With over thirty years of experience, Georg Schroeckenfuchs has learned a few things about navigating a crisis and cultural transformation and the role they play in a company’s growth and success.
The current President & Cluster Head Middle East and Africa (MEA) at Novartis started his career with the company in 2001. That’s when he took on the role of Head of General Medicine back home in Austria and began a fruitful journey that has taken him all over the world.
Georg Schroeckenfuchs, one of our 2021 Hall of Fame honorees talks about navigating a crisis and cultural transformation.
The Vienna University graduate has helped consolidate Novartis’ leading role in the pharmaceutical sector, helping the company through a financial crisis while he worked as CPO Head and Country President for Greece. In his current role, Schroeckenfuchs oversees a region comprising 19 countries where he hopes to reach gender equity and make sure that “no patient is left behind.”
For relentlessly working towards gender equity inside and outside his organization the Red Shoe Movement honors Georg Schroeckenfuchs with the 2021 Hall of Fame.
Georg Schroeckenfuchs and Excellence in Diversity
RED SHOE MOVEMENT – Can you tell us a little bit about your role as President & Head MEA Cluster at Novartis?
GEORG SCHROECKENFUCHS – In my role, as the Head of the MEA Cluster, I cover a region that is quite complex and volatile. The Cluster covers 19 countries, which represents a diverse population. With this diverse population come excellent people with high level of resilience who have the “can do” mentality. Our teams are unified in their mentality to focus on activities that make a difference in the lives of patients and to make sure we leave no patient behind even in difficult situations such as the pandemic.
RSM – You’ve had positions that have taken you all over the world, how do you feel the specific nuances of different regions have influenced your professional outlook? What are some of the most unexpected lessons these different markets have taught you?
GS – I learnt to embrace diversity, and when I say diversity, it’s diversity in culture, diversity in thinking, diversity in mentality, and diversity in gender. Diversity can be a key success factor for innovation, and inclusiveness is a key enabler for successful collaboration.
A True Commitment to Cultural Transformation
RSM –How important is cultural transformation and how can a company ensure that the changes will not just stand the test of time but also continue to evolve?
GS – Personally, foremost I really believe that culture and climate is a key enabler for success. Secondly, to ensure that what we communicate reflects in our actions. So, for example, wearing Red on Tuesdays to support the Red Shoe Movement. Another example is the Novartis Women magazine, which symbolizes our commitment to cultural transformation. In addition, processes should be consistent with the change of culture you want to embed in the organization. Thirdly, being a role model, and to engage change agents across the organization accelerates cultural transformation.
RSM – What are some of the biggest barriers you’ve faced while leading a company’s cultural transformation? What would you say are some of the most challenging goals still ahead?
GS – One of the biggest barriers is our own personal bias. I am lucky that I have had the opportunity to live in many different countries in the last 13 years. This has helped me develop strong cultural agility, having respect for different cultures and the ability to embrace diversity.
One of the goals that we aim for in our region is gender equality, and we drive female empowerment.
Georg Schroeckenfuchs shares his vision.
Navigating a Crisis and Reinforcing Inclusion
RSM – You’ve piloted markets through financial uncertainties, what would you say are the most important things to remember when navigating a crisis? What can you do to boost morale when the future is uncertain?
GS – It is important to remember 3 things when navigating a crisis:
Do not stop focusing on your purpose and what you want to achieve. For us at Novartis, it is to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives and to ensure we leave no patient behind. You must continue to follow your mission and purpose.
In a crisis people tend to stop and wait because of the uncertainty, but that should not be the case. You should not stop and freeze but instead keep on moving.
Always focus on the things that you can impact, and don’t get distracted by the things you can’t change.
RSM – What are some of the ways in which you reinforce inclusion at Novartis?
GS –We have done a lot of activities and initiatives to raise awareness on D&I in the organization, especially on topics related to female empowerment and gender equality.
For example, the introduction of the Red Shoe Movement to Novartis MEA in 2020 was an important step in our focus on career and leadership development of women in the organization. Another example is the “Let’s Talk” sessions with women to understand how we can support their growth in the organization.
Women Representation and a Piece of Advice
RSM – If you could suggest two actions that organizations can take to accelerate the representation of women at the top, what would it be?
GS – I’d say:
To ensure we are gender neutral in the selection process, which means, to ensure we have an equal number of candidates for the interview, and equal representation of both males and females as part of the interview panelist.We should be fair and give opportunity to both equally.
To create more time flexibility in the organization.
RSM – If you could suggest one action that women could take to accelerate their career growth, what would it be?
GS – I would say: don’t underestimate your capability in case of an open position. Make sure to raise your hand and go for it. Take risks because you are capable.
You know it’s uncomfortable, so give up trying to emulate the leadership styles of the men in your organization. This leadership style quiz is the first step to freedom!
Yes, it’s as simple as that. Take this leadership style quiz and enter the land of the free. Freedom from imitating leadership styles that do not match who you are. Freedom from continuing to take leadership training or leadership development programs that focus on fitting you into a box. A box that basically erases what makes you different. A box that takes away the unique value you bring to your workplace.
Take the leadership style quiz and discover yours! Photo Credit: Kraken images-Unsplash
The power of a leadership style quiz
Leadership is starting to look different. As big companies diversify and fill their top spots with women changing the face of business, we must leave behind old habits and embrace new leadership styles. Grow and adapt to this brave new world of business. Do you know what kind of leader you are? Our quiz can tell you more about your style!
Women leaders bring something to the table that many companies are finally realizing is invaluable. We’re natural-born-leaders, yes, but we’re also out-of-the-box thinkers and our leadership styles differ considerably from those of the men who have been running the show. Figuring out what your style is can help you identify not just your strengths, but in spotting the areas that need work to make you the kind of leader you’ve been working to become.
Find Power in Our Leadership Style Quiz
So, what’s so great about this quiz? The Red Shoe Movement’s leadership style quiz was created with women in mind. We want to give you a glimpse of your style and show you something that you might not get from atraditional leadership training.
The quiz will tell you what you’re like as a leader and reveal something about other leadership styles that suit you. Once you pinpoint your own style, you can easily incorporate elements of other leadership styles when the situation calls for it. Sometimes you can benefit from leadership development or leadership training and at other times, just watching and learning will be enough.
Remember, it’s important for you to know yourself and always respect your own style while experimenting with others.
Autocratic: This manager makes decisions unilaterally without much input from employees, reflecting the opinions and personality of the manager.
Chaotic: This manager gives employees total control over the decision making process.
Consultative: A leadership style in which the manager listens to feedback from employees and adjusts when necessary.
Democratic: The manager allows decisions to be made by the majority of employees. Decision-making is slow, but there is more employee buy-in.
Laissez-faire: The manager is a mentor and stimulator, and employees manage their own areas of the business.
Persuasive: An autocratic style in which the manager spends time working with employees to convince them of the benefits of the decision that has been made.
When is leadership development or leadership training useful?
Leadership development can help you recognize and respect your leadership style while remaining flexible enough to adopt certain traits from other styles depending on circumstances. Successful leaders tend to have a trademark style and adjust to different situations by applying characteristics of other styles seamlessly. Just remember to keep in mind the difference between this behavior and completely adopting a style that does not fit your personality and values.
Take the leadership quiz as well to complement the results of this one!
Once you take the leadership quiz, you might want to consider the following:
How comfortable do you feel with your style?
Are there elements of other leadership styles that you’d want to adopt “as needed” to be a more effective leader?
Is your organization open to different leadership styles or does it favor leadership development or leadership training for future leaders to ensure that they all maintain a similar style?
Are you ready? Then take our leadership style quiz and share your results on social media to inspire others to find and adjust their own style. Don’t forget to tan and use the hashtag #RedShoeMovement!
The Leadership Style Quiz
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Abdiel Jacobsen and Kristine Bendul’s Hustle for Equality
Leadership looks different if we strive for equality. It requires a give and take – a balance. True leaders know when to lead and when to follow, allowing room for better communication and a more empathic understanding based in a genuine care for those we work with. Abdiel Jacobsen and Kristine Bendul know the importance of this nuanced exchange and its part in creating more inclusive and tolerant spaces on the dancefloor, in our workplaces and in society as a whole.
The dancing duo compete professionally with a gender-neutral approach to partner dance, making seamless shifts in who takes the lead and challenging traditional roles while also spreading a message of diversity, equality, inclusivity and movement. The Red Shoe Movement did a collaboration with them to celebrate the last Tuesday of the year. Watch the amazing video.
ALINE CERDAN – Can you tell us a little bit about your history dancing together?
ABDIEL JACOBSEN & KRISTINE BENDUL – We met each other at a hustle dance social (party). We had heard of each other through mutual friends in the Hustle Dance community who encouraged us to meet. When we did, it was “love at first dance.” We soon forged a professional dance partnership and made our debut at the prestigious Canada Salsa and Bachata Congress in Toronto. Immediately receiving a standing ovation from the audience, we knew what we had was magical. Shortly after, we were invited to perform as featured artists at several concerts in NYC including at Carnegie Hall: “Link Up” series, “A Celebration of Sono Osato” at the Broadway Music Box Theatre, and the Buglisi Dance Theater’s NY season at Alvin Ailey. The summer following our debut, we decided to compete in our first competition at Disco America in Pennsylvania and won 1st place in the Professional Dance-Off division dancing Hustle through our gender-neutral approach to partner dance.
AC – What inspired you to challenge traditional gender roles within competitive dancing? How has your inclusive and gender-neutral approach to this well-established world been received?
AJ & KB – Although the Hustle dance community was open minded and supportive of us challenging traditional gender roles in dance competition, we recognized that there are other communities in the competitive partner dance world that still prohibited such practices, specifically the mainstream ballroom competition circuit called Dancesport. Inspired by the Hustle dance community’s support of our creative expression, we wanted to encourage other dance communities to explore alternative expressions and methods concerning gender roles in competitive partner dancing. We also wanted to spread the important message of GENDER EQUALITY & INCLUSIVITY.
In 2019 we made history becoming the world’s First professional couple to compete as Gender Neutral in Dancesport; swapping equal roles of lead and follow in all dances and wearing high heels. Some judges/adjudicators were supportive, and others were completely against it. Our dance coaches, moved by our mission and effort, fully backed us. A few were appalled and tried to deter us from our goal. We understand we are on the forefront of major change in a long-held tradition and know it will take time for those still stuck in conservative heteronormative traditions to accept us. However, we can also say we’ve had many wonderful words of encouragement from audience members and spectators supporting our mission. This means the world to us.
Knowing when to lead and when to follow is key. Learn from these amazing dancers- Photo Credit Ryan Kenner Photography
When to lead and when to follow: what can we learn from dancing
AC – What did your exploration of these dance styles teach you about being a leader and knowing when to lead and when to follow? What have you learned from finding a gender-neutral approach to these styles?
AJ & KB – We compete in several partner dance styles: Hustle, Mambo, Swing, Cha Cha, Rumba, Bolero – they all tell different stories and have their own unique flavor and expression, which brings out various characters and emotions throughout our performance. When approaching these various styles from a gender-neutral standpoint, we have found that our expression and storytelling becomes much more layered, complex and balanced. Rather than being restricted to one singular heteronormative perspective, we are free to discover other sides of our relationship dynamics beyond those centered in heteronormative gender roles. This expands our creative expression and allows a deeply symbiotic connection to emerge that’s authentic to us.
AC – What are some of the things this partnership has opened your eyes to? What has it shown you about each other’s particular struggles as dancers and humans?
AJ & KB – This partnership has opened our eyes to recognizing the invaluable necessity of representation and acceptance. Gender fluidity, people of color, queer performance and the combination of them are rarely seen. We represent all of these and we know that there are others out there like us. Being visible in a community where we are intentionally shadowed encourages others like us to be brave and stand in their truth. We’ve found pride in honoring our unique and individual voices. Our struggles as dancers and human beings have strengthened us and connected us on an even deeper level. Through our various traumatic experiences with discrimination of gender, race, sexuality, effeminacy and age, we have found a safe place, a sanctuary with each other.
AC – Tell us about the film “Follow. Lead. LOVE!” and the parallels between the world of dancing and today’s society you hope to shine a light on.
AJ & KB – “Follow. Lead. LOVE!” is a documentary about our journey of self-discovery and our mission of advocating gender equality and inclusivity in the mainstream ballroom dance competition circuit. Through learning to both lead and follow we are able to develop more empathy for each other by having an understanding of dancing both sides. This equal and fluid communication ultimately creates deeper relationships based in love and care for your partner. This practice can be used as a direct parallel for society in creating more spaces of inclusivity, acceptance and tolerance.
They are breaking stereotyping by taking turns to lead and follow while wearing high heels. Kristine and Abdiel do the Rumba- Photo Credit- Ryan Kenner Photography
Benefits of alternating roles of leader and follower
AC – What do you think leaders (and society as a whole) can learn from a more fluid exchange of roles in dancing? How can leaders benefit from knowing when to follow?
AJ & KB – Leaders must learn when to listen and followers must know when it’s time to take the steering wheel. In accepting direction rather than just giving it, you have to be attentive to the nuances you are given while trusting your partner to guide you and by letting go of control. Leaders become less harsh and dominant; more receptive, understanding and malleable. Followers find their voice and ability to trust themselves. In the end, this creates a platform of true equality between partners.
AC – Your holiday collaboration with Red Shoe Movement was full of JOY, can you tell us a little about this HolidayHustle and your red heels?
AJ & KB – Hustle is a dance of exuberance. We wanted to celebrate the Holidays, especially this one, with a joyful mood. Last year was difficult for all of us worldwide, having to deal with a pandemic. However, dance has always provided us joy and connection through the tough times. We encourage everyone to continue dancing (safely) to overcome the dark times. Kristine’s shoes were provided by the Red Shoe Movement through Worldtone, which has been fully supportive of our mission. Abdiel’s were borrowed from a friend, but they have also received high heels from Worldtone in the past. The New York and Los Angeles retailer is one of the few dance shoe suppliers that make ballroom dance high heels in Abdiel’s size.
AC – What has it been like to adjust to social distancing as dancers? How have you stayed connected?
AJ & KB – Social distancing as partner dancers has been incredibly difficult. The nature of what we do requires touching your partner, so you can imagine how challenging that has been for us. However, we have not allowed that to stop us from remaining proactive and creative. Utilizing technology, we have been able to create virtual duets and explore new ways of partnering in a virtual aspect. In fact, we even won BestConcept Award in the Buddha film festival for a dance short we made in April 2020, at the height of the pandemic. We continue to stay creative and proactive while practicing dance safely in line with precautionary measures, whether it be outdoors in the fresh air or indoors with our masks.
Kristine and Abdiel role model what it means to know when to lead and when to follow- Photo Credit- Christopher Jones Dance
Aric Dromi is a keynote speaker, futurologist, digital philosopher and self-proclaimed professional troublemaker who helps people and organizations design the future they wish to live in.
He has one simple mission: inspiring a change in the way the world and the technologies that govern it are viewed and experienced. To question the status quo and stimulate the kind of critical thinking that’ll shift priorities and better equip us against challenges ahead. Challenges we’re not prepared for.
Aric is passionate about the transformation necessary at political, societal and personal levels in preparation of a rapidly evolving future and the technologies taking over it. He is CEO and founder of TEMPUS.MOTU and creator of Dead Rabbit Society – both dedicated to coming up with ways to make the world and its leaders take notice of a fast-moving digital era we are already a part of.
Here’s what the story-maker had to tell Red Shoe Movement about experiencing technology, the importance of critical thinking and creativity, and navigating our way through a new technological revolution that’ll be like nothing humankind has experienced before.
Aric Dromi helps people and organizations think about how to design the Future
How to design the future
Aline Cerdán— Can you explain a little more about your role as a futurologist and what it entails? What are some of the elements you consider when navigating the future?
Aric Dromi— always take the simple approach answering the question of what a futurologist is. I tell stories about potential futures that could happen and reverse engineer these potentials into concepts and trajectories of futures that should happen. In this context, you can’t merely be reactive but rather build proactive frameworks that can design future trends. If you do that, you control the narratives of the future. Navigating the future is about controlling the waves, then the wind, and the sea rather than building better ships.
AC—How will things like work, life, and travel change? Is there a way to prepare for a digital age?
AD—We live in a world where technology is augmenting almost every aspect of our lives and enabling us to enhance our virtual presence using code. Empathy, freedom, wellbeing, intelligence, education, governance, creativity, economics, and politics are the primary benefactors of the exponential growth and impact of technology.
For the first time in the history of humankind, natural evolution has reached the zenith of its potential. There is no place to go from a biological point of view. Yes, we might become a little faster and jump a bit higher, but we have reached a point where our organic structure cannot evolve anymore. Even with genetic modifications – sooner or later – we will hit the limit of our evolutionary potential.
We live in a world where technology is observing us more than we are observing it, and it is reality, the information doesn’t exist behind the screen anymore – we are the information. Every aspect of our existence is being quantified, stored, and monetized. This has already fundamentally changed (even if not on the societal level) the narratives of work, travel, mobility, and more. The App economy improves the way we book a hotel, order taxi, pay for services, work remotely etc.
I don’t think we should put any effort into preparing for a digital age, as we are already living in one. My main concern is that we keep driving our economic models based on buzz words that force our resources to focus on technology rather on the development of humankind, individuals and strategic thinking.
When we keep building “smart” things (smart phones, smart cities, smart cars) the word smart means Technology. We keep surrounding ourselves with technology and forgetting that our entire infrastructure, that may be cities, legal, educational, political and economic models can be traced all the way back to the Roman Empire. Moving forward, we need to rethink the fundamental building blocks of societal development and evolution or we are simply building a house of cards.
Sergio Kaufman of Accenture shares how technology levels the playing field for women
Helping design the future you want. Photo Credit: Clay Banks. Unsplash
AC—How are algorithms affecting us as human beings? How can we rethink the way we experience technology?
AD—What is an algorithm? It’s math and code coming together creating a set of routines that are designed to solve a problem (OK, I’m over simplifying). How many people actually understand what an algorithm is? Yet we are surrounded, directed, and even manipulated, by algorithms every day. From phone notifications, to content recommendations, digital communication, food consumption, online shopping, and social interactions, algorithms are the invisible puppet masters that frame our existence in the modern age. I’m not trying to be negative, but rather emphasize the need to better research and understand the side effects (that are fast becoming the new norm) of living in a world where the control strings are written in code.
AC— What is The Dead Rabbit’s Society? What is it about discomfort that helps challenge the status quo and better design the future?
AD— The Dead Rabbit Society was born out of few lectures I did with students outside the normal academic framework. I saw a need to rethink the narratives of education and the objectivity of the important questions we need to ask ourselves to secure our desired future. In a world of sanitized, politicized and agenda-filled news broadcasts, finding the truth has become a full-time job. We are confronted by a cacophony of trite media stories that have little or nothing to do with our reality in the present or, more importantly, the future. Yet for all the noise there is no clarity, no critical thinking, no objective voices to defend our society from an imminent future for which we are more than ill-prepared.
The Dead Rabbit Society’s role in all of this is to highlight the major questions of our time and to get people thinking about potential solutions the will carry us forward toward our desired future.
We do this via our online community, through hosting events, conferences and keynotes and we are embarking on an ambitious plan to produce documentaries around these questions. The first documentary will examine The Future of Workin a world that will be increasingly run by artificial intelligence and automated production capacity.
Aric Dromi speaks about how to design the future. Photo Credit Owen Beard. Unsplash
People don’t seem to have fully grasped the implications of AI and automation. Our society is on the verge of seismic changes, the likes of which we have not seen since the Industrial Revolution. This revolution will also displace a lot of employees and professions. But it won’t just be truck drivers and taxi drivers that are affected. Lawyers, doctors, surgeons – all manner of professions will be threatened by this technological revolution. But you don’t hear people talking about this. Our goal is to change that. We would like to highlight the issues, the questions, and have people put pressure on their political representatives to come up with a direction, a strategy for a future where we may not be employed as we currently know it. We can either sit back and hope that someone puts the genie back in the bottle, or we can be proactive and try to shape the narrative so that the future we encounter is one of our own making and not the result of a string of poorly made decisions based on incomplete facts that exclude the most important component of our future – people.
What we have seen so far is that most people are blissfully ignorant of the coming changes and have blind faith that things will work out for the best. Guess what – they won’t. Without clear and agreed direction we will be at the mercy of despots, corporations the size of continents and we will be slaves to our own data footprint. We have a choice. The Dead Rabbit Society’s aim is to highlight the choices and instigate an informed discussion.
Companies design the future by thinking differently
AC—How can companies instill a culture of creativity and risk-taking?
AD— I think the keyword here is “culture”. Companies must remember that we are born into culture, we are not born with culture. It is something we learn through the interaction set by our environment. To instill a culture of creativity and risk-taking you must have an assertive leadership team’s commitment to set the example.
Focusing on increasing your core earning model – and forgetting how to nurture and defend it – will never give you the tools and know-how to expand the foundation of your business.
So, this is the end destroying the means. If you focus on how profitable your business is today, your organization will not be productive tomorrow. Engaging in iterative change ensures you follow the pack as opposed to reap the rewards of being a thought-leader. Fear is the spawn of ignorance. If you only consider what has happened – or worse, what is happening – you can’t help us with tomorrow. Learn from the past, be present in the moment and let that insight allow you to think differently about the future.
We are in a major technological revolution. Photo Credit: Johannes Plenio. Unsplash
Traits we need to prepare for what’s coming
AC—What can we do to educate ourselves on connectivity and the way we experience technology? What traits and abilities will we need moving forward to design the future we want to live in?
AD—I would start by asking the question, what does it mean to be human in a world where technology determines almost every aspect of our existence? I think we have already passed the point of no return where we can “live” without technology and as such we should find way to partner with it to define the next steps of human evolution. We need better-educated leaders and politicians. We need a better understanding of policymaking.
We can easily list the skills that today’s children will need to successfully navigate the future:
Critical thinking
Analytical thinking
Creativity
Originally
The ability to solve complex problems
Emotion and passion
But why is that list different from the skills we have always needed to excel in life and rise to the apex of our own potential? The truth is it’s not!
We do, however, need a set of new ideas for these skills:
We can’t use code the same way we use bricks
We need to move from managing-for-profit, to managing-for-impact
Experience should be measured by the quality of choices and not by the number of its functions
Don’t confuse symptoms with the appearance and root cause
Assets need to build up into properties and capital to deliver value to society
Think of technology as a legal system. The legal system was designed to be used (and sometimes abused) by lawyers – entrepreneurs use technology – technology is never the end goal, but simply a path.
We shouldn’t focus on experiencing technology but how technology can enable us to better experience ourselves and life. Think of technology as fire. Mankind learned how to tame fire (for the most part) – but we have already lost control of technology. This needs to change – quickly.
We have already lost control of technology. Photo Credit: William Daigneault. Unsplash
AC—How can concepts like morality and trust be redefined? Who will determine what the code of conduct in the digital age should be?
AD— I often ask people in my keynotes: If I visit a brothel run by robots and have sex with a robot, did I cheat on my wife? Can she rightfully sue me for divorce? What if someone hacked my artificial intelligence digital assistant and deleted the code. Can I sue that person for murder? I don’t have one simple answer around the future of morality, ethics and trust but rather a suggestion. We need to understand that our current system will never scale into a future that is anchored in code. We need to start telling stories about potential futures and stress-test them in front of policymakers to better help them rethink the process narratives that they use to design their policies. We can do this in a number of ways:
Identifying the unknowns in domains critical to the stability and development of humankind’s current societal structure
Defining the questions around which leaders and politicians can design a desired vision of the future
Developing strategies to realize this future by implementing the necessary tools and processes to deliver on the desired vision
Designing a set of experiments and scenarios in various domains to better prepare local, national and global leadership to tackle the upcoming challenges.
This is how we work with policymakers and governments, high business leaders and NGOs with our Think– Do–Rethink Tank, www.tempusmotu.org
Only by bringing the best minds together and providing space for them to develop these potential future narratives can we stress-test them and improve them through an iterative process. This is something that I am extremely passionate about.
In the end it is about defining the world you wish to live in, modelling it, testing it and improving it. If we continue to use the past as the gateway to the future we will not move very far. This is challenge I put to every leader I speak to. We can make the world a better place, if we want to.
Sylvia Acevedo started off her career as a rocket scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs, not your regular first stop for a journey to become the CEO of one of America’s most beloved institutions, Girl Scouts.
RSM Hall of Fame
She left to attend graduate school at Stamford and pursue a career in Silicon Valley where she held executive positions at Apple, Dell and Autodesk. Sylvia is a life-long advocate for universal access to education and serves as Commissioner on the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics. She’s an expert in mobilizing communities to increase family engagement in education.
After serving as interim CEO of the Girl Scouts in 2016, Sylvia Acevedo was named permanent CEO in May 2017. Under her tenure, the Girl Scouts introduced a series of badges in robotics, coding, engineering, and cybersecurity.In 2018 she was featured among “America’s Top 50 Women in Tech” by Forbes.
For relentlessly breaking through the glass ceiling and opening new worlds to women and girls, we honor Sylvia Acevedo with the 2019 Hall of Fame.
Red Shoe Movement — There are few women CEOs but there are probably even fewer women who are rocket scientists and who participated in an actual mission. Tell us about your experience at NASA and how that helped shape your career.
Sylvia Acevedo, CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA
Sylvia Acevedo —It was my first job out of college, working as a rocket scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs (JPL) in Pasadena, California. The first program I worked on was called the Solar Polar Solar Probe (SPSP). My job was to help figure out the payload and testing equipment that would be carried on a satellite going to the sun. I had to consider questions like how the equipment would work in the intense heat being generated close to the sun, how it would react to the radiation, how its weight would affect the amount of fuel we would need to carry on the rocket. So to answer these questions I had to create complex algorithms. It takes a long time to launch a new space expedition, and this solar probe finally, decades after I worked on it, launched in August as the Parker Solar Probe.
I also got to work on the Voyager 2 mission, which at the time was passing by Jupiter and its moons Io and Europa. This was a long-range program, which continues to this day, sending automated spacecraft to outer planets to record data and send it back to Earth. The Voyager was transmitting amazing images and data, and JPL needed engineers to analyze them. There were some images coming back from Jupiter and its moons that we had never seen before—just amazing stuff. I really enjoyed my time at NASA—it was such an exciting time to be there doing that work.
After the Voyager 2 had gone by Jupiter, I realized that it was going to take years before it went to the next planet and the next project I was on was going to take decades. So at that point, I realized, “OK, this was great,” but I was ready to go get my master’s at Stanford. Once I had that degree I had the background in engineering and the mathematics expertise to pursue a career in Silicon Valley.
It was a lifelong dream to work at NASA and a true honor to take part in such fascinating and world-changing projects. And the work I did on Solar Polar Solar Probe and Voyager 2 had an incredible impact on the way I think and approach problems. I had to consider the breadth of the universe and the complexities it contained. I didn’t just have to think big—I had to think literally as big as the universe! The infiniteness of the questions and the quest for answers to them inspired me—and it continues to inspire me. I also learned the value of “blue sky thinking”—of generating and ruminating on big ideas regardless of practical constraints—and the important role that each team member plays in the pursuit of big goals.
Sylvia Acevedo CEO Girl Scouts
Sylvia Acevedo share traits of great leaders
RSM— What are some of the key traits of a great leader?
SA—I can trace my thoughts about great leadership back to my experience as a young Girl Scout. One of the first leadership positions I held as an adult was when I was still at New Mexico State University. I was asked to join the engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi, and I was elected president of my chapter. And I thought at the time, and I still think today, that the experience I had as a Girl Scout earning badges, being a cookie entrepreneur, and working as a team with other girls in my troop on projects gave me the confidence to raise my hand, step up, and be a leader.
Great leaders are problem solvers—they are able to break down big challenges into small, achievable goals. They are able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of team members and delegate accordingly. And they are approachable. Open and honest dialogue is very important and helps avoid misunderstandings, build consensus, and bring out the best in everyone so that they can do their best work.
And great leaders stay curious. I had an investigative mind from a very young age—I was always trying to figure out how to get around roadblocks and obstacles that were preventing me from achieving my goals. I think curiosity is an incredibly valuable trait in a 21st-century leader.
Sylvia Acevedo went from rocket scientist to CEO of one of the most beloved American organizations.
RSM— Why do women make great leaders?
SA—It’s a bit of a cliché but I do think women are consensus builders, and that is something we need more of in our leaders today. I think women also tend to have a mission mindset. It’s so important for leaders to have a real understanding of and appreciation for what their focus is, then have persistence and determination in carrying out their mission.
Sylvia Acevedo has brought a powerful leadership style to the Girl Scouts
RSM— Girls Scouts is responsible for inspiring a great majority of the female leaders in this country. Could you give us some statistics?
SA—Yes, Girl Scout has incredibly powerful outcomes. 50 percent of female business leaders, 73 percent of female U.S. senators, the majority of women who have flown in space, and 100 percent of female U.S. secretaries of state were all Girl Scouts. More than half of the 106 women in the U.S. House of Representatives are Girl Scout alums, and of the nine women currently serving as governors across the U.S., five are Girl Scouts.
RSM—What are some of the skills that girls develop as Girls Scouts that help them pursue leadership careers?
SA—The values of great leadership are imbedded throughout the Girl Scouts experience. You seek challenges and learn from setbacks. You develop a strong sense of self. You learn to identify problems and develop solutions. You build courage, confidence, and character. And you learn to take initiative.
There are some amazing Girl Scouts who are taking on big challenges in their communities to earn their Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting. To earn the award they must identify a community problem, investigate it thoroughly to understand root causes, create a plan of action, build a team of people who can help them achieve their goal, present their plan and gather feedback, and then execute on that plan. Gold Award Girl Scouts use the leadership skills they learn at Girl Scouts to make a real impact, and they go on to do incredible things as leaders in the world.
Don't miss this interview with another amazing CEO, Deborah Gillis!
Girl Scouts White House Camp out
RSM—Why is it important to reserve some spaces for women-only experiences?
SA—Women-only spaces and experiences are incredibly important, and that confuses some people who think, “Why are they necessary?” Well, we need those places where we can connect, create, and collaborate, where we can get encouragement, where we can learn skills that we might not have access to elsewhere, where we can get replenished, and where we can hear things tailored to the way women like to learn and lead.
I was one of the few women in tech when I was in Silicon Valley, and in one of my first jobs at IBM, I noticed that the guys would always huddle with the male engineers on my floor, but they would never include me or any of the other women engineers. They would talk among themselves about the agenda, what the boss really wants to hear, and insidery things like that. So I realized that they were exchanging much inside information that we women engineers weren’t privy to. And I tried crashing the party a few times, and they closed up pretty quickly. This was an important realization, the amount of informal networking that really impacts your career that I was shut out of.
There are more women today in all different industries, but I do think it’s still important for us to have spaces of our own where we can do our own informal networking, make those connections, build those relationships, and exchange information of our own!
Sylvia Acevedo visiting school
Sylvia Acevedo reflects on a costly mistake
RSM— In terms of leadership lessons, is there a particular mistake or failure that you now “cherish” because of what you learned from it?
SA—One lesson I learned is the importance of managing expectations in business relationships. In the early days of the internet and the global digital transformation, I was working with Dell in South America. There was one particular deal we were trying to close with a governmental entity and this prospective client was very used to the traditional ways of working with a corporation, which involved having a lot more people on site and considerable investment in brick and mortar plants. We were coming in and pitching a solution that could be fulfilled with only a few people on site—we brought in fewer than ten—because we could do things globally through a dispersed network of team members.
What I didn’t understand was that for this client, the absence of actual bodies in the building was a big deal. Their expectations were not lining up with what they were seeing from us. It was a very large opportunity, with millions of dollars on the line, but we didn’t close the deal because of mismanagement of expectations.
My failure was in not communicating beforehand our vision of the project, the efficiencies we would bring that would actually lower costs, and what it would require on site. To us these things were obvious, but in those days our proposal was still a new way of doing things. The fact that we had such a small in-person team said to them that we had undersized the opportunity and weren’t taking them seriously, so they didn’t take us seriously. We were really speaking past each other. It was a tough—but a very valuable—lesson to learn.
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