Geert Standaert, CTO of Proximus - People first, Constant learning and Raising the bar
Geert Standaert is the CTO of Belgian telecom company Proximus and the next ECOTY finalist in our Leadership Deep Dive series. In this energetic episode, he talks to Hendrik Deckers about the transformation projects he has led at Proximus, but perhaps even more interestingly - about his very open philosophy on learning, teaching, motivating and creativity. Geert, before his IT career took off, has learned acting and played in a rock band. He has also taken up carpentry and we think it's a very thought-provoking way how Geert relates that to leadership, management and happiness. We can definitely recommend this conversation for a Friday evening or Saturday merit-packed entertainment ;) Table of contents: 01:40 Transformation project #1: Proximus TV 14:31 Transformation project #2: Mass market transformation / unifying the customer journey 17:09 How IT is organised at Proximus 19:21 Agile transformation at a large organisation 22:23 The ROI of agile transformation 23:32 How to attract the best people in IT 24:55 Geert's management style Book: Employees first, customers second https://www.amazon.com/Employees-First-Customers-Second-Conventional/dp/1422139069 27:44 Diversity in IT at Proximus 30:05 CTO's role and priorities at Proximus 32:52 Geert's leadership style 34:02 Geert's MBTI profile 36:46 His personal mantra 38:44 How do you manage stress? 40:02 The Zen of Carpentry 41:26 What acting lessons can teach you about leadership 45:07 Advice to future digital leaders 47:09 Care-frontation: how to give and get feedback 50:16 Geert's most important values in life Don't stop at the first hiccup 52:21 Geert's mentors 57:30 Trust-based knowledge communities
Geert Standaert is the CTO of Belgian telecom company Proximus and the next ECOTY finalist in our Leadership Deep Dive series. In this energetic episode, he talks to Hendrik Deckers about the transformation projects he has led at Proximus, but perhaps even more interestingly - about his very open philosophy on learning, teaching, motivating and creativity. Geert, before his IT career took off, has learned acting and played in a rock band. He has also taken up carpentry and we think it's a very thought-provoking way how Geert relates that to leadership, management and happiness. We can definitely recommend this conversation for a Friday evening or Saturday merit-packed entertainment ;) Table of contents: 01:40 Transformation project #1: Proximus TV 14:31 Transformation project #2: Mass market transformation / unifying the customer journey 17:09 How IT is organised at Proximus 19:21 Agile transformation at a large organisation 22:23 The ROI of agile transformation 23:32 How to attract the best people in IT 24:55 Geert's management style Book: Employees first, customers second https://www.amazon.com/Employees-First-Customers-Second-Conventional/dp/1422139069 27:44 Diversity in IT at Proximus 30:05 CTO's role and priorities at Proximus 32:52 Geert's leadership style 34:02 Geert's MBTI profile 36:46 His personal mantra 38:44 How do you manage stress? 40:02 The Zen of Carpentry 41:26 What acting lessons can teach you about leadership 45:07 Advice to future digital leaders 47:09 Care-frontation: how to give and get feedback 50:16 Geert's most important values in life Don't stop at the first hiccup 52:21 Geert's mentors 57:30 Trust-based knowledge communities