Katja Rieger’s Post

My Sunday wish for you: savor differences! I came home for a long weekend to see my loved ones. Missing them is one of the hardest parts of my adventure. I was giddy with excitement to come home, mostly for my family. Then on the ride home along the lakeshore that had become much greener since I left, the appreciaton for my lovely lake rose up in me again. After the hot dry place I came from, the fresh spring green and the cool waters of the lake are such a contrast. And it feels almost more intense, because of it. You all know how much I love my lake, the nature here at all seasons. I never took it for granted. Yet somehow everything familiar looks new, refreshed. And now I will soon go back into the completely different place with it’s own beauty, it’s own smells and sounds. And I think I will appreciate it a bit more intensely too, just because of the contrast. Maybe we can even apply this to work and life. To try something completely different, both to learn something new and to appreciate the familiar. It’s not an either/or. The familiar and the new complement each other. So my wish for all of us: let us seek out differences, savor the contrast and strengthen our feelings for the old and the new. Two images: one of the blue lake in the morning with the sun rising, a group of trees at the right, mirrored in the water, a rowing boat in the distance. The other of a desert landscape flanked by two palm trees at sunset. The sky changing from a dusky blue to a bright orange, where it hits the land. #mindfulLeadership #Resilience #Differences #appreciateDifferences

My Sunday wish for you: use context … …instead of control. This weekend I drove to Bahrain with a friend. Bahrain is a country, a kingdom, an island of the eastern cost of Saudi Arabia. And it’s connected through a long causeway - a bridge over the ocean - with the mainland. While we were driving, we talked about work and the changes we are experiencing from more old fashioned leadership styles of hierarchy and control to the expectations of a new generation (and frankly the older ones too) of freedom and teamwork. Of course such changes are not evenly embraced by everyone. Some people have problems adapting to a new style, some fear the loss of power and status, some struggle with the ambiguity and giving up control. Control was for many years pivotal at and for work: Controlling that things got done Controlling that rules were followed Controlling that people did, what they were told. And to be fair especially in dangerous environments, where not following the rules can lead to loss of life, control is important. But somehow control has taken over the hearts and minds of many who are in power. They don’t just control, what is important to control. They control too many aspects of people’s work. To a point, where it becomes not only inefficient but demotivating. So how about we use context instead of control. In Risk Management and Compliance, which are both very much about control, leaders have learned, that they get better outcomes, when they explain the purpose, the common goal, and then ask their teams to use their judgement. Same for leadership in general. There is the lovely quote from St. Exupéry about teaching people to yearn for the vast and open sea 🌊 instead of step by step learning how to build a boat. People are smart, they have ideas, they want to contribute. So if you want to get the best out of your team, don’t control them, give them context and empower them to work together. And it even applies to ourselves. If we want to become a better version of ourselves, control is the least motivating way to get there - and therefore the least successful. But envisioning the person we can be - our best self, as vividly and real, what we can do for whom and what we can impact - in short the context, can really help to make it a reality. So my wish for all of us, let’s understand the context, so we will do, what is best and what is right. Image: photo of the long bridge across the ocean while driving on it with lamp posts and rails at the side and the blue sky covering most of the photo. #leadership #selfLeadership #Aspiration #Teamwork #GiveUpControl

Diversity and inclusion makes business sense! And this is not me saying but the CEO of the biggest bank, Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan. “Reaching more communities, for example, means growing the customer base. Casting a wider net to find talent means you're finding the best people. Helping entrepreneurs succeed is a way of creating more business for the bank down the line.” Of course we should be inclusive purely for ethical reasons. But it doesn’t hurt to have practical reasons as well. #dei #inclusion #FutureOfWork #ResponsibleBusiness https://lnkd.in/ekf_uBDR

Insurtech in the Middle East is thriving. And with new business opportunities come new challenges. That means good governance, better decision making and diverse perspectives are key! I have the pleasure to speak at the event about the benefits of Board Diversity for any business - but especially new and growing businesses. I look forward to exchanging with Startups, Venture Capital, Experts and Innovators. Lars Gehrmann Dr. Katja Raithel MENA InsurTech Association

My Sunday wish for you: Nourish your roots It’s very dry and hot here. And it hasn’t even reached peak temperature yet. So you expect the light brown, ochre colors. Planes strewn with rocks, the occasional scraggly bushes. And this is how it looks outside. But in the camp you see blooming bushes everywhere. And how they don’t only survive but thrive is through very targeted drip irrigation. That way the water doesn’t dissipate in the heat, nor does it run off taking soil with it. This reminds me a bit of talent management. Too often companies roll out sweeping learning programs. Agile, Lean, DEI etc. The problem: flooding everyone with the same training is often wasteful. On top, too many interventions target outcomes, but never tackle the causes. For example you can hire more women, get everyone to attend unconscious bias training, but somehow in the end, the women still don’t feel included. Or you train everyone in speaking up, but forget to coach the leaders to not react defensively, when people speak up. I feel that maybe the drip method could change things. You water every individual bush at its roots. If we equate the bush with an individual or a team, we give the team just what they need to flourish. It even applies to our own growth. I am sometimes so curious and want to learn it all, AI, neuroscience, scaling startups, governing large organizations, smart cities, healthcare, energy and so much more. And while any leader should be well rounded, strengthening our roots, is what gives us the strength to thrive and endure. So my wish for all of us, let’s nourish our roots, let’s take care of our health, mental and physical, and sometimes just say „enough“ #resilience #MentalHealth #MindfulLeadership #Energy Image: red and orange blooming bushes on sandy ground with the sun setting behind. With a writing on top: “nourish your roots”

A library - a museum - a festival space This is Ithra, a very modern, beautiful place in Dhahran. Today there was an Eid celebration and the doors of the museum and exhibitions opened for free. An impressive, joyful event. #saudiarabia #museum #library

Bullying is a blight It can destroy mental health and even lives. Children who have been bullied carry this into many years of their adulthood. Let’s all learn how to Stand up to it Prevent it and Heal from it #bullying #Kindness #MentalHealth

The climate crisis is real. Life will get even harder for many people in areas away from the infrastructure we often take for granted. We need to harness the many great ideas. They exist and often just need to be scaled. Water, Energy, Housing, Plumbing - it’s not rocket science. And it transforms lives.

My Sunday wish for you: change your mind. I just watched a short video clip with Jeff Bezos. He said, that the people, who are often right, change their minds a lot. And it resonated very much.. One example is, what I am learning about life in Saudi Arabia. We hear news, we hear stories, but it’s never the full picture. Little things create a rich, more nuanced tapestry. A couple of days ago, I opened my bank account. I went in person over lunch to the local branch, took a ticket, waited a little and then explained to the customer service person, what I needed. She was a woman in her early 30s, I found out from all the bank employees, who stopped at her desk for questions or approval, that she must have been a supervisor. Despite the demands on her, which she solved with a quick word, she kept her attention on me quickly opening my bank account. Helping me, when I had no idea, what was needed, showing me how to find my address on one app, request some government approval on another app and setting up my new bank app with me. I didn’t remember yet my new mobile number, nor some of the other numbers needed. She only took one look at them and remembered them and entered them in my bank app for me. All the time being calm, efficient, helpful. And very competent. I am coming from arguably the country of banks, Switzerland. But in terms of digitization and connectedness between apps, this was way beyond, what we do in Switzerland. And experiencing this young professional woman, certainly would have destroyed any stereotypes, I had fortunately already given up before. There are so many more examples, where we may have an opinion. But when we are open to learning, it’s not only ok to change our minds, it’s a sign of intellectual humility and growth. So my wish for all of us: let us not stop learning, let us be open to change our minds. We benefit and the world benefits, because when we can change our minds, we can come together across divides. #mindfulLeadership #intelectualHumility #learning #Growth Picture shows a beach with two white tent like structures in the foreground, a cloudy grey sky shortly before rain, a dark green ocean with a little red motor boat on the water between the two tents. With writing on the bottom: “change your mind”