WEBVTT

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Leadership.

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Who here considers themselves a leader?

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Maybe you're a parent, 
or you might be a business owner,

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or what about an older sibling?

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Or maybe you just want
to go around the world,

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telling people how you're going 
to solve all the problems.

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But what kind of leader?

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Is it someone that really
leads with power?

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Maybe it's hierarchy?

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Maybe it's fear.

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Or are you a leader that is open-minded 
and leads with the heart?

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Today, I'm going to share with you

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what it's like being a leader 
that leads with the heart.

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Many years ago,

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I started a new role in a new company.

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And one of my first assignments
was to lead an investigation

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for a transformation program
that had gone extremely badly.

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The client was very upset 
with how the company was performing,

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and in most cases, 
we had lost trust with the client.

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When I met with the team 
that were leading the program,

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I noticed that they had 
a fear of speaking up

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and of talking about 
many of their mistakes,

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and they spent most of their time 
blaming each other.

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Now, when I talked to the boss,

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he said I really didn't understand
what was going on

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and the team were not sharing with me 
what was happening.

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Now, I was very surprised by his reaction.

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And when I met with the client,

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the client said, "I don't want 
to meet with him anymore."

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Now, the team,

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when they continued to speak with me,

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I noticed that they had 
a fear of failure and speaking up.

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And I also noticed

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that they really thought 
that the boss was not present,

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didn't attend steering meetings,

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and more importantly, 
didn't really care what was going on.

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When I handed in the report
when I completed the investigation,

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the first thing my boss said:

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"Liz, who's responsible for this,
and who should I blame?

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Who should I fire?"

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Now, I was very surprised
by that question,

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and I asked him,

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"What do you think your part was
in this colossal project failure?"

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And his response was
"It surely has to be the team."

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Now, it's very interesting 
that during such a program,

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the boss would blame the team.

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And I remember in the discussions,

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I said, "How do you know the team?

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Do you know what they do?

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Do you spend time with them?

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Do you ask them questions?"

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And he said, "All the time."

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But it was very clear
that he wasn't present.

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Now, have a look at this picture.

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My name is Liz Theophille,

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and I'm the chief technology 
and digital officer

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to a large global healthcare company.

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I grew up in an environment 
that really focused on strong leadership.

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But I believe to become a leader 
that leads with the heart,

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you need to encourage
experimental mindset,

NOTE Paragraph

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you need to provide 
psychological safety for teams,

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and, also, you need
to be a servant leader.

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But I grew up in an era, in a culture
where leaders were feared

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and not necessarily respected
for what they knew.

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That was during difficult times,

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but I believe there's
better ways of leading.

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Now, you've probably noticed

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that I have an extremely strong
Scottish accent.

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Right?

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Yes, I grew up in Scotland.

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But I don't have all the mannerisms
of a Scottish person.

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I'm more like this.

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I'm very proud,

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I'm strong, and I'm determined.

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But I recognize

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some of the mannerisms
of my boss and the team in myself,

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especially when I was a young leader,

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when I started off.

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I was very technical.

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But when I started to evolve
from a technical expert

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into leading teams of technical people,

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I used to micromanage.

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I used to check on everything 
that was happening

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because I knew many
of the solutions and the answers.

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And I'm sure that was very intimidating

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for the teams.

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But I know that there is a better way, 
by leading with the heart,

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where you can motivate and inspire teams.

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There was an occasion

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when I was leading 
my first technical team.

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I had someone in the team 
that was extremely strong technically.

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But he was quite introverted in nature.

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And in many occasions,
he loved experimenting with technology.

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And he didn't share
some of the things he was doing.

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So I actually thought 
he was playing around.

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And when we sat in meetings
and discussed what the deliverables were

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and what we need to expect from him,

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he didn't really speak up,

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he didn't say much.

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So I started to think

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that he wasn't paying attention
to what was going on.

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When I sat with him during reviews, 
he didn't say much,

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but he asked me a lot of questions.

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And because I was very technical, 
I would answer all the questions.

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But I realized that I was stifling 
his creativity and his innovation

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because I wasn't giving him 
enough time to think.

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I know better now.

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I don't want to intimidate teams
by not listening

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and creating what I would call
"an experimental mindset,"

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where you can take risks
and you can experiment with technology.

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There was another time

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when I had to lead

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one of the most complex 
and hardest transformations

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I've ever done in my career.

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I was a leader at that time 
of what we called "global data centers."

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These are large technical centers 
where we have computers and so on.

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And I remember I had 
three major regional data centers:

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one in the UK, one in Germany 
and one in France.

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One of my tasks was to consolidate 
all of those data centers into one.

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And of course, we chose France.

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(Applause)

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I wouldn't clap yet.

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(Laughter)

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Now,

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that meant that I had to let go

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close to 400 employees.

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These were employees 
that I worked with in the past.

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I grew up with them.

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We had lunch together.

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We sometimes went out together.

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We solve problems together.

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But I had to let 400 people go.

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And I remember when I met with HR

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and we had the conversation
about how we go about this,

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they said, "Liz, don't worry.

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It's our job to take care of that.

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We will meet with them,
and we will give them their letters."

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Now, I was very, very shocked
by this process, being a new leader.

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And I said,

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"That is a very inhumane,
cowardly and faceless way

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to manage employees

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that have worked for the company
for such a long time."

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And I said to them,

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"Is it okay if I meet
with every single employee

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and explain what's happening?"

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Now, they found that quite strange.

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They said, "Liz, that's very unusual.

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But we'll allow you to do it 
if you feel that you can do it.”

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So I sat down with every employee,

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and I explained the context

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of why we were rationalizing
in consolidating the data centers.

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I also talked about many of the objectives

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and what it meant for them.

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And it was very hard.

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During that process, I started to think,

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How can I be credible?

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I'm sitting there telling my colleagues

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that they're going 
to leave the organization,

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and I'm still there.

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So I decided to go to my boss, and I said,

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"Once this transition is complete,
I will leave the organization."

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Now that's what I call
leading with the heart.

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It's very important

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that you consider 
the other person's situation.

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And in fact, my boss told me 
that there was a promotion waiting for me.

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But I still decided to leave.

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(Applause)

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So - thank you.

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(Applause)

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Let me talk to you

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about how you manage 
what I call "psychological safety."

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I talked about leading with the heart,

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but in order to experiment,
you have to take some big risks.

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And it's important
while you're taking those risks

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that you create an environment
of psychological safety.

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I typically do that

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with allowing my team to give me feedback,

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because that helps to understand 
the other point of view.

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And that helps them take risks

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because they know 
you're going to support them.

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So psychological safety
is absolutely critical:

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it's critical to create a safe environment
that allows you to experiment

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but also allows you to fail and learn.

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But feedback sometimes 
is very hard as a leader

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because you think you're strong.

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But being a servant leader

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means that you're able
to take the feedback,

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and it also means
that you're able to change.

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So I believe in being that servant leader.

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So if I can just leave you 
with a couple of things

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from my presentation.

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I hope it demonstrates 
how you can lead with the heart.

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So I have three things,

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but you only need
to choose one of them.

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Because I would like you 
to practice one of them.

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So first of all,

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encourage an environment 
where you can experiment

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and have an experimental mindset.

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But that means you will have
many, many false starts

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but also many failures.

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But cultivate and embrace
an experimental mindset.

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Number two,

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create an environment
of psychological safety.

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You will be amazed at how open,
honest and transparent your team will be.

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They will share many things with you.

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And last but not least,
be a servant leader.

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Listen, show compassion,
ask for feedback -

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because it truly helps you 
develop as a leader.

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I hope that helps you 
to lead with the heart.

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Merci beaucoup.

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(Applause)