In The Know by INSEAD

Leading the Way: The Importance of Executive Career Development - ITK#34

Committing to ongoing professional development is crucial for executives looking to thrive in today's rapidly changing business landscape. Without a dedication to personal growth, leaders risk falling behind their peers and becoming obsolete. To stay ahead of the competition, executives must stay informed about current trends, technologies, and best practices. In this episode, we're joined by Mike Wort, Assistant Director of Executive Career Development and Career Coach on the Europe Campus, to discuss the importance of investing in executive career development and the potential long-term rewards it can bring.

Our Guest

Mike Wort has made multiple career changes to his work countries, sectors, and functional roles and has worked with INSEAD for 10 years.

Mike holds a Certificate for Coaching for Leadership and Professional Development from the Tavistock Institute in London, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and BA in International Business and French. He is also an INSEAD alumnus having graduated from INSEAD’s Management Acceleration programme in 2018. 

How to Adopt mindfulness practices in Your Professional and Personal Life - Student Life Feature - ITK#33

The business world is often associated with stress and anxiety, but there is an increasing interest in mindfulness as a way to promote well-being in the workplace.

Mindfulness is about being present in the moment and paying attention to your thoughts and feelings without judgment. It can help you cope with stress, boost your concentration, and improve decision-making. There is evidence that mindfulness can be beneficial for both individuals and businesses.

For businesses, mindfulness can improve employee productivity and engagement. In addition, mindful companies are more likely to be creative and adaptable, traits that are essential in today's ever-changing marketplace. As more businesses begin to adopt mindfulness practices, it is clear that this ancient tradition can offer modern companies a competitive edge.

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Our guests:

Joa Scetbon  (Mindfulness Facilitator, INSEAD Psychological Services)

 

Our hosts:

Angela Rachel (Student Life Officer, INSEAD Degree Programmes)

Eva Laporte (Student Life Officer, INSEAD Degree Programmes)

 

Resources:

INSEAD Psychological Services

INSEAD has an international team of psychologists to work with students, staff and faculty in times of personal challenge or crisis. We offer individual and couple consultations, as well as Mindfulness groups, on the Fontainebleau and Singapore campuses. We also run workshops on various psychological issues for MBA students.

We work both in-person and remotely.

Appointments are completely confidential and free of charge.

 

Timestamp:

01:10 - About the guests and role at INSEAD Psychological Services

01:45 - What is Mindfulness, and why is it important to practice this in our daily lives 

05:55 - The difference between mindfulness and meditation, and some common misconceptions

09:38 - Common themes and why students and staff attend the mindfulness sessions at INSEAD

11:30 - How to adopt mindfulness practices in your personal and/or professional lives

13:26 - Practical ways to apply these practices to your life

18:35 - Benefits of learning mindfulness practices in person or workshops as compared to via digital apps

22:30 - Takeaway tips for those thinking of starting their mindfulness journeys, and sustaining these practices

Finding a Place to Assume Your Personal and Professional Identity and Belong - ITK#30

Belonging is knowing that you are a part of the world around you. It's about fitting in, finding your place, and feeling like you belong with the people around you. 

But some may have difficulties in identifying a sense of belonging to a certain place, or with certain groups of people, especially after international experiences or careers that may have shaped the way they think, behaves, or addresses any challenges, they are faced.

So let’s discuss the importance, or lack thereof perhaps, of having to find your place and assuming an identity and belonging.

After all, isn’t it the goal for us all to create more inclusive communities where one is accepted no matter where they are from, or where they believe they belong?

Our Guests

Aya Imai

Aya is the Associate Investment Officer at International Finance Corporation (IFC). Aya joined IFC's Financial Institutions Group in 2019 after working in management consulting and M&A advisory in the private sector. She is involved in executing new investments and the portfolio management of existing investments in the West and Central Africa region, after spending 2.5 years in Amman, Jordan, with IFC’s Middle East and North Africa team. Most recently, her team has been working on equity investments to fintech companies in Africa, small loans to women entrepreneurs, including Syrian refugees, and loans to SMEs that could contribute to climate change mitigation. Aya is an EMFIN'23Feb participant.

Stephanie Daudier

Stephanie is the founder of The Inspiration Lab, a consultancy working for global companies to strengthen diversity, inclusion and leadership at work. Stephanie started her career as a researcher in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and a teacher in survey theories at Paris University. Stephanie also 25 years at L'Oréal, in the Luxe Division, in marketing, sales and general management and then at 50, I decided to go back to learning and studied NLP at UCSC University of California Santa Cruz, and Organizational psychology at INSEAD with EMC programme.

What Does Generation Z Want from Our Leaders? - ITK#29

Generation Z, the generation born from 1994 onwards, wants their leaders to be positive, according to “Generations”, a study of more than 18,000 working professionals and students across the world. This study conducted by INSEAD, Universum, and MIT found that the ever-increasing speed of technological change is opening up fissures in both generational expectations of leaders and their expectations for their own paths to management. The mix of aspirations and demands from the different generations presents challenges that will have to be carefully managed.

Our Guests Todays

Alexander Eissler                 

Alex completed his Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics at Vienna University of Economics and Business. The programme’s international approach and culturally diverse student body taught him a lot about the importance of a global perspective and encouraged him to collect professional experiences across the globe. Alex has worked in different countries and industries from consulting to pro-bono and even entrepreneurship with his own start-up and is passionate about cars and tennis.

Robin Duppui

Robin Duppui is a German student, born and raised in Stuttgart with several years spent living abroad in Mexico and Australia. Looking for a leadership career in business management, he studied Business Administration and Economics at the University of Hohenheim (Stuttgart), graduating with a Bachelor of Science. Alongside his studies, he has gained professional experience in several industries such as automotive, industrial automation, logistics, software-based medical technology and academia, mainly in sales and strategy-related roles. He is a passionate guitarist and an avid snowboarder.

Ruxandra Tosun

Ruxandra is passionate about building success stories and helping individuals reach their full potential, with a taste for international environments and is a Career Coach at INSEAD. Ruxandra tests how digital innovation can support the higher education sector and the coaching world enabling her to create new strategies and an interactive career journey for her clients.

Balancing an MBA and Pregnancy - Student Life Feature - ITK#27

If you're a mother-to-be considering pursuing an MBA, or if you're already in the midst of your MBA program and expecting a baby, today's episode is for you. 

Our guest for this episode is Kemi Ogunlesi from the 21D cohort, and she shared her experience of getting pregnant with her second child during the course of her INSEAD MBA. Kemi shares some tips on how to manage both pregnancy and an MBA programme successfully. Being a student while pregnant can be challenging, but it's definitely doable with the right planning and support system in place.

Our Guest Today 

Kemi Ogunlesi MBA 21'D

Kemi is an Operations Management professional with a background in Engineering and 8 years of experience delivering complex technical projects in the offshore drilling industry to drive peak operational performance.

The World of Tomorrow - Possibilities & Opportunities - ITK#26

Technology change and innovation affect every domain of business, changing the face of the industry at an accelerating pace. With the start of a new year, it is often customary to look to the future and try and plan how we can become a better version of ourselves. To help share insights on the future we held a discussion with an INSEAD MBA alumnus who has dedicated his professional life to engineering, the global economy and futuristic fields like transhumanism and life extension. Join us as we discuss the future of work, life, innovation and mindsets.

GUESTS:

José Luis Cordeiro is a Venezuelan-Spanish engineer, economist, futurist, and transhumanist, who has worked in different areas including economic development, international relations, and life extension. José is an international fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, vicechair of HumanityPlus, and director of The Millennium Project and graduated from the INSEAD MBA programme in 1991.

Timestamp:

01:40 - Tell us who you are, where do you come from and how did you get to where you are today.

02:45 - How did you progress from engineering to studying and predicting the future?

05:14 - Tell us about some of the key highlights in your career.

07:04 -  How do you view the future of the world and what are some of the activities that excite you in the pursuit of a better future for humanity.

11:12 - At a Talk with Google event in 2014 you said to Forget flying cars and robot butlers. The future will be a far more interesting place. Many people may be thinking they cant even imagine a world with flying cars so how can we prepare our lives and our careers for a largely unknown future?

15:29 - How can we find out more about these technologies and future trends? 

17:41 - What changes have you observed over the last couple of years that might signal the future of the workplace?

21:12 - What are some of the skills and mindsets businesses and leaders should be discussing to help themselves prepare for the future?

24:33 - You are also one of the founders of the recent TransVision Future Summit that occurred in Madrid in October. Can you tell us about some of the key topics discussed at the summit and what insights our listeners can take away from these concepts?  

28:56 - How can our listeners prepare for unpredictable change, and learn to lead in tomorrow’s world and understand the future direction of technology?

30:18 - What have you changed your mind about in the last few years? Why?

35:23 - What is the worst advice you see or hear being dispensed in your world?

40:08 - What resources can listeners use to discover more about the future of work?

The Future of Business Education - ITK#24

Welcome to series three of In The Know. Over the course of this academic year, we will continue to discuss the latest career advice like the future of the workplace and inside the mind of a recruiter while also covering many leadership insights featuring episodes on business in the Middle East and managing generation Z.
To kick off series three, we are joined by our Associate Dean of Degree Programmes, Katy Montgomery, as we look to build on the start of a new academic year and share what the future looks like for business education.

How Understanding Yourself Can Lead to Transformation - ITK#23

Most people are strangers to themselves; many of them resort to the manic defence – filling their calendar with a flurry of activities meant to prevent them from having any time to reflect. They are always running, without knowing what they are running for or running towards. Also, they feel drained, but they don’t understand why. Others, having reached the pinnacle of professional success, fail to find meaning.

Today we discuss the Executive Master in Change programme and how understanding yourself can lead to transformation.

Our Guests

Sini Dimitrios Parampota

Sini is a global citizen with 25+ years of diverse experience, using career development to build bridges, promote DEI and drive change. She is a lifelong learning enthusiast and digital geek, currently researching the impact of infertility on women leaders’ career aspirations.

For the last decade, she has worked with the Qatar Career Development Center, a member of the Qatar Foundation. She is the proud founder of Thrive Lab Qatar.

An avid explorer, Sini enjoys travelling around the world and meeting new cultures. She is fluent in Greek, English, German and has practical skills in Arabic and Italian. She is married and lives in Doha with her Qatari husband.

Patrick Parker

Patrick is the Director of Specialised Degree Programmes at INSEAD and also an EMC graduate. Patrick has gained over 20 years of international business education experience and specialises in people management, programme management and design, and candidate admissions.

Pushing Beyond Your Career Limitations - ITK#22

We live in a world of constraints - some are physical, some cultural but they are always personal. These mindsets limit our human potential to achieve great things in life and hinder experiences that not only enrich ourselves but also benefit society at large.

INSEAD celebrates women who have dared to push beyond their own limits and conquer obstacles in their lives to create positive change.

Welcome to another episode of In The Know where in today’s episode we celebrate the incredible feats of our five guests with a digital roundtable discussion.

Our Guests

Tade Fayomi – MBA’19J

Finance & Strategy Consultant @ BCG

Straight from university, Tade joined Goldman Sachs. She worked there for eight years and rose through the ranks from Analyst to Associate, and Vice President while being moved to work in the organisation’s London, New York, Singapore and Dubai offices. Tade went on to complete her MBA and work with the Africa Finance Corporation in 2018 before landing her current role as a Finance & Strategy Consultant at BCG.

Isavella Vitou – EMC’21

Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer @ Allianz Greece

Isavella joined Allianz in May 2021 as the Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer. Before joining Allianz, Isavella worked for Egon Zehnder and gained valuable experience in C-level executive search and assessment. In her mandate, she supported the growth of the business and successfully managed rapport with both candidates and clients. Before that, Isavella worked for Eurobank, Ernst & Young and at the Ministry of Tourism acting as a Consultant to the President of the Greek National Tourism Organization at the Ministry of Tourism.

Sofia Arhall Bergendorff – MBA’03D

Director, Platforms and Partnerships, Northern Europe @ Google, Denmark

Sofia is the Director of Partnerships in Northern Europe for Google, managing the relationship between Google and publishers when it comes to ad markets. Before that role, Sofia spent seven years in a Google strategy operations team in the Nordics and globally with the publisher business.  Before Google Sofia spent many years in management consulting and working with start-ups.

Maria Pereira – MBA’18D

Chief Innovation Officer @ TISSIUM

Maria Pereira leads the Innovation Hub at TISSIUM. She co-invented the development of Tissium’s range of biomorphic programmable polymers technology while a PhD student at Prof. Jeff Karp’s Laboratories. She has been recognized for her research by MIT Tech Review’s “35 Innovators Under 35” in 2014, as well as Forbes in its “30 under 30” selection in Healthcare in 2015. Maria holds a PhD in Bioengineering from the MIT-Portugal program and an MBA from INSEAD.

Chiara Lepora – EMBA’18Dec

Head of the Manson Unit / Deputy Medical Director of OCA @ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Chiara trains people in the design, planning, implementation and management of humanitarian medical interventions; security management; networking and negotiations; project management, especially in emergencies.
Chiara also provides consultation services in the topics of ethics of medicine in non-ideal circumstances; ethics of research; ethics of public health; bioethics; global health; allocation of scarce resources.

References

https://herminiaibarra.com/books/

https://hbr.org/2020/12/how-to-lead-when-your-team-is-exhausted-and-you-are-too

https://www.ted.com/talks/frances_frei_how_to_build_and_rebuild_trust?language=en

Time Stamp

01:25 - Guest background and career aspirations

08:31 - What do you consider your greatest achievement?

17:10 - What does limitless mean to you?

22:18 - Can you describe some of the limitations you have faced and the tipping point that motivated you to take action against those limitations?

32:27 - What are some of the most meaningful skills young women can learn today to help them achieve their ambitions?

39:15 - What is one tip you can offer to help build a more inclusive and diverse workforce?

39:49 - What one piece of advice would you give our listeners to help break through their barriers and become limitless?

40:38 - What insights can you offer for women looking to advance their careers?

40:55 - Why are you optimistic about the future of women in business?

42:00 - Who do you look to for inspiration and can you recommend any sources of inspiration our listeners can follow, read about or watch?

Coaching and the Art of Giving Back - ITK#20

Successful executives seldom get to the top alone. Even the most talented need the help of other people to reach their true potential. As the workplace becomes more competitive and interactive, the practice of leadership coaching and mentoring is becoming more common as ambitious individuals seek guidance, and senior executives realise the importance of helping people reach their full potential by sharing knowledge and insights. Today we're going to delve into a successful career coaching partnership and discuss the differences between the many roles people can play in guiding us in our careers, and the benefits that can bring the individual.

Our Guests

Nicolaas Woudenberg

Nicolaas is a Consultant at BCG and the CEO & Founder of Strōm which is a Human Performance coaching platform that energizes people to thrive through an offline coaching marketplace integrated with a digital journey of gamified micro-learning and habit building.

Gene Cleckley

Gene is a Career Coach in INSEAD’s CDC. He worked with hundreds of clients from all over the world, leveraging a 25-year career in global management, leadership development, corporate and organisational culture. Gene holds an academic and training background in organisational behaviour, psychotherapy and counselling, while also being an INSEAD EMC graduate.