Here is my interview with Peggy Renders this month in the lead up to our next event “Finding a balance, @Digital Women’s Network on September 13, 2017 in Melbourne
I am delighted to interview Peggy Renders this month in the lead up to our next event “Finding a balance, September 13, 2017 in Melbourne
Peggy is an executive leader in the digital space, where she focused on business transformation and growth. Passionate about building high performing teams and mentoring women and ensuring a diverse workforce is used to get to better results.
Peggy, can you please tell me what is a conscious leader?
A conscious leader is focused not just on profits and goals, but focuses on the 3 P’s: People, Profit and the Planet. A conscious leader believes that you can only really succeed, at your highest levels, by helping others and society as well. Conscious leaders are clear on their purpose.
The 3 things conscious leaders focus on are:
- Vision – Conscious leaders develop a big vision on what’s possible and turn that into a powerful purpose to drive the business.
- Engagement and creating fellowship – Conscious leaders communicate the vision very clearly in such a way that others want to become part of it.
- Execution – Once the stakeholders are engaged and “on fire”, conscious leaders become laser-focused on execution the priorities that will get them, the team, the business and customers to results.
Conscious leaders are aware of the interconnectedness of all life. They apply both a personal and spiritual aspect which allows them to connect with people at a much deeper core level.
What made you follow a path into conscious leadership?
My path to conscious leadership has started with the discovery of self. Realising that my thoughts are not who I am and that I am completely free to come up with new beliefs and thoughts that serve me. Part of mastering self-has brought me back to the core of who I am and the impact of previous generations. Finally, it has connected me with people around me and how everything in life is connected and how the universe is listening and providing me with everything I could ever dream of.
Discovering my true purpose has also made me realise how powerful this is in business. I am who I am, whether that’s at work, with my children, with my friends, as a daughter. Being me allows me to be free and connect with others at a deeper level and bring out the best in them. I thrive on lighting other people’s candle and seeing them shine. Combining that with pragmatic results focused leadership style is very powerful and comes naturally to me.
What trends are you aware of in business today that alarm you?
Couple of trends:
- There is a lot of focus on cost reduction and optimisation. Although required, you can take this too far and create a culture of fear which doesn’t bring out the best in people. I manage this by communicating clearly the conditions we are operating in and providing clear insights to all stakeholders in future plans. Also, it’s important for people to feel they belong which gives them a feeling of safety and a good basis for them to step up and do more.
- Digitisation. It’s everywhere, all business are being disrupted. I think it’s providing great opportunities for a new leadership style. You need leaders who are OK to show vulnerabilities and are able to create a climate where it is OK to fail. Old school management doesn’t work anymore.
- When your business is being disrupted, you need creativity to come up with new business processes and business models to survive. You need this from all stakeholders in the organisation so providing them with a feeling of belonging and safe haven, and giving them permission to experiment can give you the new ideas to get a competitive advantage. This ultimately comes back to challenging your own beliefs, about yourself, others, your business, your customers …
What are the things you have introduced in across SAP that help people?
- Open and honest communication across teams: coffee corners for example in every capital city to have a “open” conversation.
- Offsite, where we focus on leading self and having coaches/inspirational speakers
- Permission to bring your whole self to work by doing it myself. Eg dress code, I am just me and dress what I feel like.
- Launch of innovation centers in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane (to come)
- Buddy them up program – providing everyone a buddy, like an online dating app, linking people up based on interests and what they are looking for in a ‘buddy’ relationship
- There are probably more… just some of the recent ones above
What are you most passionate about in changing Women’s well-being?
I’m most passionate for women to just be who they are. I realised that early on in my career, definitely in Australia, I have copied male behaviors to make progress in my career. This goes to the detriment of yourself as you are not true to yourself.
It’s OK to be you and leverage your unique strengths. For example, I’ve become a much better leader since I’m a mother and tapping a lot more into my nurturing skills, at work. As a parent, you want to give your kids all the opportunities in life, discipline them when needed, make them feel safe to explore and try new things, and hope they will have do better than yourself.
Ultimately, that’s the same you want for the people you lead and around you. I can only bring that into my leadership style by bringing my whole self to work.
Join us Next week September 13th 2017 to meet Peggy and learn more about her tips on helping you to find a balance and how she mentors women in the tech space.
Limited tickets remain https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/find-a-balance-and-improve-well-being-with-digital-womens-network-tickets-35401306260
Looking forward to seeing you there,
Cheers, Angela Mellak CIM
Director and Strategist of Digital White Space
Co-founder of Digital Womens Network
Level 2, 287 Collins Street, Melbourne 3000
M: +61(0)466 619 631
https://digitalwhitespace.com.au
L: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/angela-mellak/15/931/922
“Your smile is your logo, your personality your business card and how you leave people feeling after they dealt with you becomes your trademark”.. Angela Mellak
https://www.linkedin.com/post/edit/6310784145794703360