CXO INSIGHT industry and later I applied that learning in my dealings in Asia and EMEA . Business is personal to me and I genuinely care what our technology does to other people ’ s lives – it enables , amplifies and connects people in ways we may not have thought about 10 + years ago . Not knowing what is coming , that ’ s exactly what gets me up every morning – continued exploration , disruption and taking a leading role at Ciena to shape the future of the industry and the society with our advanced technology and solutions .
How do you equip staff with skills and knowledge ?
An organisation that can support , enable and empower employees to have not only the skill sets of today , but those of the future , will thrive . By this , I mean that the key is not just about ensuring employees are trained on the current business needs and products , but also helping them to explore business and customer requirements that might be just around the corner . I strongly believe in constant learning as it is the key for sustained success , growth and competitiveness .
There are various ways organisations can bring this to life – taking Ciena as an example , we achieve that through hands-on sessions , demos , external and internal trainings , as well as through access to mentoring and online resources .
How do you work with other executives to make sure your voice is heard ?
At Ciena , we have a very open and collaborative environment . Every voice is heard . Employees are encouraged to speak up and ask questions . I believe that the successful companies of the future are the ones that respect creativity and different ways of thinking .
It is also important to listen to your customers and understand their needs and concerns , this way you will understand the market and be able to add influence into any decision making . I also make sure my voice is heard by standing up for what I truly believe in . I am passionate , have strong opinions and I don ’ t give up easily – persistence is key , but it is also important to have a clear view on the market and your customers so you can make educated decisions that will add business value .
How do you ensure different teams in your organisation work together ?
Working together is not all about tools – they are the foundation and at Ciena we embrace technology and we have got an amazing team of IT leaders that provide us with absolutely everything to allow us to collaborate , design and run the creative process together .
We also make sure that the entire company – from sales to accounting to technical support – is educated on the trends and issues impacting our business and industry . We host frequent ‘ lunch and learn ’ type meetings with our leaders and also bring in external experts to keep the team knowledgeable . It is important that we enable employees , by not only providing them with the right tools and fundamentals but also by equipping them with the bigger picture insight .
But in my opinion , the foundation for excellent cross-team collaboration is empowerment . We need to allow teams to make their own decisions , tap into all resources required to drive success and reward them for jobs well done while also allowing for room to learn and improve . Providing ‘ psychological safety ’ is a key element , I am asking all of my leaders to offer this to their team members . This is the foundation for collaborative high-performing teams .
More importantly , we want our employees to feel empowered to take responsibility for their learning and development , knowing they have the company ’ s support to embrace new methods .
We ’ ve also had great success bringing on and training new hires via specialised employee development programmes . A prime example is CienaNEXT , a programme that helps earlyin-career candidates build acumen through a rigorous two-year learning and development programme . Essentially , the new hires rotate through different groups inside the company , so they get more hands-on experience across a variety of disciplines .
Collaboration is critical in every industry . And , now more than ever – when more staff are working remotely – it is imperative that companies invest in the right collaboration tools like video conferencing and the cloud . At Ciena , we have also started to leverage Virtual Reality ( VR ) and Artificial Reality ( AR ) technologies to improve the way we work virtually . As an example , we have started using VR and AR in our labs for customer demonstrations and for our own IT tech support .
In summary , successful collaboration will be more than just having the right tech tools . It will also require leaders to be prepared for unexpected challenges and lead through it . x
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