Advertisement
Australia markets closed
  • ALL ORDS

    8,153.70
    +80.10 (+0.99%)
     
  • ASX 200

    7,896.90
    +77.30 (+0.99%)
     
  • AUD/USD

    0.6518
    -0.0000 (-0.00%)
     
  • OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • Bitcoin AUD

    108,550.91
    +2,403.91 (+2.26%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • AUD/EUR

    0.6044
    +0.0010 (+0.16%)
     
  • AUD/NZD

    1.0907
    +0.0005 (+0.05%)
     
  • NZX 50

    12,105.29
    +94.63 (+0.79%)
     
  • NASDAQ

    18,254.69
    -26.15 (-0.14%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Dow Jones

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • DAX

    18,492.49
    +15.40 (+0.08%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,417.11
    +249.04 (+0.62%)
     

Santander US CEO on leadership: ‘Building trust is key’

In times of economic uncertainty, effective communication is critical for leadership. This includes transparency, frequent communication, and most importantly, authenticity.

Santander US (SAN) CEO Tim Wennes emphasizes the importance of being authentic and building trust with your team and stakeholders. Wennes says: ‘it's not enough to just communicate frequently, but you also need to ensure that the information being shared is accurate and reliable.’

Santander US CEO Tim Wennes also shares characteristics he looks for in new leaders, whether or not he has changed his leadership style during this time of economic uncertainty and his number one piece of advice to leaders.

Video transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

ADVERTISEMENT

TIM WENNES: Leadership in times of economic uncertainty, one of the critical elements is around communication, transparency, and I think it's frequent communication. And probably most important is authenticity, being authentic and having people trust that what you're telling them is accurate and enables you to lead the company or the teams through this period of uncertainty.

I have not changed leadership style during this time of uncertainty. And if you add the pandemic, which was a very uncertain time for so many people, one of the things that we have seen is during this time of uncertainty, and particularly through the pandemic, people were looking for more leadership from the company and from the leaders of the company, and including taking positions and communication on things that may not be directly business related. So I felt even more accountability and responsibility in my role as a leader as we've been going through such an uncertain period of time for so many employees.

Clearly, trust and confidence are really important to lead people and lead teams. And so I'm looking for those in people who can build and create trusting relationships. Collaboration is also very critical. I'd characterize it as a coaching mentality as opposed to a management mentality. Coaching mean I'm investing in people to help them perform well and to be successful, to achieve their objectives, as opposed to, I'm managing a group of people. So all those, I think, are really important.

First, I'd say do what you're passionate about. Make sure that you believe in the purpose with what you're doing. Because if you do that, you can do something with much more energy, enthusiasm, authenticity, and you could be that leader that people will look up to.

And then the last thing I'd say in terms of recommendation is lead by example. Don't ask other people to do what you're not willing to do. And people are paying attention to what you're doing more than what you're saying.

[MUSIC PLAYING]