Magda Stepniewicz

Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about this 👇🏼 Building trust, creating a culture of openness and leading by example. For me, leading a business family conglomerate with 34 companies, this has been crucial. The challenges, uncertainties and constant changes make one thing clear… That pretending to have it all under control is a losing game! Here’s why being open and showing vulnerability matters more than you think: 1. It builds trust When you’re honest about challenges, your team sees you as real, not just a title. Trust is built on authenticity. 2. It creates a culture of openness When leaders are transparent, employees feel safe to share concerns, ideas and even failures leading to better decisions and growth. 3. It supports resilience The journey of business growth, whether for emerging startups or established corporations, is often unpredictable. Acknowledging struggles brings teams together rather than isolating them. 4. It makes leadership human People don’t connect with perfection. They connect with leaders who are real, take responsibility and grow alongside their teams. Great leadership isn’t about appearing invincible - it’s about being real. How do you approach vulnerability in leadership? ♻️ If you think this post could help someone in your network, hit repost. 🔔 Hit the bell button at the top of my profile to see all my posts. Don't let algorithms dictate what you view.

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Cross-Functional Collaboration Demands Aligned Incentives 🚀 Customers only see one thing: execution. They don’t care which function delivered what. Yet inside many organizations, functions are incentivized differently: Sales & Marketing measured on regional targets Supply Chain, Finance, R&D, HR, Legal... measured on global KPIs The reality? All of them worked together to deliver to the same customer. So why are rewards different? This creates two awkward outcomes: 1️⃣ A region misses its sales & margin targets → Sales and Marketing lose incentives, but other functions still win because global targets were met. 2️⃣ A region exceeds its targets → Sales and Marketing win, but Supply Chain, Finance, R&D, HR, Legal... miss incentives because other regions underperformed. Of course, there will be people whose scope of work spans more than one region—they should be rewarded accordingly, beyond a single region’s targets. Let us make it easier for Teams to perform. Let us eliminate one key reason for disgruntled employees—those who deliver top performance, yet don’t get rewarded on their actual results but on global targets outside their control. As thry say: “Show me a person’s KPIs, and I can predict their behavior.” If KPIs aren’t aligned to customer outcomes, teams will always pull in different directions. If teams serve the same customer, they must share the same success criteria—and win or lose together. That alignment of incentives is fundamental to cross-functional collaboration. Companies must move beyond functional boundaries and reward based on common customer and product outcomes. 👉 How is your organization aligning incentives across functions to drive true collaboration? #CrossFunctionalCollaboration #CustomerCentric #Incentives #Teamwork #Leadership

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Less Noise, More #Impact: The #Business Case for #Simplicity In today’s #hyperconnected, #hypercomplicated world, leaders often mistake complexity for sophistication. However, across industries and borders, I’ve seen the opposite — the most #powerful solutions are often the simplest, yet the most overlooked. The real challenge? Escaping the #ComplexityTrap we build with good intentions and overengineered processes. #Simplicity is # SmarterThinking: And it requires quiet #courage and the #humility to listen carefully — the courage to cut through noise, make bold decisions, and trust in fundamental truths. Think of the Toyota Motor Corporation Production System, Apple’s product design ethos, or the success of Instagram’s early UI. These weren’t shallow or underdeveloped concepts — they were deeply strategic, designed to eliminate waste, highlight essentials, and prioritize the user. Why Do Organizations Fall into the Complexity Trap? - The Cult of #Busy: Being “busy” is a badge of honor. But being busy isn’t always being productive. And it certainly doesn't always deliver results. - Fear of Missing Out #FOMO: Organizations want to be seen as innovative, so they chase trends, add tools, and complicate their tech stacks. But #innovation doesn’t mean adding layers — it means solving real problems. - #Logic Overload vs. #EmotionalReality: Business processes are often built with logic. But humans — employees and customers — are emotional creatures. We crave clarity, purpose, and ease. Over-engineered processes forget this. What Simplicity Unlocks and Why Simplicity Wins! 1) #Clarity: A clearly defined problem is halfway solved. Simplicity forces us to ask, “What are we really solving here?” 2) #Speed & #Agility: Simple solutions reduce the time from decision to execution. That's a superpower. 3) #Scalability: Simple systems are easier to scale and easier to fix when issues arise. 4) #Resilience: In crisis, you need fast answers. Complex systems break under stress. Simple ones bend and adapt. 5) #Cost-Effectiveness: More complexity = more overhead. Fewer moving parts = more #ROI. So, How Do We Embrace #Simplicity? 1) Define the Core Issue: Ask “Why?” five times — get to the root cause. 2) Test Small, Iterate Fast: Pilot simple solutions, collect feedback, and evolve. 3 ) Foster Honest #Communication: Make space for people to say, “This is too complicated.” 4) Lead with Simplicity: Leaders #listen carefully to what your people are trying to desperately tell you. 5) #RewardOutcomes, Not Process: Stop Celebrating Complex Plans! Celebrate effectiveness. #Simplicity is not the absence of #complexity — it’s the discipline to organize it. And that, in today’s noisy, fast, over-processed world, is a true differentiator. #SimplicityInBusiness #LessIsMore #LeadershipClarity #FocusOnImpact #StrategicSimplicity #CutThroughNoise #ClarityOverBusy #SimplifyToScale #Essentialism #LeadWithPurpose #MinimalistLeadership #ProductivityMindset

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The best leaders do something quietly powerful. They do not simply set goals for the business. They make clear agreements with themselves. Before a culture is built through strategy decks or handbooks, it is shaped by the daily standards of its leader. When a leader pays attention to their words, reactions, assumptions, and effort, they create an environment others can trust. ➤ Speak with clarity. Your words shape alignment, direction, and accountability. ➤ Do not absorb every reaction. Most criticism reflects someone else's lens, not your reality. ➤ Ask instead of assuming. Questions clear confusion and accelerate decisions. ➤ Give your best effort consistently. That is what earns trust, far more than any title ever will. Leadership is not a role to perform. It is a standard to embody. Great companies may be built on sharp strategy. Companies that last are anchored by the integrity of those who lead them. #leadership #culture #mindset #growth #motivation

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One of my colleagues got offended when I gave a direct feedback to her regarding a piece of work. I couldn't understand her reaction because I have always been someone who appreciates candid feedback, so I naturally assumed others would too. But it took me a while to understand that not everyone is like that. Many people are actually scared of negative feedback. In fact, I have noticed that most people who say they want feedback actually mean they want validation and appreciation. The moment the feedback gets uncomfortable, the defenses go up. I too have been guilty of this in the past. Hearing something that challenges your self-image is never easy. The natural instinct is to explain, justify, or even reject it. But over time, I have realized that the ability to take feedback is actually a long-term competitive advantage. If you can not only listen to constructive feedback but also actively seek it out, you will always have an edge. Because while most people run away from discomfort, you can turn that discomfort into growth. And growth always compounds with time. All the people I know at the top are not the ones who always get everything right. They are the ones who accept what they are doing wrong without letting ego get in the way. And it is this ability that makes them unstoppable in the long run. So if you ever find yourself feeling uncomfortable after feedback, take a pause. That discomfort is actually a sign of growth. Train yourself to welcome it instead of resisting it. How open are you, really, to hearing feedback that stings? Follow me at Sumit Agrawal - Job Search Coach for more and #UncoverExcellence with me. #careergrowth #feedbackculture #continuousImprovement #professionalgrowth #constructiveCriticism

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Dear Rookie, Copy-paste is for Excel, not LinkedIn ;) Stop commenting just for the sake of it. And please, stop recycling someone else’s post or writing random textbook analysis. Here’s my 3 cents on what works (and what I try… at least on good days): 1. Do something yourself. Even a small project or experiment teaches you more than copying ever will. 2. Share your own point of view. You’ll grow faster when people react, question, or even disagree. 3. Add your uniqueness. There’s only one you - and YOU are AWESOME - so why waste it by sounding like everyone else? Would love to read and learn from original thinkers and I truly believe everyone has a unique, brilliant and awesome perspective to add ❤️

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