TPC Leadership develops leaders with a heart for leaders AND their organisations. They are engaged and passionate in what they do. They focus on the individual, but will always keep the vision and objectives of the organisation into account.
Janna Kramer, Learning & Talent Development Leader
EY – NETHERLANDS
Use our site switcher to easily navigate between our different offices (in your preferred language where available), or select “Global” for our head office.
“… I think for me when you’ve got a team, first of all, you have to have a very, very clear purpose to the team. Why does this team exist? What was it achieving? How does it serve the bigger purpose of the company”
In this episode, Tom Van Dyck is in conversation with Rob Shaw, Leading in Operations Programme Manager at BP. They discuss adapting to the changing business and social environment, the trust equation, challenges and paradoxes of safety – from physical safety in the workplace to psychological safety, to tight-knit teams – and how it all can lead to winning an award.
On building culture of care:
“..I think the key to that is coaching a culture of care where people feel really, really cared for, that they are valued for who they are, that they recognize that their leader cares for them and that the rest of the team care for each other …”
On trust and self-orientation:
“So, it’s trust is equal to credibility, plus reliability plus intimacy, all over self-orientation, which means sort of the biggest factor in building trust or destroying trust is really about self-orientation.”
“…when you’re building psychological safety, it’s really clear to the person or the team, that you’re building that psychological safety with that it’s all about them.”
Listening to the quietest voice:
“…that people are doing the right thing that people are feeling like they can ask questions, or one of the things we talk about a lot in BP is listening to the quietest voice in the room.”
“So that person that may not be naturally vocal, not naturally going to speak up, pulling them into the conversation or how having a one-to-one conversation with them and hearing what’s on their mind. Because often it’s those people that have either got really good ideas, or spotted things that other people haven’t,”
Help but don’t solve – chain of trust
“As you’ve got that chain of trust and you start to hear problems and people talking about problems, and you’ve demonstrated you’re listening to them, you’ve got to help them solve their problems.“
“It’s important that you help them solve the problems rather than necessarily you go away and solve the problems for them “
“In the civilian sector, you’re always at war with your competition, you’re always struggling to survive”, … a conversation with Vincent Martinelli
In this episode of The Leadership Sessions, Tom Van Dyck, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership talks to Vincent Martinelli, Chief Operating Officer at Boston Fusion Corporation previously, Colonel in the US Army. They discuss the importance of respect, how commander’s intent enables military leaders to empower the individuals that are closest to the action, and the challenge that the corporate world faces of always being at war with the competition.
On your personal take on leadership:
“You can’t develop a relationship if you don’t show respect and give respect to other people”
“Once you have a common purpose, then you can have something to collaborate around”
“If you have really talented people around you, then you’re just wasting that talent if you don’t seek their input”
“And then, I also believe very firmly… in being bold and looking for opportunities to not just be incremental”
“The thing about being bold, is that it’s easy to be bold prematurely, and not be prepared”
On the differences between corporate and military worlds:
“… In the civilian sector, you’re always at war with your competition, you’re always struggling to survive, and, you know, day in and day out … that is really challenging”
“The military can certainly learn from the civilian sector … really understanding how difficult it can be to survive in an environment where you’re under constant competition”
“One thing that comes naturally in the military is teamwork, it’s critically important that all team members are cohesive … And so there’s less of an emphasis on that in the civilian sector, there’s a less critical aspect to why we have to work together, so it’s a little less natural”
On mission command and commander’s intent
“Especially with the best leaders that I’ve seen in the military, …there’s a sense of collaboration, a sense of respect for other people’s experience and expertise, and really a need to lean on that”
“This overriding theme of what we call mission command… the philosophy of pushing responsibility … to the individuals that are … best positioned to make decisions about what needs to happen”
“If you don’t remember anything about the plan, just remember what the intent is”
“If the plan completely goes by the wayside, which it often does … you have confidence that they know what the intent is, and that they will move forward and execute”
On international collaboration
“I was really interested in learning what interests the French had, or the Dutch had. And I always thought about it as two circles. And it’s the overlap of the interests where you have to focus your efforts”
“Where I was successful, occasionally, the French officers or the Dutch officers really knew that I wasn’t just trying to accomplish US interest … but that I was really trying to build something collaborative with them, and I realized that that was a powerful thing”
“Back to the fundamentals of leading yourself”
In episode 5 of The Leadership Sessions, Tom Van Dyck, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership Belgium, and Laurent Jacquet, Partner at TPC Leadership Belgium explore Going back to the fundamentals and taking complete responsibility for our lives.
“Ask what is it that I believe in… because if we don’t, we feel lost, we don’t feel authentic, relationships are not strong enough…”
Having recently published his book “New Leaders” Laurent delves into his personal mission to create better leaders. From the hockey pitches of international competition, Laurent traces the influences and reflections that have led him to develop a clear philosophy and approach to help new leaders immediately step up and add value to their teams. Their discussion focuses on the need to understand oneself, to question one’s own beliefs and opinions in order to be authentic in one’s interactions, motivations and relations, and how this is just as true for old hands as it is for new, junior leaders.
The Leaderships Sessions is a podcast series of captivating conversations with exceptional leaders from around the world sharing their insights, experiences, thoughts, and personal opinions about what leadership means and what it takes to be effective.
On your personal journey of creating better leaders:
“It really is a journey about contrasts”
“In an environment in top sport, you have to imagine a place full of emotions… there’s an incredible dynamic… and the interesting aspect there for me was I couldn’t find that back into my professional life.”
“I really wanted to have that same engagement in my professional life than I had in my sports, so I went on a quest of meaning I went on a quest of purpose”
“I really wanted to have that same engagement in my professional life than I had in my sports”
On the magic formula:
“The number one thing we should all do is take complete responsibility of our lives”
“There’s this thing that says: you are the CEO of your life. It’s exactly that” • “I moved to taking responsibility for everything. That’s a very hard thing to do, but it’s very freeing!”
“We all have a backpack… the thing we need to do is to basically, open that backpack, look what’s inside, and really ask ourselves, is this really mine? The things I received from my parents, the values, the beliefs, all these things? Are they really mine?
“…the things I received from my parents, the values, the beliefs, all these things, are they really mine?”
“Ask what is it that I believe in… because if we don’t, we feel lost, we don’t feel authentic, or relationships are not strong enough. And it’s going to be much harder in the end to positively influence others”
“It’s a conscious and continuous effort that happens through actions through trials and errors. So, you need to be okay with making these mistakes and failing”
On Why People Should Pick Up His Book:
“We’re too much focused on the skills first, sometimes we forget what we want to achieve in doing what we do, ”
“There’s this special philosophy that helps new leaders, from tomorrow on, immediately, start to have an impact on their teams”
“It comes back to fundamentals about leading yourself, and some key concepts about how you can take people with you because they want to follow you not because they have to…”
“It comes back to fundamentals about leading yourself …”
In this 3rd episode of the Leadership Sessions, we explore curious boldness, leading teams and winning awards for innovation during COVID, perspectives on the new normal, and differences between private “houses” and public companies, with host Tom Van Dyck and Karl Lechat, previously Managing Director for Skoda in Belgium and now heading bicycle development initiative at D’Ieteren in Belgium
On curious boldness:
“Be curious in everything that you do”
“Integrate this aspect of curious boldness, go a bit further than yourself, learn, step out of your comfort zone, do something different, challenge yourself, don’t take life for granted, go and get it, don’t have any regrets…”
On team leadership:
“The speed of the group is the speed of the slowest group member”
“It’s about taking the ego out of the conversation”
“Give people the chance to do something and make mistakes”
“To maintain this (group of companies) over 200 years, you need to have respect for the people and help them grow”
On handling Covid:
“Always have a plan B because if you don’t, plan A won’t happen!”
“I’m an optimist, everything will always be a little bit different, it’s Darwin at the end of the day!”
Listen to the above sections and much more in the podcast.
Don’t miss our previous episode, ‘Psychological safety and the impact of the unvarnished truth’, with Brandon Strong, head of finance with Google.
The Leadership Sessions is a podcast series of captivating and occasionally provocative conversations with exceptional leaders sharing their personal opinions on what it takes and means to be a leader. In this series of perceptive discussions, host Tom Van Dyck discusses how leadership is transforming with a range of inspirational guests from around the world, willing to share their personal stories and learnings. What are their strategies and tactics that help them thrive in these uncertain times and beyond?
Join us on The Leadership Sessions. We would love to continue the conversation with you.
If you wish to share comments or a specific topic that you would like us to cover in a podcast, drop us a line on [email protected]
