SPEAK LIKE A CEO

Welcome to our summer series, Expert on Expert! For the next few months, we will be interviewing the chief communicators from some of the world's leading companies. From Daimler to Siemens, this series is an insight into the inside workings of top-tier communications teams.   This week's guest is Sabia Schwarzer, Global Head of Communications and Responsibility at Allianz. Allianz is the global leader in insurance and financial services. Sabia began her career in Hong Kong as a journalist, on an exchange funded by the German government. During the exchange, she got to know Allianz, one of the sponsors of the exchange, and was offered a job. 23 years later, she is still with Allianz, and highly regarded as one of the most experienced and respected communicators in Europe.  In the episode, she speaks to Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson about the future of PR and responsibility, the traits of a great leader, and building your storytelling around people, not products. 

“If you’re standing still, then you are falling behind.” On this week’s episode of Speak Like a CEO, Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson got the privilege to sit down with Konstanty Sliwowski, the CEO and founder of Caissa Recruitment. The conversation is an amazing insight into the world of talent, recruiting, and how to communicate effectively in the workforce. For anyone feeling uncertain about the job market right now, this is a great reminder that the most important asset for any company is its people.

"Trust is good but control is better." It's the paradigm that has informed German business practice to the present day, but Insa Klasing is trying to turn that around. Following a horse-riding accident, Insa noticed that her team performed much better when they had the space and autonomy to think for themselves. With TheNextWe, Insa is helping corporates to transition to autonomous, digitally-minded company cultures that prioritise success over control.  In this episode she speaks to Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson about leadership and communication, giving practical advice for getting the most out of your team.

Can co-working spaces survive the current crisis? Talent Garden CEO, Davide Dattoli, certainly thinks so. Breaking away from the model used by other co-working providers, Talent Garden specifically seeks out emerging startup ecosystems in southern and eastern Europe, playing an instrumental role in their development. With an emphasis on education, community, and engagement, Davide and his team are here to stay. In this week's episode, he speaks to Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson about remote working, building an audience, and the nuance of different European ecosystems. 

Recently named one of the "15 women in fintech you should know", Aiga Senftleben is leading the charge for gender equality in the world of financial technology. As one of Billie's seven co-founders, she is helping to make B2B transactions sound sexy. In this week's episode, she speaks to Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson about reducing the gender pay gap, successful recruitment, and the importance of face-to-face communication.

Developing house calls for the Zoom generation, TeleClinic is a major step forward for the German healthcare industry. In this week’s episode we talk to the brains behind the company, CEO Katharina Jünger. Giving us an insight into the world of digital healthcare, Katharina shares her thoughts on policy changes and disruptive advertising.

In the current crisis, the aviation industry has been hit hard. Fabio Gamba, head of ACA and ASA, is the voice of the ground handling industry, a collection of hundreds of thousands of men and women who ensure that passengers are safe at every step of the journey. Talking to Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson about the current state of affairs and the upcoming recovery period, in this episode Fabio gives an insight into the work that happens behind the scenes of every single flight. Enjoy the episode!

With so many urban mobility solutions on the market, how do you decide which one to use? René Braun doesn't want you to pick. With RYDES, he is offering city dwellers a loyalty scheme that combines all of the available solutions, so that millennials can move in any way that takes their fancy. In this episode he talks to Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson about using data to improve customer experience, the downfall of innovation hubs and communicating openly with your workforce, especially when you're having a bad day. Enjoy the episode!

With seven companies under her belt, Kathryn Schifferle is an expert problem-solver. Now at the helm of Work Truck Solutions, she has built her leadership style around kindness and a commitment to help above all else. The result is innovation that places customer experience at the fore. In this episode she speaks to Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson on female leadership and breaking into established industries.

unu is trying to reinvent urban mobility and improve the quality of life for city-dwellers. With a communications strategy based on emotional appeal, unu is already setting itself apart from the rest of the mobility industry. At the helm, CEO Pascal Blum has developed a company culture in line with this ethos. Talking to Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson about the need to grow as a leader and motivating your team with clear communications, this episode is a guide to emerging from tough times even stronger.