Revolutionizing The Technology Industry | Kamales Lardi | TEDxGeneva

[Music] foreign [Music] tic leaders act according to their true selves When leaders are true to themselves their words and actions Inspire trust inclusion and create an environment of psychological safety this cultivates creativity Innovation and most importantly accountability I entered the technology industry in the 1990s and over the years I have observed that the industry prioritizes and favors traditional leadership styles with masculine characteristics to be assertive directive hierarchical and autocratic open displays of vulnerability and empathy are often seen as a weakness on the contrary vulnerability is a powerful display of strength in leaders it requires a shift in mindset towards embracing one's own imperfections and acknowledging our limitations technology Leaders with empathy create solutions that are meaningful and socially responsible because they're able to actively listen to and engage with their customers as well as employees we need a new breed of leadership in the technology industry c-level Executives and top level managers who are able to prioritize people and values and I believe the way to do this is by embracing the strengths of authenticity vulnerability and empathy back in 2009 I was Consulting for a global banking client the pressure was on in the project it was complex we had very tight deadlines and many of us were working long hours 14 hour days over six days a week for an extended period of time our client lead was an extremely passionate and driven perfectionist now she was often very stressed and this would spill over into loud outbursts and yelling during meetings after which she could be heard crying in the restrooms many of our project team members avoided her because of this and some people even feared her it disrupted the project entirely so I decided to take a different approach instead of distancing myself from her I engaged with her empathetically to find out what her concerns were it turned out that her stress was rooted in her passion for the work this project had the potential to create an impact on so many people's lives and create a fairer Financial outcome for them and she felt disappointed by the project teams recurring mistakes and careless attitude so once I understood her concerns I could advocate for change in the project environment to better meet the client's needs and once she realized that she had an ally in me she could lean on me for support and this reduced the stress together we were able to redirect the project for a successful outcome now this experience highlighted to me the value of authenticity vulnerability and empathy in creating meaningful relationships with people and producing successful outcomes in a technology environment we need leaders who embody these values and Studies have even shown that this creates a more democratic environment where people feel valued and respected and they're free to share insights and ideas we need to overhaul the leadership in the technology industry and whole senior Executives accountable for behaviors and values and I believe the way to do this would be to implement a values contract an industry-wide commitment to authenticity vulnerability and empathy just like we are mandating companies to report on environmental social and governance responsibilities let's start tracking good values and hold Executives accountable for it so how exactly do we Implement values contracts in a practical way first of all we need to normalize even having values contracts companies when hiring senior executives offer contracts and agreements data privacy policies I.T codes of conducts so why not offer a values contract as well one that clearly states what are the expected behaviors we want to see in senior Executives and have them commit to it for example open and transparent communication prioritizing people in decision making as well as sharing mistakes while celebrating successes now let's make these values contracts public so their commitments and the expected behaviors and consequences are openly shared with employees customers and the General Public in 2007 I was a project lead for a global reinsurance company the company wanted to implement a new collaboration and communication platform for over 10 000 employees and it needed a bit of mindset shift towards more open and transparent communication now instead of taking the traditional route the project team decided to try a new method we identified influences from every level across the organization people with strong Networks and we asked them to sign a commitment agreement it was a simple one-page document that said if they like the tool and its features they would advocate for it in their Network they became our pilot users and news about the platform spread like wildfire we didn't have to sell it to the people because people wanted access this tool is still in use at that company today commitment breeds change in Behavior the influencers understood what was expected of them committed to it and delivered on that commitment I've also worked with project directors who insisted that we sign a commitment agreement or a code of conduct before starting on any new client engagement it was a simple one-page document but it set the tone for what was expected in terms of behaviors and values on projects and by signing it every team member and the director committed to delivering on it the outcomes were a more democratic environment where people felt positive team spirit and collaboration and the outcomes were always successful including financial success now we have values contracts implemented the next step is to find a way to track and measure commitments companies have quarterly reports and financial earnings so why not include a values index reporting as well one that tracks how well senior Executives have delivered on their commitments and let's link their compensation and bonus to it as well just to make it real for them a good way to track authenticity vulnerability and empathy in an organization is to set up a kind of Hall of Fame environment this would be an open Forum where employees and customers can share stories of demonstrable value the stories big and small would indicate how well senior Executives in the tech companies are delivering against their commitments and let's make sure to share negative stories of negative behavior as well without consequence now this approach will force senior Executives to become more self-aware and to start proactively trying to behave in a better way as well as demonstrate better values once we have values contracts and a way to track commitments we need clear consequences and this is the third step we reward senior Executives for good performance and financial outcomes in the same way there should be negative consequences for negative behaviors and values I had an experience recently with a global tech company an employee was on a group video call with his project team as well as the client project team now during the call on a private group chat with his project team he started to write some really terrible things about his client unfortunately this private group chat was shared with the entire group when one of the colleagues did a screen share of course the senior Executives of the tech company scrambled to issue a formal apology and sent the client flowers you know just to smooth things over get the project back on track however internally the senior Executives joked about the incident with the employee they laughed it off as insignificant and there was no real consequence for the incident so guess what happened a few months later the employee repeated the same behavior on another project with another client senior executives are accountable for what is acceptable and not acceptable in an organization they set the tone for this and there should be consequences for bad behavior at every level in an organization so senior executives are accountable for incidences like this to lead by example so what kind of consequences can you have for senior Executives I mean we could find them but they'd probably pay the fine without a second thought we could fire senior Executives in tech companies for bad behavior but they'd probably get another job fairly quickly we could go down the path of public shaming and cancel culture we hear about a lot about these these days with social media and so on this could be an option however we've also heard about senior Executives in tech companies who are exposed for bad behavior and they ride the wave of public shame but still keep their positions in leadership these consequences don't really work and they don't bring lasting results instead let's hit them where it hurts I suggest for senior Executives who demonstrate bad behaviors and values let's demote them to lower ranks within the organization for a period of time to work off their values debt let's remind Executives that positions at the top are not permanent and they will be held accountable just like in our legal system drunk drivers are held accountable for getting into a car inebriated because lives could be at stake technology companies and the solutions that they create are responsible for far more lives don't you think it's fair that Executives of these tech companies are held under the same scrutiny and accountability so who should Implement these values contracts I believe it should be a shared responsibility Regulators should mandate it the companies and shareholders should execute on it and we you and I should demand for it the technology industry isn't like any other industry in the world technology has integrated itself into almost every aspect of Our Lives it's changed the way we behave operate and interact now emerging Technologies like artificial intelligence are developing at such a rapid Pace that Regulators are playing a catch-up game to them big tech companies are entering almost every industry across the world Gathering a significant amount of influence for themselves now as a result there is a concentration of power towards these companies and it's calling into question societal risks and Democratic principles now with so much at stake we are dependent on the senior Executives and Leadership of these tech companies to use their power wisely I believe they should be held at a higher standard of behavior and value as a technology leader with over 23 years of experience in the industry I have committed myself to leading in an authentic way leveraging the strengths of vulnerability and empathy to lead by example now this can be a lonely stance to take because it goes against the Norms in Industry however I believe it is crucial and so important and every Tech leader should consider taking a similar stance because you see the most Innovative Technologies in the world the most powerful Technology Solutions they're only as good as the people who create and Implement them foreign

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 140,906

Keywords: English, Leadership, TEDxTalks, Technology, Value, [TEDxEID:54514]

Id: BQvpyPnbX-c

Length: 14min 12sec (852 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 24 2023