Top Takeaways Tuesday: Unlocking Leadership Potential

The Knowing Self Knowing Others Podcast, Ep. 65 with Tessa Clarke

Hello KSKOers

I was really excited to be joined by Tessa Clarke, Co-Founder and CEO of Olio, the brilliant food waste reduction and food sharing app. We talked about Tessa’s transition from senior corporate leadership to going it alone, and all the things she learned along the way.

Tessa Clarke and Olio

Here are my top takeaways from our conversation

1. Integrating Management and Leadership: Tessa perspective on uniting management and leadership roles within organisations undergoing change or rapid growth highlights the critical need to foster leadership skills while grounding them in essential management practices. She emphasises a holistic approach that harmonises the strengths of both management and leadership, advocating for a more integrated model rather than viewing them as separate entities. By aligning these functions, organisations can effectively navigate challenges, inspire teams, and drive strategic initiatives forward.

Reflection question: How can your organisations strike a balance between management essentials and leadership qualities to cultivate a positive culture?

2. Fostering Self-Awareness: Tessa’s implementation of tools like Radical Candor and the Colors communication assessment at Olio underscores the profound impact of nurturing self-awareness across all levels of the organisational hierarchy. By encouraging people to be introspective and understand their communication styles and interpersonal dynamics, organisations can cultivate a culture of openness, empathy, and personal growth.

Reflection question: How can you proactively cultivate self-awareness among your team members? What tools can you use?

3. Prioritising Problem-Solving: Tessa's advice for budding companies to prioritise problem-solving and adopt a methodical, incremental approach, emphasises the significance of laying a solid foundation for growth and innovation. By focusing on addressing challenges systematically and iteratively, startups can navigate uncertainties, pivot effectively, and sustain progress in a dynamic market landscape. Humility is an integral part of effective problem-solving too: start with yourself and accept you don’t have all the answers, especially in a new business

Reflection question: How can early-stage companies embed problem-solving as a core competency in their organisational culture?

4.Competing as a Female Leader: As a female co-founded tech-based company, Olio is operating in a male dominated environment. Tessa says that she’s spent a lot of time thinking ‘what would a man do in this situation’. This reinforces the extra effort women have to put in to achieving success when not only are they competing against other businesses but having to compete because of their gender too. Tessa says,

“…female businesses, just get 2% of all venture capital funding. Male founded businesses get 85%, and mixed teams get the delta.”

Reflection question: How could your organisation improve equality of access and support to all of its employees regardless of gender?

5. Diversity and Inclusivity in Recruitment: Tessa's commitment to recruiting for values while upholding cognitive diversity and inclusivity at Olio highlights the pivotal role of building diverse and inclusive teams in driving innovation and fostering a supportive work culture. By aligning recruitment strategies with core values and celebrating diverse perspectives, organisations can harness the power of varied experiences, backgrounds, and ideas. Olio’s people demographics demonstrate that this approach really does work in achieving diversity.

Reflection question: How can your organisation improve its recruitment practices to create better alignment with it’s values?

How can you use these top takeaways and reflection questions (TTRQ)?

1. Pick one of the TTRQs

2. Share it with you team

3. Ask for their thoughts and views. Reflect, discuss and debate

4. Get to know your own thoughts better. Help others to know their thoughts better. Get to know each other better.

5. Share your thoughts here with us on what you’ve discovered and learned.

Hope you enjoy the episode and find that these TTRQs generate interesting and awareness raising discussions!