future of work, talent retention, women and millennials values. What do you think the future holds for old school organizations? 

A. I had the chance of giving a conference about this lately in Cape Town for the aviation industry, which is an industry that faces great challenges in renewing itself for the future. There is potential for all industries as long as people’s voices are heard and they are included in processes. When people lose sense in work is when they feel that their work is disconnected from what is happening around them.  There is no such thing as an organization and its employees, they are just one---the organization is its employees and therefore they have to feel with every ounce of their bones that they are part of it.  That is what we all want, to be part of something greater than ourselves, and organizations that miss out on providing that sense of purpose will miss out of the future.

Chiara Condi at the OECD Summit Paris 2018

 Q. What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?

 A. That nothing is permanent, that I am replaceable and not to be attached to any single outcome in life.  There is no single solution, but when I started I had very fixed measures of success.  When you do that it makes it impossible to just be happy with whatever is happening right now and to trust that even if something is different from what you expected it can still be great.  I also realize that sometimes you start someplace and then life takes you somewhere else, and I used to fight against that, but now I have learned to listen to it and to embrace it.

Q. How do you recharge your energy?

A. I never believed when I was younger that I mattered more than what I do, but now I do because I understand that is the only way to make a difference. You can only give fully from that place of abundance, so I try to create that for myself daily. It takes the form of daily yoga, pilates and meditation with visualization and journal writing. And then taking longer moments of distance from my work  through travels that nourish my soul. I love seeing what I have never seen before and it replenishes me entirely.

Q. What drives you, at the end of the day?

A. Feeling that I left the world a little better than it was yesterday. If I can say that to myself then I can sleep well at night.

 Q. What does impact mean for you? How would you describe the impact you have had on people and on the world?

A. I used to think that impact was a big word and impact meant millions of people, that everything had to be big to matter. Actually Led By HER taught me the opposite. Impact is much more about doing small things in a big way.  Impact is about the intention and magnitude with which you do every little thing-- and that is what will move mountains.  I learned that you change a world one person at a time and each of those small revolutions will foster others.

 Q. A few final words of wisdom and tips for our career-oriented impact-makers, professionals and entrepreneurs alike, women and men?

 A. Make sure that the first person you serve is always yourself because that is the only way you will truly help others.

This interview is a collaboration between Manuela Andaloro and Riccarda Zezza.

Do we use our life well? Why Marchionne's final exit left us all wondering.

Sergio Marchionne, CEO Fiat Chrysler; Chairman, Ferrari (1952-2018)

(Extracted and adapted from Beppe Severgnini’s “Usiamo bene la nostra vita”, Corriere, 27.7.18)

I happened to be travelling from Switzerland to our holiday home in Sicily in the days leading up to Sergio Marchionne’s unexpected death.

From north to south, from the nearby Zurich Universitätsspital where he was being treated, across the border and down to the south of his home country, not one channel, newspaper or radio station missed to worry about Sergio’s health. In a genuine, incredulous effort to give an explanation to the unbelievable.

On Wednesday, the man who fixed Fiat, Chrysler and Ferrari, Sergio Marchionne, died at age 66.

His death was sudden—a surprising turn of events following complications from shoulder surgery. For 15 years, the Canadian-Italian executive, clad in his signature slouchy black sweater, had stood up in defiance of global market forces that seemed almost certain to put the Italian industrial giant to bed. That his health were to take a fatal turn as he was arranging for his replacement to take the helm seems too ironic. (Mike Manley, the British head of Fiat Chrysler’s Jeep brand, has been named Marchionne’s successor.)

As I reported the news to my father, who had been checking the news daily, during a stroll in a local shopping center, I was met with a deeply sad and incredulous stare, his own, and those of about four other clients who just happened to walk past us as I spoke, and gathered around me in disbelief. The genuine sadness and incredulity struck me.

Why has his death hit a nerve and left such a strong mark? Is it because he was a world famous Italian? He wasn’t the only one, luckily. Is it because his departure was premature and sudden? It’s not the only one sadly.  Perhaps because his fame went well beyond automotive? Italy has an incredible number of outstanding brains across many sectors, but the commotion seen in the last few days is reserved to very few.

If the departure of Sergio Marchionne has hit deeply Italy’s sensitivity – a nation that these days loves to come across as insensitive, lying to itself – the reason lies elsewhere.

It is perhaps the most simple, deepest yet most difficult reason to confess.

Successful, rich, envied, he departed unexpectedly, leaving everything behind. Wealth and rags: affluence, success, envy and flattery. Instinctively, we wondered: if everything is so fast and drastic, are we using our life well?

Our time is limited and we must use it well. “Be like gardeners: invest your energies so that everything you do will last a lifetime or longer”, he said two years ago in a speech addressing university students in Rome.

Why did it have to be Sergio Marchionne to remind us of all this? Because, accordingly to the world’s standards, he had so much: power, fame, money, admiration, the dynamism of the new, long “middle age” – and with so much he had to depart, abruptly.

It made us all more humble, in a time proud of its own arrogance.

Thank you old boy, with your ever present sweater.

(Extracted and adapted from Beppe Severgnini’s “Usiamo bene la nostra vita”, Corriere, 27.7.18)

M.

168 hours, make them count. Mrs Moneypenny for #FearlessFridays

“Energy is the hallmark of success, and your energy comes from only one source, you.”

— Prof. Heather McGregor

London, April 30th, light rain and wind do not seem to bother the busy and energetic Mayfair vibe as I walk past the familiar Ritz hotel, heading to my 2pm meeting on the historical St. James street.

As I push open the heavy doors of her office building I am greeted by a polite and matter-of-factly “Hello. You must be here for Heather”. I get in the elevator and realize that no matter how many wonderful and famous people I have come across in my life, I still have an incredible admiration for women and men that have left a mark, on society and on my own life.

As a curious reader of her column in the Financial Times for many years, as a reader of her highly inspiring books and later as I prepared material for my work at the World Economic Forum this year, I could never stop admiring, being inspired and amused by her wit and wisdom.

Director of headhunters Taylor Bennett, author of the Financial Times' Mrs Moneypenny column (in which she refers to her children as cost centres one, two and three, this had me empathizing long before I had children myself!), executive Dean of Edinburgh Business School, champion of diversity in the workplace, CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for services to business, director of Non-Standard Finance PLC and IGT plc, and member of the Honours Committee for the Economy. Does this sum up Prof. Heather McGregor?

Her book ‘Mrs Moneypenny’s Careers Advice for Ambitious Women’ has helped women all over the world to conquer their career challenges with her wit and straight talking, and has been praised by Arianna Huffington as a wisdom-filled guide that “does the invaluable service of redefining success and happiness for everyone.”
She is described as an international business leader with many strings to her bow, an academic, author, TV presenter, philanthropist and financial journalist. Somehow she also has found time to qualify as a private pilot and do two seasons of stand-up comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe.

I found out years ago that the average life span is 4,000 weeks. Normally this statement announced to adults results in a collective gulp. The day I found out that our weeks are zipping by in a blur I decided I was going to shift gears and own the way I lived my life (that’s where the name of my 4 year old blog comes from, in case you are wondering) and leave behind highly uninspiring energy drainers, arrogance and people who love to hear themselves complaining. I have been on a mission since then to achieve the milestones and goals I had for long dreamt about, to surround myself with positive doers and givers. How did she do it I wonder? 

“What you know represents the foundations of your career. But you won`t be able to build much above the first floor if you don’t have the right materials, and the most important material of all is connections – a network. The truth is, if you want to achieve your goals in life, you need to be both good at what you do and good at building relationships with people who matter.” (Extract from Careers Advice). Needless to say that part of the inspiration that led to one of my businesses, SmartPlan, comes from her advice.

And may I add, you will need your best emotional intelligence, strong soft skills and charisma to be able to connect and stay in regular contact with your network. “Developing a style that works for you and shows people the real “you” – personal chemistry counts for a lot”. “A good place to start is offering help to others when you don`t need anything yourself. What are the top two or three things that you want people to remember you for?” (Extract from Careers Advice)

Less than a year ago I was sitting in our garden on a weekend watching my kids playing while (re)reading two of her most famous books. Thinking of timelines, business plans and figures and getting inspired by who I consider one of the most successful leaders on self-brand and witty thought leadership.

Fast forward of 10 months, I have left my corporate role after 17 years, set up two running businesses, have opened many doors, and the one I am pushing open right now is the door of Heather`s London office.

As I enter our meeting room, Heather is finishing a business call, I sip my tea and write down a few early thoughts next to my meeting agenda, a few seconds later she wraps up her call and greets me with a welcoming smile and much interest. One great “secret” of the best leaders I know? Not only showing, but genuinely having interest in who sits in front of you.

We speak for 45 minutes, about her current projects and mission, of my businesses and past career, of combining motherhood with busy schedules, my years in London, her years writing for the FT, time management, learning to say no and third dimensions. We agree to this interview, and to a few more next steps, we speak some more about the importance of social capital, her current platform with BBC, and I even get her fresh perspective on social media channels.

Q. Heather, much has been written about you over the years and in many interviews. Today I would like to reveal a few angles of your professional life and the impact you have had. Shall we start with who is Heather McGregor today?

A. I am a full-time academic and head of the Business School at Heriot-Watt University.

Q. What is the best and worst decision you've ever made?

A. Best – to marry my husband as he is the most supportive husband you could ever find.

Worst – probably selling my house in London just before property prices really took off.

Q. What do you think is the most significant barrier to female leadership?

A. I think there are 10 major barriers that stand in the way of a women’s career progression and I list all 10 in my book Careers Advice for Ambitious Women but to give you an example think about the dual language people use when talking about male and female leaders, when did you ever hear the word ‘strident’ used about a man?

Q. What woman inspires you and why?

A, I meet new women who inspire me every day, to give you an example I recently interviewed Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money, who I found very inspiring and whose new book, the Virgin Bank is a must read . I feel equally inspired by the woman who leads my business in Asia, Sarah Crawshaws, who qualified as a helicopter pilot at the age of 21.

Q. You once said “do not let a year go by without a clear goal to pursue”. Only one?

A. I have one goal for personal development reasons, but I’m sure there’s lots of other goals you can set to do with work and family. But I think every woman should have one personal development goal they should set for themselves which if they achieve will add massively to their self-confidence.

Q. What’s a typical day like for you?

A. I travel a lot so no two days are the same. But if I’m in Edinburgh, my day normally starts with my husband bringing me a cup of tea at 6 o’clock in the morning, I drink this while looking out at the Marina and reading the morning papers. I then normally cycle along the Union Canal to my work at Heriot-Watt University where I try to see as many people as I possibly can in the hours given and then I cycle home. We are lucky to have lovely light in Scotland till late which allows me to cycle rather than take the car. Once home I have dinner with my husband and go to bed.

Q. If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

A. I would qualify as a chartered accountant; this is the one thing I regret in life.

Q. What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?

A. The power and brand of Adam Smith who lived from 1778 to when he died in 1790 in Panmure House, a building purchased and rejuvenated by Edinburgh Business School which is opening in the Autumn of this year.   

Q. Any success habits you would like to share?

Credits: Time magazine

A. There are 168 hours in week make them count. This includes sleeping!

Q. How do you manage your energy?

A. I’ve learnt to say no. People ask me to do things all day long, and its not always pleasant but saying no is a necessary life skill.

Q. What drives you?

A. Wanting to make a difference.

Q. How would you describe the impact you have had on people and on the world?

A. I hope my legacy is the foundation  (Taylor Bennet Foundation) I established in 2008 to develop black and minority ethnic graduates  so they have a better opportunities in the job market.

Q. There is a large debate going on around the future of work, talent retention, women and millennials values. What do you think the future holds?

A. We are going to live longer and we are all going to have multiple employers. I think everyone should plan for this and visit the www.100yearlife.com 

Q. A few final words of wisdom for our career-oriented, professionals and entrepreneurs alike, women and men?

A. There is no such sentence as I can’t do it; the correct sentence is, I can’t do it alone.

Thank you Heather!

M.

(info@smartbizhub.com) 

One thing to bet on? Yourself. #FearlessFridays

Making an impact, raising awareness on topics that are driving our society forward, connecting great minds and smart ideas, investing in human capital and core skills.  I worked on my passions and turned them into a business. 

Over the past 18 years, I’ve had quite the career journey: 12 different business cards and titles, 5 companies, 3 countries. My most recent addition is the business card I cherish the most: my 6th company, my own.

In each of those positions, I was amazed by the many great people who surrounded me and the power that came from our personal and professional relationships with each other. The most simple yet powerful leadership lesson I learned over my career was that success in life comes as much from what you know and from how you nourish your relationships.

Yet, many career-oriented colleagues continued to focus solely on the one most advertised pathway: the steep career ladder. No matter what the cost was, and what values it clashed with. Somehow considerably less time, energy, thought, and effort went into harnessing their networks and nourishing relationships with key stakeholders around them and outside of their immediate professional world, and even less went into improving vital skills such as self-awareness, emotional intelligence, charisma, self-brand, strengths awareness, to name a few. A pattern began to form for some of those colleagues: at some point, inevitably, their careers stalled, or stopped. Or they simply grew tired, less passionate, they found less purpose in what they had been doing. And the landscape outside did not look comforting. How many had invested in well-rounded networks and had efficiently mapped their strengths, skills and passions, had worked on their core "soft skills", or were clear on what drove them beyond their job, benchmarking them with reality and feasibility? Very few. 

I knew other colleagues who understood the importance of networks but didn’t know how to approach building them strategically. Or did not think they had the ‘social skills’ to maintain strong relationships, or sometimes they were lacking the time and the structure. So many fell back on emails and virtual relationships via social media, exchanges that were never of the same quality as relationships built in-person and over the years. A network built by chance, convenience, social media platforms, and the goodwill of friends, colleagues and business partners is also a bit haphazard.

What if?

What if there was a network where successful professionals could meet in-person and strategically build and strengthen their relationships? What if someone helped them to prioritize? What if a network offered high-impact training and in-person content normally meant for C-Suite executives, but it was made available for those who believe in making an impact and in the power of a strategic community and cross-industry exchanges?

#SmartPlan was born from the belief that our professional lives are based on three key pillars: education, experience and network. While we dedicate an incredible amount of time to the first two pillars, we often leave the strength of our networks to chance, luck, spare moments and digital platforms. Yet, research suggests that almost 90% of roles and business partnerships leverage personal relationships. And relationships need genuine interest and skills to be nourished and grow.

This is where #SmartPlan comes in. 

Our community brings together an elite group of diverse, successful professionals to increase the value we bring to each other and increase the impact we have on the world.

#SmartPlan’s mission is to accelerate the success of impact-makers by cultivating an inspiring and valuable in-person network while providing high-impact training on the latest sought-after skills, such as charisma, self awareness, self-brand, emotional intelligence in business, and much more.

The future of business and of work does no longer necessarily involve a straight-line 20 years career within the same corporation or even industry. 

“One of the paradoxes of the future will be that to succeed one will need to stand out from the crowd while at the same time being part of the crowd or, at least, the wise crowd. So, you will need to both stand out with your mastery and skills and simultaneously become part of a collection of other masters who together create value.

That’s because, in a future increasingly defined by innovation, the capacity to combine and connect know-how, competencies and networks will be key. It’s in this synthesis or combination that real innovative possibilities lie. So, whom you choose to connect with, and to whom they are connected, will be one of the defining aspects of future working life.

High-value networks will consist of a combination of strong relationships with a few knowledgeable people and a larger number of less-connected relationships with a more extensive network. Your high-value networks will connect you with people who are similarly specialised as well as those with very different competencies and outlooks. It is in the diversity of these broader networks, that the possibility of innovation lays.

I believe there is an opportunity over the coming decades to shape work and life in a manner that enables people to reconnect with what makes them happy and creates a high quality of experience. The breakdown of automated work, the rise of home-based working and the increase in the possibility of choice provide the foundation for a shift in focus, away from quantity consumed as the only measure of success.” (Source: The Future of Work, Lynda Gratton, organizational theorist, Professor of Management Practice,  London Business School).

Are you ready for the shifting balance of power? Visit #SmartPlan. 

M. 

(info@smart-plan.org)

Relationships matter. #FearlessFridays

What is the most important asset in your business? Your product or service? Your infrastructure? Capital? Not really.

Your most important asset is the relationships you build along the way. Whether with customers, suppliers or others in your supply chain, these are more important than any other element. I have been establishing two businesses on the same core asset: healthy relationships with like-minded, smart, competent people.

A few years ago I was assigned a project on one of the fastest growing core business segments of my then employer, a large Swiss financial services institution. I was asked to go and build relationships with a large portion of the company that covered interesting markets, and to position my team's products. To build bridges and create distribution platforms where none existed before. I had just joined the company and I had two challenges. I knew little of that particular niche financial product just yet, but this being 2011 I knew a lot about the financial crisis that had just swept across our world, I knew of its roots, as I had been fighting against them from my London based firm for over 4 years, and was only too familiar with high financial exposure, creative risk assessments and margin calls (yes, the film came later). On the downside, I knew nobody in that area of the company, had just arrived from London and was new to Switzerland. 

However what we offered was high quality and I was good at relationships. Within 10 months I had mastered the ins and outs of the products and implemented successful product distribution strategies for all global teams, creating new links and networks. This resulted in strong relationships with internal stakeholders, repeated sales of complex structures, and strong mutual trust. My then boss defined me as "outstanding at relationships", at what I did overall and he even went on to organize sessions where I was asked to explain my colleagues and peers how I had built such good bridges and nurtured such beneficial relationships. That was interesting to see. The answer was easy, I did not need powerpoint slides. I care and I listen. I seek real competence. I give before thinking of what's in it for me.

There is no secret, only the habit of committing to give value, to someone else, without asking for something in return. Gary Vaynerchuk calls this 51–49. Jesus called it the Golden Rule. (Read on here)

Most of my corporate life stakeholders are now a vital part of my businesses.

Fast forward of 7 years, I have made successful investments, invested in myself, left the corporate world after 17 years of fun and started successful businesses that were profitable in a matter of weeks. That is however not to say the road has been bump-free, that I have not made mistakes, that life is a fairy-tale or that I ever work less than an average of 12-14 hours a day.

If you want to put it into business terms, what I nourish is my - and my firm`s - social capital. Studies have shown that close to 90% of business decisions increasingly leverage personal relationships. Business relationships can be taken to a deeper level, to a level where trust and understanding, and even empathy come into play. I have always been a "people`s person", a listener and have consistently connected people and joined dots over the years. Whether I should take any real credit for this habit, or whether it is a result of family background, a strong interest in real genuine people that makes me stay clear from loud-mouthed incompetence, or an innate sense of business, is not something I know with certainty.

Trust plays a massive role in building business relationships. The late, famous salesman and public speaker, Zig Ziglar’s quote says it all.

“If they like you, they will listen to you. If they trust you, they will do business with you.”

Trust is built over time and is built on empathy. Understanding where your clients are coming from and understanding their challenges in dealing with a topic, can work wonders for building that relationship.

The best investment you can make in your business and your future is to spend time and build relationships that go deep. Take time to get to know people. People are the lowest common denominator in our businesses. People make, buy, deliver, sell and consume our products and services. Yet, in our current digital age, we will sacrifice relationships by depending solely on email or text to communicate.

Understand Needs

'It is in conversation that you discover people’s wants, needs, fears, suspicions, problems and perspective. Conversation takes a commitment of time and it is not a one-time event.

Make it a priority to develop deeper relationships with people. It will pay huge dividends in the quality of the relationships and the opportunities to help and serve one another. Focus on the other person and learning about them. Find ways to help them and they will find ways to help you.

Building strong relationships requires a commitment of time and effort. In my world, nothing happens unless it is on the calendar. Commit it to the calendar and then intentionally focus on relationship building.’ (Source: Forbes)

In the past few months I have met a good amount of very interesting and inspiring entrepreneurs, each with great stories, most working hard to bring and drive impact into our world, into people`s lives and businesses. 

It was during an exchange with lovely Katherina G. of Impact Hub, that Flurin`s story came up, and once concepts such as "measuring relationships" were mentioned, I knew I had to go and find out more. 

I met Flurin Capaul over tea a few weeks ago, he is the CEO and Founder of Boonea, and helps firms to leverage their relationships, improving significantly their B2B outreach. 

Q. Flurin, can you tell us a bit about you and your work?

A. Hi Manuela, of course. I am a 39 year old Swiss software engineer turned entrepreneur. I discovered an interest and love for programming in my late teens and even kicked off my own open source projects early on. After the army I started my career in the IT department of a large Swiss bank and attended night school while working full-time. Over the years I worked in New York, Singapore and Switzerland and noticed how important relationships are professionally as the basis for collaboration.

Q. How did you go from witnessing the importance of solid relationships to making a business out of it?

A. I believed that relationships could be measured, scientifically. I pitched a small test project internally to my then employer, developing an algorithm, running tests and gathering results. I did not have a specific focus at the beginning, I wanted to have solid research to build business cases on. Soon I knew that if we wanted to develop our project to the next level, I had to leave the company and iterate the idea outside of a corporate environment. I have always deeply enjoyed to organize, collaborate and turn ideas efficiently into reality and now I am able to put all this to full use. 

Q. So what does Boonea do?

A. Boonea builds AI for B2B sales. Relationships are key in sales and our technology understands relationships automatically. With our network we can boost sales funnels and drive business development goals ahead faster. From detecting warm leads to automated relationship building advice to alerting weak key account coverage. 

Q. Who are your clients?

A. Our clients are companies with at least 500 employees and a B2B business division. We measure relationships based on the communication data of the firm. Communicating is investing into relationships. Boonea has an approach to model the firm`s complete network. 

Q. What inspires you?

A. My biggest inspiration is Roger Schawinski, a Swiss media pioneer. He has an incredible can-do attitude, inspires confidence and has a strong bubbly personality. He likes to quote Jimmy Cliff “You can get it if you really want, but you must try and try”. This sums up running start up scenarios pretty accurately. 

Q. How do you get things done?

A. (Smiles) What helps me to get things done is a burn rate that depletes our liquidity... But more seriously - at the core lies the knowledge that we are on the absolute right track. Research as well as businesses confirm our belief: relationships are key in business development. Our approach of using artificial intelligence to help sales and business development teams focus on what they do best - developing relationships - puts a focus on collaboration.

Q. What drives you?

A. At a personal level my goal is to build a strong business, where every employee, customer and partner truly understands how real and genuine collaboration benefits everyone. 

Q. Any advice for our readers?

A. My personal mantra is that if the going get’s tough, we must keep our head up and persevere. Any tough situation will eventually blow over, you just don’t know when. This might not be very helpful in the moment, but the strong belief that there is light at the end of the tunnel always helps. Focusing on the bigger picture always helps - in life and business. 

Q. What would you practically change if you could to improve productivity?

A. If I’d have to reduce it to a single thing - don’t answer all your emails.  Not everything needs immediate attention, there is much more value in staying focused on a few key activities without letting disrupting notifications distract you. 

M.

(info@smartbizhub.com)

What does it take to be the best we can be? #FearlessFridays

Managing a demanding professional life and a busy private sphere takes energy. Never like in the past few years I have had to give some serious thought to how I manage energy and time, two of the most valuable assets we all own. I accepted that nobody can be 100% productive all day. As much as many of us wish to make the most of every minute, to get everything done, performing without break is just not humanly possible.

The notion of productivity is the ability to be able to do more in a smaller amount of time. Of all our available resources, everyone has the same number of hours in a day. Some, however, happen to get more done. Are they faster or smarter? Do they have more help? Perhaps. But they’ve also learned strategies that can help them stretch time and eliminate the unimportant.

I have found, especially in the past few months since starting my own firm, that concentration is like a muscle, it needs to rest to be able to function properly, and it can`t be overworked, or it will burn out and take time to heal. Finding how to turn up and down the dial that is our concentration is vital to make the most of our time, whether that is at work, at home, with our families or with ourselves. 

I was only delighted when I was introduced to the work that James Hewitt, performance science is driving.

James will be presenting at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos next week, releasing new exclusive research and exploring how wellbeing is an essential resource for addressing the global challenges of our hyper-connected, yet fractured world. 

Ahead of WEF, I have sat down with James to find out more about what drives and inspires one of the smartest and youngest minds of the Forum, and what we can learn from his work. 

Q. James, can you tell us a bit about you and your work?

A. I’m fascinated with human performance, and exploring the limits of human potential. In particular, how the human body and mind have an incredible capacity to adapt, and grow, but also to create and solve seemingly impossible problems. I think my most dominant characteristic is ‘curiosity’. I’m always asking questions, I love learning, experimenting, trying to discover more about why and how things work in a systematic way, so science felt like a natural path for me.

Looking back, I think I was inspired pursue this path at an early age. I was born in the United Kingdom, but one of my first memories, when I was around 3 years-old, is from the time we spent living in the United States. It was during the ‘glory years’ of the Space Shuttle Programme, and I remember watching shuttle launches live on TV, and visiting the Space Centre, in Houston, Texas. There was a Saturn V on display: the same model of mighty rocket which sent humans to the moon. I stood, completely dwarfed by the five giant F-1 rocket engines, and had a sense of awe, and wonder that people, working together, had designed and created this machine. It gave me a sense of the almost limitless possibility, which has never really left me.

James Hewitt, Performance Scientist

Q. What does impact mean for you?           

A. ‘Impact’ means doing the most good, with the biggest effect, in the short time we have available on this planet. I feel very strongly, based on a growing body of evidence, that many people are only scratching the surface of their potential, and are likely being held back by out-dated beliefs about what it takes to achieve and ‘be the best they can be’.

‘All-nighters’, sleep-deprivation, sacrificing well-being for more hours in the office, romanticizing ‘the grind’ and ‘the hustle’ are often associated with the highest output, and the greatest achievements. We may even hold people up on a pedestal for pursuing this way of living and working – “Just look at what they built! They are so successful!” - but it’s possible that the people who are working in this way achieved what they did despite, not because of these approaches, and perhaps they could have achieved more, or perhaps achieved the same outcomes, at a reduced personal cost, if they had looked after themselves, and nurtured a more creative, sustainable approach to high-performance.

Right now, I’m trying to contribute to exploring these ideas through my research, and working with organisations to find new ways of working, which enable knowledge workers to manage their well-being and performance more effectively, so that they can realise more of their potential.

I aim to achieve this impact by addressing the four questions associated with my main research project:

1.     How do knowledge workers’ lifestyle & work patterns influence their well-being and performance?

2.     How does the digitally disrupted work context influence this relationship?

3.     To what extent can digital tools enhance wellbeing and performance in knowledge workers?

4.     Are their differences in how people respond to these digital tools, and can we measure that difference to predict the response?

The reality is that we don’t really have much quality data to help us to answer these questions, yet.

Q. What drives you? 

A. I have a clear sense of purpose, that drives a lot of my decision making; How can I equip and inspire people to realise more of their potential? Today, this is expressed through my research and work with individuals and organisations, in sport and business, from Formula 1 drivers to Fortune 500 companies. However, I spent a long time dedicated, in quite a selfish way, to my own performance and potential, before I pivoted into the space I work in now.

As a teenager and up to my mid-20’s, I was trying to become a professional-cyclist. I started racing at a young age, but my cycling career truly began at the age of 19 when I moved to France. I crossed the Channel from my home in England with a suitcase, a contract with a small regional French team, and a dream.

I worked hard, analysing everything I could about my performance in order to improve it, and managed to move up from regional to elite level in a couple of years. I secured a contract with an Elite Espoir team, which allowed me to race and train full-time. The team was also associated with a professional senior team. We received some of their bikes from the previous season, wore the same design of shorts as the real ‘pros’, and it was a credible path to a professional cycling career.

However, as my career progressed, I realised I was working much harder, and more professionally than many of the people around me, but I just wasn’t getting the results. I had to be honest with myself, that I probably wasn’t going to reach the top of the sport. Also, when I looked deep-down, in truth I enjoyed the process of analysing, testing, training and experimenting to improve my performance, more than I did the actual racing.

I made the decision to ‘retire’, and returned to the UK to complete my undergraduate degree in Sports Science, which provided an academic framework, enabling me to explore human potential, and continue to ask the question: “what does it take to be the best we can be?”

Q. There is a large debate going on around the future of work, talent retention and millennials' values. What do you think the future holds for old school organizations?

A. The future of work is one of my primary areas of interest, and how workplaces need to adapt, to attract and retain top talent, is a key question. The future will be both automated and augmented. Some roles will be entirely supplanted. Many will be replaced in part. Even today, complex capabilities once considered too difficult to automate can now be performed by machines. However, I’m convinced that the future of work will be more ‘human’, at least in relation to the high-income, cognitively demanding and creative jobs, where employment is likely to grow. What can be automated will be. What can not, will become increasingly valuable.

Up to 20% of a senior executive’s role could be automated, according to some studies, but this technology will also likely be assistive and enhancing, facilitating deeper insights, better decision making and multiplied output. Work may become less stressful, as machines help us to manage information flows more effectively, releasing us to focus on creativity, collaboration and complex problem solving. However, this kind of thinking and working is best achieved by well-rested, focused, purpose-driven brains, and diverse teams, who can compensate for each other’s biases, and enhance each other’s strengths.

Organisations need to prepare for the growth in importance of non-routine work, produced by employees (and likely increasing numbers of free-lancers), who sleep well, eat healthily, exercise regularly, perhaps don’t follow traditional working hours and need to feel a deeper sense of purpose and vision for their work, to perform at their best.

The days of looking for a ‘cookie-cutter’ archetype to fill rigidly defined job-roles will likely come to an end in many knowledge-intensive industries. Inclusive and diverse organisations are more likely to thrive in the future of work. The multiplicity of thought, agility and effective approaches to collaboration, essential in organisations which encompass people from many different backgrounds, are more likely to propagate novel, harder to replicate solutions, differentiating individuals and companies from the commoditised, automated systems, which will operate vast proportions of many businesses.

Q. This year, in your contribution at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, you will be addressing a topic of increasing importance in today`s world: technology, epidemics of distraction, “always on” culture and productivity. Can you tell us a bit more about that? 

A. Absolutely. The World Economic Forum Annual meeting has a challenging theme this year: creating a shared future in a fractured world. In a 2-hour session, we’ll be exploring how wellbeing is an essential resource for addressing the global challenges of our hyper-connected, yet fractured world, how many leaders feel that they are not in control, and that their wellbeing is sacrificed in pursuit of performance, or even simply to survive.

Leaders are bombarded with information. Short-term signals trigger cognitive rewards, feel valuable and important, hijacking cognitive control & preventing us from achieving our most important goals. The average CEO receives 250 e-mails per day. Many check their smartphone within 15 minutes of waking and multi-task throughout their conscious hours. The people who need to pay attention the most are often the most distracted, and the people who need to focus are too frequently the most fatigued.

Our contemporary approaches to life and work encourage this relentless, fragmented pattern of working and living, and it’s unsustainable, weakens decision-making, diminishes health, restricts potential and may contribute to the cracks we see emerging in ourselves, our organisations, and beyond.

The session’s aim is to inspire and equip leaders to find new ways to manage wellbeing and performance, creating a culture of wellbeing that cascades down their organisations, and beyond. We argue that this starts with themselves, and begins by finding more opportunities to take a step-back, and give their brains a chance to avoid the ‘cognitive hijacks’ that so frequently disrupt us.

Q. I hear of another incredibly interesting experiment you will be running on Davos` guests this year, scanning brain signals in real time, measuring and recording the collective intelligence of some of the world`s greatest minds. What do you expect to find? Will Davos brains really be any different to the cognitive set-up of ordinary mortals? 

Manuela Andaloro testing the “DavosBrains” headset. Davos, January 2018

A. Yes, we’ll be running an experiment called ‘DavosBrains’. The concept was a collaborative effort that first emerged during a conversation with Olivier Oullier. Olivier is a neuroscientist, President of neuroinformatics company ‘EMOTIV’ and a Hintsa Science Board member. We were talking about some of the themes in my PhD, which explores the wellbeing and performance of knowledge workers, and involves measuring their cognitive performance. We began speculating about the cognitive capabilities of high-performers in business, and whether top-executives had better cognitive performance, in domains such as sustained attention, for example, or perhaps it was worse, due to all the switching and attempts at multi-tasking.

We designed an experiment, based on a cognitive test called ‘Rapid Visual Information Processing’, which is a sensitive assessment of cognitive function, including sustained attention. During the test, we’re using some brief survey methods to assess wellbeing, combined with the cognitive test, and an EMOTIV neuroheadset, which will record and visualize brain activity in real-time.

As a ‘good scientist’, I’m backing the ‘null hypothesis’: that there is no difference in the cognitive capabilities of senior-executives, relative to a normal population, but perhaps we’ll find something cool! Whatever the case, it will be a fun and interesting experience for the participants, as they will get to see a 3D rotating model of their brain activity, rendered in real time, and have the opportunity to save and record a short video of their brain activity, to keep or share with their friends. It’s up to them whether they want to disclose the results of the cognitive tests, once they receive those!

Thank you James, and I look forward to seeing such a cool experiment in action in Davos!

M.

(info@smartbizhub.com)

#DavosBrains is a unique initiative, co-hosted by Hintsa Performance, ConsenSys & EMOTIV for guests attending the World Economic Forum this year. Further information available from 23 January here www.bit.ly/davos-brains.