AXA Me Anything: Developing great leaders
We recently spoke to Katie Plascott, one of our people leaders and a Corporate Marketing Consultant for AXA Health. Along with lots of our leaders, Katie has recently taken part in some workshops about ‘leading with purpose’. We spoke to her about what she learned and what she thinks makes a great leader.
So… how was the training?
It was great. It was really energising and inspiring to work together with leaders from different teams, learn together, and crucially, have some time with no distractions!
We talked about communicating well, making sure we understand why we do the things we do and building happy and productive teams. We also discussed the importance of “soft skills” like kindness, curiosity and intentionality in leaders.
Tell me more about those soft skills.
I believe that kindness is powerful. Research shows that kindness in one of the most powerful ways for leaders and businesses to stand out. I lead with kindness to foster a warm, productive, and happy environment. The once considered soft skills are now considered power skills. Leading with empathy, care, trust and respect is integral at AXA and I am here for it!
What else makes a great leader in your opinion?
A good leader is a mentor, coach and cheerleader. They treat others how they would like to be treated, they’re active listeners and give constructive feedback. It’s crucial that they advocate for their team and give them a sense of trust and ownership, respect their time and role-model a good work-life balance. And to top it all off, they need a sense of humour!
Do you feel like AXA supports its leaders?
Definitely. As well as leadership programmes and mentor programmes, we also benefit from sessions with in-house experts to make sure that we as leaders are looking after ourselves as well as our team.
Is it important to you to work for a company that does leadership training like this?
Absolutely. We all need to continue to learn and evolve to be the best leaders we can be for our teams, developing the leaders of the future.
If you’d like to join a company focused on helping you to grow your potential, keep an eye on our latest vacancies to find a role that’s right for you. Or follow us on LinkedIn to find out more about life at AXA.
- CATEGORIES:
- Health
- Grow your potential
- Marketing & Communications
