Olivier Krueger

is the global CEO of Lufthansa Systems. Lufthansa Systems is one of the world’s leading providers of IT services in the airline industry. It draws its unique strengths from an ability to combine profound industry know-how with technological expertise and many years of project experience. Formed as a spinoff of the Lufthansa Systems Group Airline Solutions division, the company continues to be a brand now familiar to the airline industry worldwide. The company offers its more than 350 airline customers an extensive range of successful and in many cases, market-leading products for the aviation industry. Lufthansa Systems also supports its customers both within and outside the Lufthansa Group consulting services and experience it has gained in projects for airlines of every size and business model. Having worked in many countries around the world leading large international multicultural teams throughout his career, Olivier is known to be an empathetic and humble leader. Close to his people, many are those who testify that Olivier leads from the heart.

In this Episode:

Effects of the pandemic on employees and company responsibility to act

What is true leadership?

Importance of empathy and listening in leadership

Company response and adaptation to the pandemic

Importance of communication technology within the company during the pandemic

Empathy and empowerment in leadership

Importance of trust and diversity in companies

Lufthansa Systems’ “Playbook”

Breaking the stigma of seeking help in dealing with mental health issues

Important Quotes:

“Don’t work hard to develop a passion, but find your passion and then work hard to become the best in what you love.” - Olivier Krueger

“Leadership is all about developing people and helping others reach their full potential.” - Olivier Krueger

“Empathy entails truly feeling the emotions of the other person and doing so without judgement and criticism.” - Mollie Jean De Dieu

“If you look into tools and approaches that helped certainly, though creating a sense of “You're not alone in this.” was equally important and it had to be addressed in the empathy level. ” - Olivier Krueger

“We’re doing it because we believe that we are a much better company, a better community, if we have that diversity throughout the entire company.” - Olivier Krueger

“Empowering leadership is the choice of leaders to engage in behaviors that allocate greater responsibility and freedom to followers, and effectively increase their motivation levels which may ultimately lead to higher levels of success.” - Olivier Krueger

“When people feel empowered, they truly believe in themselves and promote that optimism and can-do spirit that gets things done faster and better.” - Mollie Jean De Dieu

“Trust and allowing others actually to be empowered, is something that doesn't cost you a single cent but help you to create an organization that is extremely effective and a lot of fun to work in.” - Olivier Krueger

“We need to make sure that we shape the circumstances in a way that it’s not only support in a technical way but also in a mental and psychological way.” - Olivier Krueger

“Emotional inclusion is not a side topic. It’s a key to success.” - Olivier Krueger

“Listening to others not only on the surface, makes a difference.” - Olivier Krueger

Michael Connolly

is the COO of Corporate Bank and Investment Bank APAC at Deutsche Bank. He is responsible for business management, office control, strategy, and transformation, of around 2300 employees across the region. Under his leadership, the Investment Bank in Asia topped Asia Risk Awards 2020 with 3 House Awards, winning the coveted titles of: Crisis Response of the Year, Market Maker of the Year, and Deal of the Year. A Canadian native with a love of France, his deep vested humanistic leadership has touched many.

In this Episode:

What makes an exceptional leader?

Company’s addition of skills to employees throughout career progression

Adaptive leadership in navigating the pandemic

Company’s adapting technology and management to support employees during the pandemic

Work from home difficulties and programs to help people in the company

Pillars of "The People Strategy" Program

Mental First-Aiders and The Resilience Collective

Leadership awareness of employee state

Attributes of a great leader

Stigma of Mental Health

Important Quotes:

"There’s no silver bullet yet, but we’re spending a lot of time working on it." - Michael Connolly

"The skills that have gotten you in the door are absolutely not the skills that will make you an excellent managing director or business head." - Michael Connolly

"As an organization, we need to ensure that we are adding skills to people as they progress through their career." - Michael Connolly

"There absolutely was a high correlation in the observations that I made during the lockdown period of people that had a big safety net around them and arguably flourished and those that were under a lot of stress and it became all the more important that we understood what was going on with them." - Michael Connolly

"Wellness including mental wellness is absolutely something that we have identified as a priority." - Michael Connolly

"Empathy as a manager, is one of the most important attributes to display." - Michael Connolly

"A manager must have awareness of all the factors that can impact the emotional state of employees." - Michael Connolly

"Emotionally inclusive leadership means that yes, as leaders we commit to truly ensuring that our teams, that our employees are cared for so that they can really feel a sense of belonging and value to achieve their full potential." - Mollie Jean De Dieu

"There's definitely something to be said about bringing qualified expertise to tackle a very specific challenge. And I think the events of the last 18 months have proven that ensuring that everyone is getting support they need is definitely a challenge." - Michael Connolly

Alain is

As the Asia-Pacific Regional CEO of Richemont, Alain is responsible for overseeing and cultivating the presence and development of some of the world's most coveted luxury brands in the region such as Cartier, Montblanc, Van Cleef & Arpels to name a few. His objective is to build success in his industry through the success of his people. With a strong and agile team, he aims to be a truly holistic organization. His deeply humanistic leadership ethos is inspiring.

In this Episode:

Leadership values and sense of purpose

Customer and Employee Centricity

We Care program

Preventive support for employees

Adaptive resiliency

Evolving leadership through generations

Destigmatization of mental wellness across cultures

Cultivating an environment that allows vulnerability

Corporate responsibility on employee’s job security and welfare

Richemont retail academy and watch making school

Important Quotes:

"I think there is a responsibility of everyone to not just care for our customers, but also care for all our teams." - Alain Li

"At some point we all need a strong support system around us." - Alain Li

"The Truth in the matter is that the pull of looking at mental wellness in the workforce is greater than us." - Mollie Jean De Dieu

"I think it’s good that there is that awareness now; mental issues but also the need to look at things holistically and to try and do good. Just basically to try and do good by our colleagues, by our family, by our neighbor, and by each other." - Alain Li

"As people get exposed it becomes destigmatized. People understand that they are not alone in feeling those things." - Alain Li

"I think it’s important for us to know that we can bring our whole selves to work and also for leaders to be vulnerable themselves because at the end of the day we are the ones who are setting the note and the example for others to follow in our footsteps." - Mollie Jean De Dieu

"I think egolessness is a state of mind of mind, of awareness, of curiosity, of inquisitiveness, and paying attention and understanding one another." - Mollie Jean De Dieu

"We have a corporate responsibility to people who have given a lot of their time to support the business and I think it’s important for businesses to ensure that when times are tough, we do also look after the welfare of our teams who have been there during the good times as well." - Alain Li

"Whatever we do, it really has to start from within so we ourselves as leaders have to feel comfortable to be emotionally engaged with ourselves and then be able to be emotionally engaged with all of our colleagues and to set that tone to instill that culture of truly listening and truly caring." - Alain Li

"People talk about the digital revolution but I think the emotional inclusion revolution has taken a big step forward." - Alain Li