IKEA North America
The greatest privilege of leadership is to guide people toward the path to achieve great things.
IKEA’s Pernille Lopez says that one thing she has learned as a leader is that it’s important to have courage and dare to be yourself, “To take risks, step out of the comfort zone and lead the way. To see the landscape that is constantly changing as exciting, not a threat. Embrace it, and it will lead to new places with new challenges and opportunities. It’s easy to have courage when you have the sails in the winds. It’s important to find out if you still have courage when there are tough times.
“Leadership for me represents what I stand for as a person. I stand for passion. People who know their passion and follow it are successful. A work colleague once asked my advice about taking on the ‘next step.’ At the time she was an interior decorator in my store, and the only next step she could see was becoming a department manager. I asked her, ‘What is your passion? ’ Today, she’s one of our best interior decorators and works with all of our stores in North America. The powerful results that can come in pursuit of your passion are only possible when you stick with it, even when it’s ugly, when there are tough times and things are falling apart. If you don’t have that passion, and the tenacity to stick with it no matter what, you start questioning yourself and the people around you.”
Pernille goes on to say, “Trust—I stand for trust. You don’t have to earn my trust; I will give it to you. It’s amazing what happens in relationships when they come from trust. Trust sets people free. We suddenly become honest with each other and empowered. As a leader it’s a lot more motivating for me to run a business when I am not being second guessed or controlled all of the time, and I’ve seen how this approach can have a tremendous impact on the dynamics of your work relationships. I have performed my best as a leader, as a wife, as a friend, and as mother when trust has been given to me. I have also seen the difference it makes even in your children when you give them trust. As a leader, trust can really be demonstrated by the simple act of maintaining an open-door policy and ensuring that coworkers know that no matter what level they are, they can count on me to be available and easily accessible.
“and finally, I stand for commitment. As a leader you have to be committed to sustain support and go all the way at 100 plus percent, especially when there are challenges. When others are ready to jump ship because things are hard or complicated or confusing, those are the times to stand tall and be committed to your own passions and values. This is also when courage is necessary to demonstrate to fellow coworkers, whether a business issue or personal issues may be affecting their work efforts, that you consistently stand behind them no matter what, which helps to firmly establish trust. That’s when as a leader your example will be followed. When there’s too much to do, people will rise to the occasion to do more. When it’s time to transform vision into reality, there will be many willing to support change. That’s what enables people to achieve great things. And for me, that’s one of the greatest privileges of leadership—to guide people toward the path to achieve great things.”