Many ways to lead

As Head of Electromobility Sales in Europe, Elodie Guyot is at the forefront of Volvo CE’s transformation, championing sustainability. 

“Our role within Electromobility Sales is all about change management. But I believe the challenge is not only on me but on every employee, today. We have set our ambition, as a group, and my mission is to make sure we put the right energy and focus on this challenge to make it a success and secure our future. It’s an exciting time of change.

“What has always driven me, from when I was a teenager, was curiosity. Just learn and explore, you might fail but that’s no problem, the pleasure is in exploring. I think it’s so important to be self-aware, share your strengths and weaknesses and feel like you have a safe place to be honest and transparent.” 

Change management requires great leaders like Elodie – and like Chanchal Basu, Chief Project Manager for Compaction in Bangalore, India. His approach to leadership is based on partnership. When he and his team began to build proof of concepts for electric compactors, for example, they had to individually learn new skills while also collaborating.

“I don’t think we ever would have achieved what we have if we weren’t able to receive extremely good support from our colleagues at Bangalore and around the world,” he said. “Without all of us working towards the same goal we would never have been able to move forward. Knowing that we have embarked on this challenge together, we believed in the vision, we wanted to prove that it was possible, and then we succeeded – it’s a great feeling.”

It’s not always necessary to be a direct manager to lead, as Andreas Kasel demonstrates. He took a sideways role from Purchasing to Technology, but says he now has more influence and is collaborating with more colleagues than ever before.

“Many people think that when you move away from a management position it’s a demotion, but to be honest my area of influence now is so much larger. I have to make decisions that will have a significant impact, influencing more people either directly or indirectly than I ever did before.

“In this role I work with colleagues across sales, marketing and beyond so it’s been a real eye-opener to learn more about other aspects of our business.”

For Johanna Huggare, Head of Operator and Electronic Systems, collaboration and compassion are key. And while she has shown a natural ability to lead, she also admits it is a role that she didn’t know she was ready for. 

“We all have our different strengths and weaknesses, and no one is perfect. We’re all human. There is no perfect package to be a leader. I believe that to tackle the challenges we face today, we need effective change leaders. And that means people who aren’t afraid of change in their own lives.

“I try to be responsive and available for everyone in my team. I travel quite a bit, and I always try to make the effort to meet everyone. And I use newsletters to share messages or news that I think is important for everyone in the team to hear about. I think communication is key.”