LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY
Over the course of your career, you’ ve held many roles, how has this strengthened your leadership skills? Working throughout the value chain, from research, development and manufacturing to procurement, business strategy and everything in between, has helped me tremendously in navigating the whole value chain end-to-end. Not only am I able to see the big picture, but I also have the deep knowledge to understand whether the high-level strategy can be executed or not. I often say, we don’ t live in the PowerPoint world; we live in real life where only execution counts. Without deep knowledge across the value chain, the strategy might be sound, but if it can’ t be executed successfully, then the strategy is only as valuable as the piece of paper it’ s written on.
The world is more real now than when I started my career almost 25 years ago
Michelle Shi-Verdaasdonk Chief Product Officer Electrolux Group
Looking back at your career, what moments or influences most shaped your view of what good leadership looks like? I have been so lucky in my career to have had so many amazing role models to look up to. I have learnt two important principles in leadership which have shaped how I lead. Firstly, having a vision is a must in leadership; you can’ t lead if you don’ t know where you want to take your teams. Secondly, vision is not an ambitious neverland; a good leader needs to know how to build the path to guide the teams to achieve the vision. I am a keen hiker, so I often use hiking as an analogy for these two principles. As an impactful leader, not only do you need to point out the peak we are trying to get to, but you also need to break down the seemingly far-away – sometimes impossible – peaks into different stages and milestones for the teams to achieve. Good leaders are also the guides on the hike. You prepare the team with the right tools and understanding of the route. You lead the way- walking every step the team walks. You motivate and encourage when the route gets difficult, and you carry the weight when a team member is struggling. You celebrate every milestone and look back to see how far you’ ve come. Then you repeat, until you and the team reach the peak together.
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