Session: Embracing Industry 4.0: Inspiring Transformational Leadership in a Digitally-Driven World
*Revolutionary ideas begin with being open to the idea that a fresh, more efficient solution might be just around the corner. Getting there requires transformational leaders with strong emotional intelligence, leaders who are adept at reading mood, body language, facial expressions before deciding how to proceed.
It also requires leaders who are self aware of the strengths and weaknesses, focused on problem solving rather than placing blame and skilled at assessing what is realistic in terms of the time and energy required for a task or project. Dinging an employee for not achieving an unrealistic goal instills fear and mistrust and comes across as weakness instead of strength.
* Open, free-flowing communication is the base ingredient for that intra-team accountability.Here are my two strategies for communicating during stressful times:
· Over-clarify and over-simplify. Over-communicate, over-collaborate, and over-align on the priorities that lead to the creation of our products and services. Over simplify the priorities so everyone understands what is needed right now. Too many details are overwhelming, so keep people focused on what customers need right now.
Make every interaction count. Listen deeper to hear what has gone unsaid. We will all remember who was there in the smallest moments. We will remember the extra pauses, the extra calmness and the extra thank-you note.
Leadership means walking a tightrope between guiding and letting them fly on their own. The culture that helps get you through a crisis is the one that will lead you through it. You build team trust by mentoring the team, having one-on-ones and working with them in the trenches. Just like at the bank, you have to put money in the bank before you withdraw it. You must put a lot of money in your team bank so that when the going gets tough, and when you want to keep them motivated, you can go and withdraw the money that you put in.
* Every challenge is an opportunity to succeed and it begins with minds that are open to creative solutions. There will be pitfalls. There will be failure. The journey of the scientist, to test the limits, to fail, to learn and then test again with the knowledge from the prior experiment. But getting to great often requires active listening and strong emotional intelligence.
Bio
Edwige A. Robinson is a transformational leader and
distinguished innovator who consistently bridges
the gap between engineering, technology and
business. The West Africa Native, from Cote d’
Ivoire, has become one the nation’s top Women in
Tech. She is recognized by Aleria Tech as an
“Awesome Black Women Everyone Should Know”
and by 1 million STEM Women as a Visible Role
Model who inspires the next generation of girls.
As a Black woman, immigrant and mother, she is
courageous and optimistic about what is possible
in the face of countless obstacles. Edwige is
currently the Senior Vice President of Network
Engineering and Operations of the Central Region
at T-Mobile. She is responsible for 23 states with a
P&L of $3B+, leading more than 5000 employees
and contractors who design, build, and maintain a
cutting-edge 5G Network. She is a beacon of hope
and strength for those who wonder whether they
have what it takes to overcome obstacles in their
path.