Marian Popa, CEO of Deutsche Bank Global Technology Bucharest: We should never waste a good crisis

How are the CEOs and managers of large companies addressing aspects related to leadership and busines resilience within their industries and with the aim of reaching the business objectives for 2020 and 2021?

Within the editorial project “MOVING THE BUSINESS FORWARD” powered by Outsourcing Today, we held a series a series of interviews of the high-leveled professionals, CEOs, GMs and leaders of different departments of companies acting in local industry. We talked in a recent interview with Marian Popa, CEO  of  Deutsche Bank Global Technology Bucharest in order to find out what is the role of leadership in the current environment that becomes paramount to inspire and motivate teams and companies to move forward.

What leadership skills do you find most useful in the current changing work environment? 

 Everything related to empathy : that you care;  that you have consistence;  that you create unity; that you generate values; that you help people to accomplish; that you are vulnerable;  that you are generous; that you have courage; that you show respect; that the activity you offer your peers generates their satisfaction; that you earn their trust; that you are polite and considered.

 Which are the empowering mindsets  for building the sense of meaning & purpose, both for employers and employees, to keep each other engaged in reaching the business objectives in 2020 and in the next year?

Reciprocal trust and responsibility; challenging work; no artificial hierarchy.

What should be a CEO’s and leader’s power message on business resilience conveyed to peers, partners and employees  for 2021, in order to enhance the trust and engagement?

Vision, strategy, hope, trust, courage  and action. In this order.  

How can a CEO and leader of an organization capitalize on the current challenges to enhance ad promote the company’s competition advantages currently?

We should never waste a good crisis . Crisis are just reminding us that we got used too long in a status quo while times were moving on. All we can capitalize on are the values and the skills of our employees; the rest becomes obsolete very fast. We have to be flexible, imaginative and reinvent us every time. And we do not have to fight the competition – this is wasted energy. We have to satisfy our clients needs in quality.

Which are the current concerns of a CEO / leader in 2020?  Which are the hopes for 2021?

 As long as you have a  strategy; you have no concerns. As long as you have a contingency you have no concerns. As long as you are a team and think in WE and not in ME you do not need hope because you have certainty.

What innovative measures and inclusive leadership initiatives have been applied within your organization this year, to better cope with the current context and bring the business forward in 2021?

Collective leadership and innovative thinking is not something we are using only since 2020. Since its inception in 2014 DB Global Technology put strong emphasis on the two value mentioned before : collective and innovative. The most important parts are to let everybody participate in equal terms (not hierarchical) and innovate outside the known patterns and activities. Innovation has  be completely new, completely different and completely unusual to work in our days.