Rapid Fire with Eva Lorge, Country Talent Development Head, IKEA India

Ques: Who is the one leader you look up to? 

Ans: I am inspired by many of our great leaders. There is always something to learn and it helps me to be clear about what I should continue to do or not and to develop even further. I have big faith in the next generation of leaders and greatly inspired by Greta Thunberg and the climate movement she is creating throughout the world across generations. 

Ques: What is the one leadership lesson you learned on the go as a People Leader? 

Ans: To hire people who knows more than me and to involve and to delegate the full mandate to my team.

Ques: How digitally ready are you as a leader on a scale of one to ten?

Ans: I want to enhance my digital skills and am working in this area. I also need to work on my patience to learn these skills and how to use them.

Ques: Which was the last book you read on leadership?

Ans: It’s a book about coaching leadership written by Anja Lindberg

Ques: What is the one thing leaders should do to make a difference? 

Ans: It is to spend time with my team, to create a trustful working climate, to see and to listen to them and to show in my behaviours that I believe in them- and that we can reach the goals together.

Ques: One step that you are taking to develop a leadership culture in your organization? 

Ans: IKEA is a value-based company. We believe in people and to grow business through our people. I lead by example every day in different interactions with people in our company.

Ques: One thing that you consider as your strength and one thing that you would like to improve on? 

Ans: People is my passion, and that is my strength. I believe in people and have an optimistic view of life. 

Ques: What should leaders do: create more leaders or create more followers and why?

Ans: For me there is no contradiction in this, it is about “both and”. IKEA India needs a lot of leaders and one way is to create interest for leading topics or leading others. To create a movement, we as leaders have to show the way and be good examples. We have to show how much fun it is to have the responsibility to develop and lead business and people together. 

Ques: One thing that makes you passionate about your work? 

Ans: People. I am privileged to work with fantastic colleges and team members, we share the same values and we have the same mission to develop business and people- together!

Ques: What matters to you most, effort or outcome?

Ans: The journey should be as enjoyable as the destination. 

Ques: Three key learnings that you have picked up from your team?

Ans: I learn something new every day and that is a fantastic feeling. I learn a lot about myself and my leadership, in this context being new in a new country and a new culture I learn a lot about India.

Ques: What’s the one most important factor you consider when hiring someone? 

Ans: Working for IKEA is about connecting to our values, it is about equality, it is about Togetherness, to have the WE approach instead of the ME approach and that you are motivated to learn and to develop yourself.

Ques: What sort of a leader would your team say you are? 

Ans: I am a good listener. I see my team members and their strengths. I believe in them and I am good in involving people around me. I am non – judgmental and optimistic.