An In Good Company podcast with Sylwia Chada.
In this season of podcasts, we’re exploring all things leadership.
To help us explore how leaders can help people achieve their full potential, engaging GenZ and Millennials and how to manage ego, we were joined by Sylwia Chada, a people leader who we first met when she was General Manager of TikTok Poland and Central and Eastern Europe – she’s also a weightlifting champion!
Latest listen
Here are a few insights from Dan’s conversation with Sylwia – or you can watch the full podcast on YouTube or Spotify.
How do you show yourself to be the best version of a leader that your team need?
Humility is key to being yourself with people, with a team. Let people engage with their goals and the environment in a way that they feel comfortable. You can guide a team to a certain goal, demonstrating a connection to their work, but do this whilst aiming to build a relationship with them. Listen, stay humble and open and always show your integrity. This is the way to start to build more engaged and high performing teams.
“Your title doesn’t make you a leader. It is the way you behave.”
How can leaders create environments that help people achieve their full potential?
Be yourself to build trust. You are a part of the team. Your title doesn’t make you a leader. It is the way you behave. Yes, targets have to be met and organisations need to grow. But if you understand your role as leader, that you are responsible for the growth of the team and you are obliged to drive performance – then the honest and challenging conversations you have are what will build trust. Create a good culture and you won’t have to worry so much about retention.
How do you engage Generation Z and Millennials in the workplace?
In my overall experience, Generation Z like to work it out for themselves, Millennials prefer to work in a team. But they both want to learn and grow and to understand the culture of the company. Leaders need to demonstrate a willingness to have open conversations and take feedback from them. You cannot micromanage. Lots of GenZ and Millennials wanted to join TikTok because they liked the brand. But they still need to do the day-to-day business. Interviews and onboarding are key. Aligning profiles to the organisation they are joining is important, every job is not for every person. You must show that you care about individual growth and will support with relevant training, coaching and buddying which will ultimately benefit the individual and the organisation.
How can leaders manage ego?
It's very hard to manage ego. It is ongoing. I’ve experienced this as a very challenging path in my life, but it has made me a better leader. It’s hard to hear feedback that someone disagrees with you, or a challenge that you are wrong. But you must digest it and not react immediately. If you want to stay in this game, it’s about growing, learning and keeping an open mind and a growth mindset. A growth mindset asks you to accept certain circumstances and move forward. Some boundaries cannot be pushed, and this is where we come back to humility and how you show yourself, accept you are not the most experienced person in the room and let others know they have better expertise in a topic is a way to manage ego.
Listen to the podcast on Spotify
Watch our interview here:
Coming up
003: Leading hybrid teams with David Berz, Meta
004: Sustainable business with John Maddy, Long Valley Holidays
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