5 insights from a Global Innovation Lead

August 15, 2019

Nuria Ruiperez is no stranger to leading change. As Worley’s Global Innovation Lead she heads up a team tackling the growth strategy for the business.

Recently Nuria joined our Board Chair Scott Watkins in Melbourne for an event on leaders as change makers supporting communities near and far.

Drawing on her career experiences and her experiences as a participant in our inaugural Leadership Impact Program in Bangalore in May, here’s five key takeaways we loved from Nuria!

1. When it comes to change, tech is just an enabler

“Change is all about the human element, connecting with individuals and stakeholders. We need to always remind ourselves that technology is an enabler of change, people are the change makers.”

2. Seek ah-ha moments

“Confidence was the biggest thing I got out of the program. Before going [to Bangalore] I had an inner dialogue, wondering if I had the capability, was I good enough, were my skills relevant?

During the program I had an ah-ha moment. My confidence was taken to another level because I really started trusting my decision-making process. I also have more in my toolkit for decision making, resulting in more objective decision making.”

3. Constantly define the problem you’re addressing

“Address problems with a beginner’s mindset. Ensure you’re constantly defining and addressing what the problem is. Don’t already have the answer before you start the design process and don’t be afraid to work with antagonizers who purport to know the answer – they keep you honest.”

4. Keep yourself relevant

“When we get to a certain level in organisations, people don’t tend to invest in themselves. However, as leaders of change we need to continually upskill and keep ourselves current. I believe it’s as important to upskill leaders in the business as it is to focus on upskilling graduates and aspiring leaders.”

5. A completely different leadership experience

“Any other training you’ve done, or leadership programs you may have gone through, think of them. Now throw them out the window. Pollinate Group’s program is a completely different experience on many different levels. The environment you’d usually experience a leadership program is turned on its head.

You actually visit the communities you’re working with, and you can directly test and observe your thinking and how it impacts the people involved. That’s a real difference of this program to other training–you connect theories, ideas and prototypes with communities and, while it’s intensive, you go through the content and get to take action as well.”

We thank Nuria and our wonderful partners Worley for participating in our inaugural Leadership Impact Program and look forward to the longer term impacts of the program on all participants.