Interview with Annemieke Hartman-Jemmett

Richard Beesley once again continues his 'Interviews with Business Leaders' series, and this edition features Annemieke Hartman-Jemmett, a C-Suite Interim, Executive Coach and Professional Board Director. She recently started a new position as co-Chair of the UHLALA Group, is a member of the RAHM Leadership Council, is a contributor to BRAINZ Magazine and her inaugural book will be published by Known Publishing Limited in 2022.

She builds high performance teams through inspiring leadership, and majors in commercial contracts, growth, profitability, sustainability, diversity and 'Storytelling'…

Annemieke has a passion for the positive impact of storytelling, when wielded by inspirational leaders who are willing to share their experiences. This episode also explores her views on a range of additional topics from authentic leadership to great team engagement, climate change, and the dynamics of how fear, trust, and one's values, are key to personal and business success.

Below is the full interview:

Q.    Annemieke, you recently took yourself to America for a month to write a book. Why and what is it about?

Annemieke. "I needed the right environment to be able to create a motivational and insightful book that offered perspective on how fear, trust and values relate to each other in life and work life. 

Additionally, I had set up a number of interviews with leaders who were prepared to offer their stories and experiences, this allowed me to research and benchmark my assumptions and experiences.  Speaking a number of different languages fluently, having worked in challenging countries having to rely on interpreters with a keen interest in cultural impact and human behavior this was the perfect backdrop to get creative on paper.

During the pandemic, I started to realize that awareness of the dynamics, of fear, trust and values, is key to personal and business success.  I had a story to tell so in early 2021, I made a commitment to share my personal story; life and business.  The bulk of the book I created in January 2022, quarter one [1] 2022 I secured a publisher and now the manuscript is with the publisher for editing."

Q.   The world has changed so much over the last few years. How do you think Leadership needs to change to accommodate the 'new' world?

Annemieke. "There is a lot of research out there on how different age groups prefer to communicate.  Personal contact vs. digital contact.  Additionally, we are starting to see buying decisions being made based on external validation; buyers are actively searching out user feedback and information available in forums, social communities and other 3^rd party channels.  Gone are the days they will rely solely on your brochures or other marketing materials; buyers actively mis-trust information shared by the company.  Businesses are entirely open to internal and external scrutiny.  Those who understand this and are able to position themselves transparently will make the biggest gains.

With this knowledge it is important for leaders to actively engage all members of the team.  There is real drive for intersectionality* throughout businesses allowing them to capitalize on true creativity and varied perspectives.  Now is the time for leaders to act as role model and strong facilitators, show vulnerability and share experiences; actively listen and engage.  It is also important to create an environment where team members can try things out without fear of failure.  Allowing individuals to be authentic and real – this is how leaders secure commitment and engagement.

Not everything is new, trust is still at the heart of all interactions and transactions. The way we assess whether a company is trustworthy has everything to do with congruency; with the additional digital access this is now more difficult to control if it is not authentic.  In its essence it is quite easy, deliver on your promise. 

*Intersectionality; creating interconnection of social categorization such as race, class and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage." 

Q.   What do you enjoy about being a professional Interim Manager?

Annemieke. "In business, I enjoy maximizing growth opportunities.  As an “interim”, with very diverse industry and culture experiences, I am brought in to add value from day one.  As a good communicator with a real interest in people, I have learned to be a good listener which allows me to participate, support and lead teams in delivering their objectives.

It is important that there is good engagement across the team, quickly.  With so many experiences to share that are relevant to the individuals and teams, I can participate pro-actively for the teams to deliver their business success; no ego.

For me it is important that the team members drive the business forward, it is down to me to offer practical solutions that become simple to implement, so we can build on the success that has already been achieved; consider my input to be an accelerator."

Q.  "Storytelling"?...

Annemieke. "Everybody loves to listen to a well prepared and constructed overview “story”.  We are taught from a very early age to use our imagination when we are read or told a story.  Often in business life we forget the story telling.  Many leaders resort to telling, but leave out the why.

Imagine what can happen if you, as a leader, are able to provide context.  The context is much more easily “consumed” by the listener if it is presented in a logical way, based on experience with a positive outcome.  As a leader when working with team members, storytelling allows for sharing of experience in context and relevant to the listener.  If the leader “story teller” is able to include simple and easy to understand follow up actions, you are offering a win-win-win; leader, team member and customer/buyer."

Q.  How do you think the business world needs to change to deal with Climate Change?

Annemieke. "It is important to recognize that human contact, face to face, remains key to relationship building.  The frequency of the human contact in business situations should be held against the light.  The past two years have offered a new perspective for those who are prepared to use a different tool kit. 

Companies and individuals have an opportunity, and I would argue responsibility, to assess their travel footprint.  Whether this is travelling by car, train or plane.  Sustainability is, or will be, high on the agenda of each and every company keen to sell their products or services.  If it is not overtly requested, you can be sure that your competitor is offering their commercial advantage related to their environmental impact as an integral part of their proposal.

Some quick wins can be to show how you manage to KPI’s to include: customer satisfaction research linked to travel reduction, employee work balance analysis [more time working from home and office], enhanced hybrid vehicle fleet and the more standard independently validated emission reductions.

Additionally, businesses should understand their team effectiveness and results linked to their carbon footprint.  It is perfectly possible to deliver progressive results using digital technology, without having to commit to extensive travel and face to face meetings.  I have a Case Study available upon request that shares further details how this is delivered.  It is all about mindset and leaders creating the right environments for all to thrive, whilst taking the environment and sustainability into consideration."

Q.What has been your greatest 'learning' over the years?

Annemieke. "My greatest learning over the years is that as a leader you need to show vulnerability and be authentic.  This will offer members in your team the opportunity to ask questions and try things out.  In the past, I was the expert at making things look effortless.  It was everything but, this took many late nights and weekends, to both my and team member’s detriment.

Through the many years, I have noticed that engagement is only achieved across the teams by being transparent, and actively promoting participation.  This does come with the opportunity for people to try and part succeed – then we adjust and realign.  Offering support and guidance throughout will pay off for all in the longer term.  The team fully owns the actions and they are accountable, the leader is the active facilitator of the group success.

The saying many hands make light work is so very true.  As leaders, we often believe we are totally responsible for the result so have the habit to fully “own” it; many actively push the team out of the way.  I have learned to actively invite the team in, to jointly deliver the results; allowing the team to own the successes.  Overall, this secures real engagement, across the team.  Together we are able to deliver more in far less time, allowing the team to be actively engaged and celebrate the success."

Richard. "Many thanks for sharing your thoughts, Annemieke."

Richard Beesley is a Partner with TRANSEARCH, specialising in Interim Search and Executive Coaching