The most effective leaders are those who equip their teams with the skills they need to perform at their best. At CSL Behring, we encourage our leaders to guide with strong support, but also with a level of trust that enables individual employees to develop and believe in their own abilities.
Our employees are passionate about their roles and the outstanding outcomes they deliver, and we believe this is a direct output of our empowering approach to leadership.
Here, eight of our leaders share their stories about how they "lead" their teams to achieve their goals, rather than simply "managing" employees.
|
|
|
|
|
Rachel Day |
Fabio Andrea Luzzi |
Jerome Serrurier |
|
|
|
 |
|
Gil Rochat |
Jose Maldonado |
Patric Sallin |
|
|
|
|
|
Anna Meier |
Mai Viholm |
Why is empowering leadership so important?
Rachel Day
Empowerment is about giving the team autonomy so they can take decisions and act independently. I've found empowered teams to be much more motivated and as a result, more productive. Once a leader appreciates the potential in the team, and is willing to let the team fly, that's when the best things happen.
Fabio Andrea Luzzi
Management is focused on today only – merely executing a list of actions. However, leadership is essentially sharing the vision and getting your team onboard by giving them a sense of trust, responsibility and accountability – feeling that they belong to something bigger. That is what gives people the power to drive change.
Jerome Serrurier
An empowering leader gives their people all the elements necessary to make decisions themselves, and inspires everyone to take responsibility for their contribution. This is what keeps them invested in their team’s mission.
Anna Meier
I am really interested in everybody’s concerns and opinions. I try to understand each person’s approach and I cooperate as a sparring partner who can show them a different perspective. They then understand how their individual actions affect overall results.
Mai Viholm
When people understand the business and feel engaged, they can really bring value. Being an effective manager ensures results are created, but being an empowering leader ensures these results are generated within the business, by strong individuals and teams that truly desire to add value and contribute to the overall success of the business.
Patric Sallin
Empowerment is fundamental for high-performing teams. I am convinced that employees are more motivated when they can design and make decisions independently.
Pinpointing the right approach to leadership
Rachel Day
As someone who is responsible for Leadership Development at CSL Behring, I'd like to think I practice what I preach, but clearly, I'm not perfect. Understanding that leadership has to be situational is really important – individuals don't approach every activity with the same level of confidence or capability, and knowing how much support and direction they need is key to ensuring they're set up for success. I also know that I don't know everything, and I'm not always right. That is why I appreciate it when my team brings new ideas and ways of working, and also when they feel they can challenge my suggestions.
Gil Rochat
As a leader, you should be continuously aligned with your team to understand when additional support is required (based on the tasks and the skills of the team members) and when complete delegation is possible. I adapt my leadership style according to each person’s level of authority and skill, and move constantly between assigning tasks, supporting, coaching and delegating. The tasks I assign and the support I provide is dependent on the complexity of each task and the clarification required.
Anna Meier
As a ‘manager’, I delegate tasks without checking each respective person’s confidence or doubts. As a ‘leader’, I find out what support the person requires and I guide as needed, while ensuring that they are building their own knowledge and network at the same time.
Jose Maldonado
As a leader, you should be creating the conditions for your team to successfully deliver, and that means choosing whether to be a coach, a leader, or a mentor at various times. I tend to be a servant leader, stretching the team’s capability and ensuring continuous development and opportunity for growth.
Giving individuals the confidence to make their own decisions
Rachel Day
Employees should feel confident they have their leader's backing to make decisions and try new ideas, even if they don't quite work out as planned. An effective manager might be able to achieve similar outcomes, but if their teams don't feel empowered, the manager will need to provide much more guidance and input – time that could be spent on other value-adding activities.
Jose Maldonado
You need to be conscious of the team development aspect and focus on individual strengths. Embrace uncertainty and enable individual decision-making by being available to course correct and to show them what they can learn through failure if it arises.
Mai Viholm
Being transparent, honest, authentic, trustworthy and loyal – creating a true partnership – makes it easy to empower each other. Remember, it is a two-way street. A leader should empower their employee, but employees should be empowering their leader to succeed as well.
Gil Rochat
It’s all about achieving the right balance: balancing the trust to let people do their job according to their roles and area of responsibility, and providing them with the appropriate support when needed.
Anna Meier
I trust all the members of my team. I guide them, but I also let them build their own skill sets so they are able to gain confidence in their own abilities and in making their own decisions.
Fabio Andrea Luzzi
I like to give my team a vision and a purpose and then let them create their own success stories. I create an environment that allows them to shine and get recognized for their contributions, by constantly challenging them to think and act bigger and more strategically.
Patric Sallin
As a leader, it is my job to provide the team with everything they need for their work, to create transparency, and to support them by removing obstacles. I then empower them to work and act independently. I let them decide for themselves how a specific goal can best be achieved, and how to implement the right course of action.
Jerome Serrurier
I try not to interfere too much in the details of my team’s daily work, giving them their own space to express their own opinions and finally, to make decisions. However, I always remain supportive, so they do not feel alone or too pressured when making important decisions.
Moments of empowering leadership
Rachel DayBack in March, CSL Behring delivered its first ever global Development Days – a week focused on learning and development across the enterprise. Needless to say, the pandemic meant we couldn't do anything face-to-face, so the team needed to become incredibly creative and remain very agile.As a leader, the temptation to be closely involved with everything was huge, but it just wasn’t possible and I knew my team was clear on the goal, the parameters and the deadlines. So the best thing I could do in those circumstances was to be clear about what I expected, let the team get on with making it happen, and be there to remove barriers and provide encouragement.
Gil Rochat
During the initial phase of a complex, global program, I worked extensively with the program lead to determine what was needed for success. Together, we identified which of these aspects she could manage herself, and which she needed support with. I was then able to support her in her interactions with the key stakeholders, without micromanaging her activities. The program was ultimately a big success!
Jose Maldonado
When I was asked to establish the global Integrated Facilities Management program with challenging stakeholders, I took a backstage, coaching role. I helped the team to anticipate situations and mitigate risks, but allowed them to execute the program themselves with their own skills.
Fabio Andrea Luzzi
I left my team to develop their procurement strategy themselves, despite the fact it is my area of expertise. I simply coached and supported them to switch their mindset from thinking of today, to looking at an end-to-end holistic approach that fit our company’s long-term strategy.
Anna Meier
When I was taking over another manufacturing facility and growing my responsibilities, I gave my scientific assistants the responsibility of assessing any critical situation or technical difficulty by themselves and devising a solution with the corresponding stakeholders. Through this, they got to know many colleagues and learned a huge amount. At first, they were rather skeptical that they could do it, but because I entrusted them with it, they just stepped in, and they did a great job! It really increased their self-esteem.
Mai Viholm
In the past year, my leadership team has been through organizational change which meant they have been entrusted with selecting new managers and team members. This is based on trust and a shared understanding of goals and accountability. If you’re interested in joining a team where you’re empowered to make an impact, head to the CSL Behring website to explore the latest job opportunities.
