It’s claimed that ’knowledge is power’ but when it comes to leading people or organisations, it might be more apt to say ’sharing is power’. That’s where Julius Baer’s ’Leadership Champions’ come in. This diverse group of twelve senior managers, representing various teams, regions, and divisions, is creating value beyond wealth by gathering voluntarily to support the bank’s current and new leaders. Its mission? To exchange information, broaden networks, improve know-how, and ensure a thriving leadership culture at the company.
Continuous Learning
“Leadership isn’t simply an ability you either have or you don’t have”, says Francesco, a member of the Leadership Champions group since 2019. “You might have certain characteristics that belong to good leadership, but things change quickly nowadays. So one of the most important things a leader can do, is to be a constant learner.”
This growth mindset – the belief that we can all improve our skills and abilities with time and effort – underpins the whole ethos of the Leadership Champions initiative. The leaders in the group are ’champions’ in the sense that they champion best practices. There are many ways to be a good leader, but the best leaders are those who learn by reflecting on their experiences – and their failures – and apply those lessons in the future.
Speaking the same language
The Leadership Champions initiative holds added appeal for its participants in allowing them to discuss their experiences in a familiar and trusting environment. “It’s helpful that, as Leadership Champions, we have a common language”, says Francesco. “We know the culture of Julius Baer. If I share my stories with friends or leaders outside the company, they don’t necessarily understand what I am referring to.” He adds that it’s also important that the group is fully in tune with the bank’s strategy. “Ultimately, we, as senior leaders, are steering the business, so we need to pull in the same direction!”
The twelve champions represent a wide variety of functions and are drawn from locations around the Julius Baer map, including the Americas, China, India, Israel, the Middle East, and Switzerland. “We come to the meetings with different perspectives but, through the platform, we can create a common leadership culture”, says Dimitrios, another member of the group. “Zurich has a slightly different culture from Ticino, and Switzerland has a different culture from Israel, but by sharing our ideas we find a way to speak with one voice so that our leadership culture is broadly aligned. From my own discussions with leaders from different parts of the company, I can tell you that the challenges we face are often very similar!”
Making connections
The Leadership Champions also support other leaders by creating connections across Julius Baer. Knowing who is in charge of certain topics is, after all, one of the quickest ways to get things done in any organisation.
Angelika is passionate about this aspect of leadership: “For me, it’s all about opening doors for people and putting them in touch with one another. Through the Leadership Community, we onboard every new team head into the company, which is great because it allows us to build our network across divisions and regions. That’s what makes an organisation successful: having engaged people who are very well connected.”
As a leader with Julius Baer`s CEO Office, Angelika and her team are used to handling a fast-changing agenda and demands from all over the company. She focuses on paving the way for those under her charge. “I try not to think about how I can manage my team, but what they might need from me”, she says. “In that respect, it’s a lot about communication and making a meaningful connection with them as individuals.”
Shared success
The awareness of the need to learn constantly on the job goes hand in hand with another leadership trait that effective leaders have – humility. This is rooted in an understanding that the greatest leaders are not necessarily those who do the greatest things, but those who help others do the greatest things.
“In my experience, good leaders like to develop people”, says Dimitrios. “And if you like to develop people, you automatically ask yourself how you can help them succeed. After all, as a leader, I’m only successful if my team members succeed. If they’re not successful, it’s my failure too.” Humility is also about being open about what you don’t know. “As a leader, you’re not expected to have all the answers”, he says. “When a challenge arises, I often ask my team what they think. There’s normally somebody in the team who has a brilliant idea!”
Naresh, who leads a team of Relationship Managers, is another firm believer in the people-centred approach. “I don’t think about my team members only as Julius Baer employees but as human beings with their own expectations and ambitions. I encourage them to think not only about their career goals but also about their personal and family goals.”
Naresh takes inspiration from a leader he served under earlier in his career who defined leadership as ’followership’. “He used to say that if you’re a leader and care about your people, they’ll want to follow you of their own accord.”
Adaptive leadership
The world has experienced a series of crises in recent years. Covid, the supply chain difficulties, the war in Ukraine, and the economic downturn have all put pressure on the workforce in different ways. Many organisations are using the term ’VUCA’ – volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous – to describe the dynamic nature of today’s business environment.
Part of the Leadership Champions’ mission is to support Julius Baer’s Leadership Community by fostering an ’adaptive leadership’ approach to this evolving environment. Adaptive leadership is about equipping leaders to work together with their teams to find creative solutions and strengthen the organisation. At its core, it involves an ability to handle relationships empathetically – seeing the people behind the issue and accepting everyone’s unique perspective.
For Naresh, building his team’s resilience and ability to cope with the obstacles that come their way is also about encouraging them to look after their own well-being. “We all have to find the right balance”, he says. “It’s not only about business. I want my team to stay healthy and feel good about themselves so that, when they start their day, they’re energised and ready to go.”
Through leadership development initiatives such as the Leadership Champions, Julius Baer is ultimately also reinforcing its status as an employer of choice. “It’s often claimed that ’people quit bosses, not companies’”, says Marianne, Global Head Leadership Development. “By caring for the leaders in our community and providing them with a platform to learn and grow in their roles, we’re also caring for the bank’s wider employee base, ensuring Julius Baer is an even more attractive workplace.”