Leadership in women: mirroring society

This transcription was generated automatically by Artificial Intelligence and may contain errors or inaccuracies. Hello, welcome to the Invisible Ingredient podcast. Just as in the kitchen, in companies there are also things that are not on the label, but that completely change the final result: culture, purpose, empathy, and how we lead. In this first episode, in an initiative that reflects Nestlé Portugal's commitment to issues that impact our society, we are going to talk about female leadership. And for this, my guest, the CEO of Nestlé Portugal, Raquel Muller, who leads a team of over 3 thousand people. Raquel, welcome. Thank you for being with us. Thank you very much. Raquel has a fascinating journey through various markets and cultures, from Mexico to Brazil, passing through Switzerland. Looking back, what was the invisible ingredient that most shaped her way of leading until now in the leadership of Nestlé Portugal? As you said, like all recipes, I think it may not just be an ingredient, it will be a combination. I think, without a doubt, curiosity is a factor that accompanied me everywhere to be able to learn as much as I could. I think another ingredient is nonconformity, not conforming to things as they are, but as we would like them to be, to pursue building this new reality or this evolution. And I would say that a third one is presence, being truly happy and dedicated where you are at that moment, not in a place where we are elsewhere. Sometimes we move to other countries and only want the food of the people we left, the way we lived before. And I think this presence of enjoying exactly what each place has to offer, would be my three ingredients. About gender equality, it is often spoken about as an ethical duty, but at Nestlé, they address diversity as a clear business priority. Why, Raquel? What does a company and society gain when it ensures gender equality in teams and leadership positions? I would say relevance, because we find that we will build a relevant solution, a relevant product, a relevant service for consumers, when the people building it have no relation to who we are creating, it becomes much more difficult. I strongly believe in fostering organizations to try to be a reflection of society. What I have outside should have the same representation inside, so that this wealth of ideas and this exchange of points of view can build a better solution. Portugal is a country with enormous talent. An example of this is Nestlé, which has integrated hundreds of new employees and has strongly invested in initiatives like Born to Talent and Summer Trainees. When Raquel looks at the new generation, who are now entering the job market, what do they look for in leadership? First thing, I would say, I think it is authenticity. We are in a time of the world when everyone wants to be able to trust and really see that it is real. So I think this theme of authenticity is very important, but it goes with the theme of coherence. Because I think that more and more in organizations, as people, as leaders, we have to be very careful to be coherent with what we say and how we act, the decisions we make and how we live our daily lives. Throughout the whole process, right? From beginning to end. I think today leadership is much closer, much more tangible, and therefore should be capable of being much more vulnerable too, because when we are authentic, it is part of being human. Without a doubt. Being CEO of Nestlé Portugal and leading a company that brings together more than 60 nationalities and an even larger number of brands, with enormous weight in the daily lives of Portuguese families, brings, I imagine, a great responsibility. When you look at the next generation of Nestlé leaders, I hope that one day we stop talking about female leadership and simply talk about good leadership. What needs to happen to reach this point? I think the discussion of gender and women is very important in the context we are in, and I think we have not yet crossed to the other side, even though many times we say the numbers follow. But I strongly believe that besides the numbers, it is very important that we can create the context for this female leadership to happen in reality. Because we often have women who are inserted into a context where they do not exercise their full potential because they are fitting into a pre-existing model. So, in any of these conversations about diversity and inclusion, I think there is a third step, which is to create the context so that that person, and there, regardless of gender, can give their best as a whole. I still think that besides the numbers, we have a lot to work on in creating this context, so that leadership can be exercised from a more human place, with fewer models, with fewer boxes, with fewer predetermined things, so that everyone can come with what they have to offer. To finish, Raquel, we are reaching the end of our time. Nestlé's historic signature is Good Food, Good Life. If you had to summarize in one sentence your invisible ingredient for a good professional life and also to inspire future leaders, women in Portugal, what would it be? What would you say? I would say commitment to presence and to a better future. Raquel Muller, thank you very much for sharing and for this inspiring conversation. Thank you. Thank you very much. We have reached the end of the first episode of the Invisible Ingredient, a podcast supported by Nestlé Portugal. We'll stay here, but the conversation about what really matters in organizations and also in our lives continues in the next episode. So, I hope to see you.