Three Leadership Dimensions that I Experienced After My Grandmother’s Passing Away

On 18 July 2021, I received a call from my aunt, and she let me know the bad news: my grandmother passed away. For the last one and a half months, she was struggling with various health problems (the one most painful for us was Alzheimer – speaking to someone you know well but she doesn’t remember you is so tough) and she was in the intensive care unit for her last two weeks. She was 95 years old, and we were somehow preparing ourselves for this bad news but losing someone you love is always hard to accept.

It is more than three weeks after my grandmother’s passing away and within these days, I had the chance to turn inward, evaluate and find out some key take-aways from my last experience. Related with my professional business life in Philip Morris International, I am so thankful to be in this organization. This last experience reminded me three leadership dimensions:

1. A Solid Team Supporting Consumer First
2. Back-up Policy to Empower People
3. Digital Workplace for Forward Looking

A Solid Team Supporting Consumer First

I have joined PMI Duty Free organization in June 2020. Due to the conditions of the pandemic, I didn’t get the chance to meet physically with my supervisor, DF Finance management team, and some of my colleagues even in our affiliate located in Turkey. Shared objectives and common vision within our team mediate the effects of physical separation.

Photo credit: Leading a Happy Remote Team. There are many benefits to building a… | by SoftwareDevTools | SoftwareDevTools: The Publications | Medium

In Duty Free, we are a global team, and I am working closely with colleagues not only from Istanbul but also Lausanne, Hong Kong, and Krakow. When I let my colleagues know about my grandmother, they expressed their condolences with warm messages which made me feel their support. Such tough days are good to test the level of relationship among the team. All my colleagues underlined the fact that “family comes first” and shared that they are ready to support me. That solid team spirit energized me.

One of the three dimensions (the other two are Empowering People and Forward Looking) of PMI Leadership Model is Consumer First. This shared passion for putting (internal) consumers first enables us to work even better as one PMI team. We work together across markets, functions, and teams, breaking down barriers and placing our shared goals before self-interests.

Back-up Policy to Empower People

One of the most stressful things in my job was the lack of defined back-up roles, especially for critical activities. Once I even had pointed out this issue to our ex-Finance Director through Officevibe survey (a tool to increase and grow employee engagement. Those questions are designed to engage employees and make it enticing to respond.) Then I focused on knowledge transfer sessions for key activities to my colleague who is reporting to me (I find “colleague” more friendly than “direct report”) and we requested roles and access rights (especially SAP rights) that she can back up me when needed.

Being aware of the fact that my colleague can act on behalf of me whenever needed created a comfort zone for me in those hard days. At the same time, this was a challenge and opportunity for her to show that she can manage when I am physically away.

All of us need opportunities to stretch our skills regularly. The more often we repeat tasks, the faster we get and the more efficient our organization becomes. We learn by attempting something difficult that lies just outside our comfort zone, observing the outcome, and making adjustments. That’s how learning happens.

In PMI, another dimension of our leadership model is empowering people. Empowering People is all about being sure that managers provide their teams with context, clear direction, and measurable objectives. As employees of PMI, Empowering People asks each of us to actively support each other and give each other the space to deliver; that we keep an open mind and are proactive about asking for feedback and taking action on that feedback; owning our development and helping develop others. That ensures people know precisely what is expected of them and what success looks like. If we get this right, we can empower and trust others to deliver great work, always ensuring they have the support and encouragement they need. In our case, after noticing the lack of back-up personnel, I focused on delegation and empowerment and when the time for real-test comes, we see that the hard work for such days pays off.

Digital Workplace for Forward Looking

Photo credit: Is digital workplace the answer to inappropriate behavior in the workplace (exoplatform.com)

PMI’s digital workplace tools provide space to deliver in each circumstance. When I needed to deal with official things related with funeral procedures, I could easily follow up my urgent to-do’s and answer my mails, talk with my colleagues in MS Teams and even share any file from my OneDrive when I was on mobile. That makes me less stressed because I know that I can provide a solution, coordinate, and cooperate as long as I have one device that I can connect to my Office 365 account. Real-time collaboration on documents and accessing my and my team’s content from any device (thanks to the cloud) bring real productivity. The flows that I have previously set in Microsoft Power Automate continue to do their repeating tasks without my intervention. While doing all these, I know that PMI always keeps our data safe and on track, and in order to do that, my colleagues in IT department have continuously brought some enhancements.

Our third leadership dimension is Forward Looking. We need to act with a sense of urgency and be clear on our priorities—making decisions informed by data and facts on a timely basis—but also keeping in mind that at times we may need to change course to achieve the same goal. Our digital infrastructure and investments in digital workplace solutions continue to deliver benefits to end-users by providing new tools and features and removing those which are not fit for purpose anymore.

In conclusion, I have been passing through a hard time and these days make me think and evaluate the main facts of my life. From a professional life perspective, I also focused on how I manage and lead within this last experience. As challenging as the job can be at times, it is vital to stay balanced in front of internal and external consumers. At the same time, none of us are just professionals. We all have personal lives which have impacts on us. Leadership is about inspiring the team for success. I am a genuine member of a diverse team that inspires and supports me towards the shared objectives. Creating meaning for colleagues, providing motivation, and ensuring career development are also important traits for leaders to empower their colleagues. That is what I learn from my leaders and what I try to exercise and lead by example. Lastly, the right technology capabilities and infrastructure are decisive elements of being disruptive. As disruptive innovators, we must change the way how we lead, how we behave, how we think, how we make decisions, and how we organize ourselves. At that point, technology and digital workplace are key enablers for us within our transformation journey.

Talk About Your Own Mistakes While Unsmoking

There are many great books to read in terms of personal development. While I was making a search on Amazon's best-sellers about personal development, I saw the book by Dale Carnegie: How To Win Friends And Influence People. Since its release in 1936, How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold more than 15 million copies. Dale Carnegie's first book is a timeless bestseller, packed with rock-solid advice that has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. As relevant as ever before, Dale Carnegie's principles endure, and will help you achieve your maximum potential in the complex and competitive modern age.

Within the book I am faced with an interesting unsmoke story. This true-story may open the way for many people in order to unsmoke the loved ones. Here it is:

Mission Completed: Torbalı Clean Up Day

In order to draw attention and raise awareness to environmental issues, Philip Morris International (PMI) volunteers and their families collected garbage in the parks of Torbalı on Sunday, October 6, 2019. A volunteer group of Philsa Philip Morris Sabancı employees and their families cleaned the Koruluk and Gazi Çamlık parks in Torbalı on Sunday, October 6, 2019. Me and my son Okan cleaned Torbalı, where I have been working since 2010, and we also had the opportunity to create environmental awareness. At the end of the event, a total of 274 kilos of garbage, including plastic and paper waste, were collected from 70,000 square meters of area cleaning. Antonio DeMarco, Philsa Philip Morris Sabancı Operation Director said: We have to keep Torbalı, which is the biggest district of İzmir and host our factory, clean together. With this activity, we did environmental cleaning in Torbalı and collected garbage, but more importantly, we want to increase the awareness on this issue and ensure that such activities increase in our district. ' Torbalı Municipality also supported the volunteers in this event, which was supported by citizens of Torbalı in preparation of the organization and recycling of collected wastes.

Clean Up, Sustainability, Unsmoke and More

We must play our part in addressing global challenges by Managing Our Social Impact and Reducing Our Environmental Footprint. You may watch my full “clean up day” experience below:

Philip Morris International CEO Addresses Change at United Nations General Assembly

Philip Morris International CEO André Calantzopoulos spoke at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York City, a nonpartisan forum event taking place alongside the United Nations General Assembly.

André said PMI could only bring about change if it provided people with real alternatives.

Speaking about the pressing challenges which face the world today, he stressed that government action alone would not be enough to convince people to change their behavior.

In a Concordia panel discussion titled “Making P3s Work (for the Private Sector)”, he joined Dr. Kristin Lord (President & CEO of IREX) and Rachel Duan (President & CEO of GE’s Global Growth Organization).

As CEO of PMI, Calantzopoulos is spearheading the company’s transformation from selling cigarettes to smoke-free alternatives. There are currently more than 1 billion smokers in the world, so creating a smoke-free world will not be easy. But helping these people to change their behavior for the greater good is the sort of challenge being faced by many other companies and industries.

Here is the video of André Calantzopoulos’s speech:

He said: “We talk about climate change quite a lot, but there are so many other challenges and stresses on the human system – from soils becoming less productive to oceans. Everybody says we need more regulations, but at the end of the day, it is to convince people around the world to behave differently.

“To change people to use smoke-free products or solar panels is not an easy thing to do. You need to explain to people constantly what the issue is, and give them alternatives. And then give them incentives, fiscal and regulatory (frameworks), and hope this will happen. Just by hoping governments will do it doesn’t work, we need the private sector and NGOs and forums like these.”

Governments alone can’t expect people to change without giving them viable alternatives – and they require incentives to use these alternatives.

André continued: “At a certain stage, in order to change, you need to change attitudes. Criticizing tobacco won’t make consumers change.”

He stressed the need for international organizations to work at a local level to make the goals of transformation a reality. Although PMI is working hard to fulfill its vision of a smoke-free future, it cannot do it alone.

Explaining the challenges of global transformations, where markets and culture can differ widely, he said: “You need partnerships with other companies and local NGOs that help this transformation – you can put the money in, you can put the effort in, but you need to be local. And if you don’t have a presence in the country and make things happen, things won’t happen.” 

Originally from www.pmi.com

It’s Time for a New Conversation

An editorial published recently in the Lancet makes false accusations about PMI’s actions and motivations with respect to the #UnsmokeYourWorld campaign. The editorial describes the campaign as duplicitous or nonsensical, in light of the fact that PMI encourages people to stop smoking, while at the same time collecting much of its revenue from cigarette sales. These and other arguments made in the editorial completely miss the point. 

As a response to this arguments, Marian Salzman, Senior Vice President Global Communications speaks for PMI by providing the facts on the matter. 

Subscribe to Unsmoke Newsletter

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Philip Morris CEO Talks About Cigarette-Free Future

Tobacco giant Philip Morris International has said it wants to phase out cigarettes as soon as possible. Philip Morris CEO Andre Calantzopoulos talked to Stephen Sackur from BBC about smoke free future and discussed the company’s transformation.

Unsmoke as a Free-Time Activity

if it is free-time with your beloved ones, it's time to unsmoke!

Michelle Obama's Unsmoke Story

Currently I am reading the book written by Michelle Obama, “Becoming”. So far, it is just as it is told in Amazon: An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States. In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. 

In the book, Michelle Obama describes the early years of her marriage as she struggles to balance her work and family with her husband's fast-moving political career. She also talks about her perspective about her family’s smoking habit as well as her husband’s smoking habit and shares her actions in order to unsmoke her family.

WHO needs to answer WHY

The World Health Organization (WHO) released a new report on global tobacco but fails to acknowledge the robust science and innovation behind alternatives to smoking cigarettes.

The report, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies misses a critical scientific point: it is the burning of tobacco that produces the vast majority of the harmful chemicals that cause smoking-related diseases, not tobacco itself. Hundreds of millions of men and women who don’t quit stand to gain the most from less harmful alternatives to cigarettes. In fact, a global survey of 31,000 people in 31 countries found that 88 percent of respondents think smokers should have access to less harmful alternatives to cigarettes.

Bulgarians Prove Their Passion for Unsmoking

The Unsmoke Your World campaign was launched by Philip Morris International (PMI) as a way to unite smokers and non-smokers under a simple message:

If you don’t smoke, don’t start; if you smoke, quit; if you don’t quit, change.

As part of this campaign, the company is also launching a series of initiatives around the world to spread its message.

Philip Morris to Focus on Cigarette Alternatives

Philip Morris International, the company behind Marlboro, is to spend another $100m this year developing its alternative to traditional cigarettes as a global marketing drive intensifies to convert smokers to new products. Martin King, chief financial officer, said extra funds would be deployed to accelerate innovation of the company's IQOS product — a cigarette-like device that heats, rather than bums, tobacco. The plans, ahead of an imminent launch of IQOS in the US, are the latest sign of big tobacco ramping up investment to safeguard the industry's future. Rival manufacturers are fighting over a share of the market for alternatives as consumers reject traditional cigarettes at an accelerating rate. They include vaping company Juul, in which US tobacco group Altria took a 55 per cent stake last December for Sl3bn. 

Lululemon's Unsmoked Stores

Do you know what makes people take action against smoking? Everyone may have a different reason for unsmoke. Nowadays, I am reading the book "Little Black Stretchy Pants" which is called as the unauthorized story of lululemon". Lululemon makes technical athletic clothes for yoga, running, working out, and most other sweaty pursuits. Chip Wilson’s part in this story comes from the learnings of thousands of mistakes. He set the culture, business model, quality platform, people development program and then got out of the way.  What I found interesting in this book is a part in which Chip Wilson describes his attitude to unsmoke his stores. Let's see what drives him to unsmoke his business facilities.

It’s Time to UNSMOKE for Netflix

From chain-smoking time traveller Nadia in Russian Doll, to frazzled single mom Joyce Byers rarely seen without a pack in her shaking hands in Stranger Things, it goes without saying that Netflix’s characters love to smoke. But the appearance of cigarettes in their top shows is something the streaming giant is now cracking down on.

Be Inspired: UNSMOKE

If you don’t smoke, don’t start.
If you smoke, quit.
If you don’t quit, change.

We are all unsmokers.
Smokers and nonsmokers.
United we can rid smoke from our lives.

Questions and Answers on UNSMOKE

WHAT DOES UNSMOKE MEAN?

To unsmoke is to rid smoke from your life. It unites smokers and nonsmokers alike who want to ‘unsmoke’ themselves, family and friends. The best way is to quit cigarettes and nicotine altogether, but the next best way is to change to better alternatives.

Unsmoke as a Sunday Evening Activity

On 23 June 2019 Sunday, just after watching an animation movie with my son and wife, as a Sunday evening activity before sleep, my son asked for a special request: drawing

All he asked for was to draw something that each of us can work on different paper and share with each other when the whole drawing was finalized.

As a father who is not good at drawing figures, I came up with an idea: Unsmoke

How I Unsmoked My Best Friend

Today, it is not easy to find and trust a person that you can start a close friendship. I have just a few friends like this and I thank God for surrounding me with these trustworthy people.

One of those nice people is Mehmet. I met with Mehmet in 2007. We were both tax assistants in PwC. He was from Ankara and I was from Izmir. Due to the fact that the trainings were held in İstanbul, we shared the same room in the hotel. Since then, we became close friends and shared many things. Despite the distances we have, we always feel close to each other. Time passed by, we had things to laugh and things to cry, the one thing that doesn’t change was sharing the good and the bad experiences. Then first he got married and became a father, and later on I got married and became a father, too. In the holidays and vacations, we got together and enjoyed. The tune that our wives and sons caught was so fine and we became like a big family. People say that good things do not last long. He and his wife had made a decision, and this decision affected their life. One of the changes by Mehmet’s side after this decision was starting to smoke.

Unsmoke Hero: Volkan Yorulmaz

Unsmoke Hero: Volkan Yorulmaz

“I’ve got one son and he’s got one life." For Volkan Yorulmaz, the prospect of fatherhood prompted his decision to unsmoke his life and home.

The Turkish senior tax analyst is one of hundreds of PMI employees to share their stories in our #Unsmoke campaign, which aims to tap into global efforts to rid the world of smoke.