Episode 40: How to meet the challenge of leading through warmth yet driving for performance with Ilka Fuerstenberger

Leadership Amplified by Dr Karen Morley

The complexity of our world just continues to grow. We have multiple challenges of very different kinds to make sense of and prioritise attention to. One thing that helps is being able to see a way through contradiction, so I was very pleased in this new episode of Leadership Amplified to speak with Ilka Fuerstenberger, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Australia about one contradiction that is regularly encountered by leaders. Leading through warmth while also driving for performance. This is a balancing act that is foremost in Ilka’s mind as she leads her organisation. For her, establishing trust is the first thing she prioritises when she starts a new role. Strength and competence are not the priority in these early stages, instead her focus is on establishing a safe place, being approachable, listening and paying attention to the new team. Ilka says that when trust is established and not doubted it is so much easier to help people reach their goals. People need to know they won’t be shot for making a mistake, and they should feel empowered to generate decisions; after all they’re the ones who have the knowledge to get the right performance. The drive for performance also needs to sit within a context of a clear purpose. ‘What are we here to do?’ As the leader, you need to live it, to ‘inhale it’, to create energy for it, people need to see it ‘written in your face’. When it is so crystal clear, it’s so much easier to drive performance. Perhaps Ilka’s ability to work across contradictions comes from her family’s approach to travel when she was young – prior to visiting a new culture, the challenge was to learn 100 words of their language. And that early experience contributed to her choice of career path – a combination of languages (she speaks 5!!) and economics that would give her the opportunity to work internationally, which she’s done ever since. Ilka’s advice for leading well: 📌 Make use of different ways of doing things – difference is not about better or worse, it contributes creativity and new approaches 📌 Get the support of a mentor or coach, and mentor others as you can – this helps to avoid a bit of the stress and pain for others on their journey 📌 Leading is a journey that’s never finished, and accepting that sense of ongoing challenge is critical