NEWS

“Leadership needs to change. Digitalization and technology are moving motivation factors away from the burning platform to burning desire,” Microsoft General Manager Kimberly Lein-Mathisen told AmCham Mentorship Program participants during our 2018-19 edition halfway meeting.

“Everyone’s life is being enhanced through the use of artificial intelligence all the time, whether you know it or not.”

“Technology is changing leadership requirements. Leaders’ roles are developing from ‘decision makers’ to ‘empowering facilitators,’ with the main objective being to motivate employees differently than before,” Lein-Mathisen continued.

The best mentor relationships are when both parties are learning something new and gaining new skills or perspectives. Lein-Mathisen urged mentors to use this opportunity to encourage the mentees to contribute to the conversation.

“Digital transformation is hard and, as employees, you can risk being left behind. As a mentee, I hope you take this opportunity to teach your mentor something they don’t know that can help them develop as leaders and professionals,” she said.

Leadership Through Company Culture

Having previously discussed leadership development and company culture extensively with Jotun CEO Morten Fon in our International Leadership Interview Series, there are few companies more interesting to hear from regarding building leaders through company culture.

Bjørn Wallentin, Vice President of the Americas at Jotun, presented how the Sandefjord-headquartered company has worked to incorporate a Scandinavian-based company culture in all of their locations worldwide.

“At Jotun, we develop leaders, who develop people, who develop business,” he said.

“Every year, we hire nearly 1000 new people and every year, 800 people change positions internally. In fact, when an employee reaches a certain level, to gain further promotions, he or she needs to work for Jotun outside of their native country.”

“Our corporate culture – the Penguin Way – ensures that we develop leadership across borders and cultures. We say that we hire for life, and to guarantee that statement, it is essential that we are providing employees with opportunities to develop their competencies. That’s why we say that we hire young professionals and then make them into penguins,” Wallentin explained.

The AmCham Mentorship Program

Hosted by Microsoft, the event marked the halfway point of the 2018-19 edition of our popular Mentorship Program. With a new session slated to start in May 2019, AmCham is delighted to offer our Patron member companies a platform upon which to develop the leaders of today as well as tomorrow.

Please contact us for interest in participating in the 2019-20 edition.