#06 Judith Sterl – Listen, really listen

Uploaded: 11.01.2020
Duration: 25:37

In this episode, I talk with Judith Sterl. She is the Head of Marketing and Communications of the German Accelerator.

We talk about:

What helped her in her first leadership role: namely thinking about behaviors of managers she had worked with in the past that she liked and didn’t like in order to developed her own style out of that as well as speaking with more senior colleagues.
“Secret codes” like expressing happiness in different cultures whilst at Yahoo.
Moving from being a colleague to being a team lead and the significance of being transparent to your team about the different tasks and decisions, whilst being authentic at the same time.
Making people feel like it’s ok to be human and moan sometimes also to your boss.
How age & experience help with perfectionism.
Putting yourself in the shoes of others: both in the shoes of your own manager and the people in your team.
The importance of managing each team member individually: Have a conversation on how they want to get feedback, in which way do they feel praised?
Leading by example: don’t just be the distant boss, but be an active part of the team.
How a clear project management workframe including project leaders, contributors and supporters makes roles and responsibilities clearer for everyone in the team.
Working with remote teams and the value of spending time in their office to find out how their daily life looks like – what’s it like to be also in their shoes?
And Judith’s wish for leaders around the world to really listen and take individual feedback as a gift.