Teija-Marie Pierre is currently interim Commercial Support Team Manager for a global company in shipping and logistics. She has a long and broad experience in, among other things, internal and external communication, brand building, PR, and change leadership. With her experience in different industries and companies, such as TomTom, LG Electronics, and 4C Strategies, she successfully leads change and efficiency projects in her interim assignments.
We talked to Teija-Marie about her view on leadership and how she ensures that she has a good balance between work and leisure.
Which 3 points are most important in your leadership?
- Clarity and responsibility – I strongly believe in setting the right expectations for both myself and those I work with. If you know what is expected of you, you also take ownership of your tasks. In that way, I avoid something falling between the cracks.
- A happy team performs well. It is important to create a good working culture with good communication to be able to cooperate and thrive, which leads me to the third point.
- Cooperation is a key factor. Both within the team and with other departments/companies.
Which 3 points are most important in change management?
- Listen and do your homework, gather facts and data. It must be crystal clear what we should do, how we should do it, when it should be done and why we do it.
- Clear communication throughout the process, both vertically and horizontally.
- Get everyone on board. People handle change differently. It is important to include those who are affected by the change. If they do not believe in it, the change will not be good either.
How do you ensure that you have a good work/life balance?
“For my daily work, I use Time Management. I work my contracted hours, and to keep up with everything, I break down large tasks into sub-goals so that it becomes clear what to prioritize during a day or week. Then I set aside time to do it. As an interim, I always come in with energy and a willingness to deliver as there is a clear start and end of the assignment. This means that I get a lot done, and rarely take the job home with me. And in the cases where I do, it is because I get ideas and solutions, I do not ponder. Interim Management really enables work/life balance for me.”