Exploring Leadership, Talent Development and Innovation with a Local Senior ABB Executive

NOTE: I include several links to past blogs and resources I wrote that support the six leadership points Greg Scheu shared in his session.

C-Suites Perspectives April Speaker Greg Scheu, CEO of ABB North America and global head of the Business Integration and Group Services

C-Suites Perspectives April Speaker Greg Scheu, CEO of ABB North America and global head of the Business Integration and Group Services


In as many as three months, I attended my second “C-Suite Perspectives” breakfast hosted by the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. It is really encouraging to hear from senior leaders who are truly enlightened and have a real heart for people and ethical leadership in today’s business world. It’s not all about cost cutting, layoffs, squeezing everything to make every ounce of profit; instead there are senior leaders who understand the larger picture that by leading in a way that develops talent and an organization that focuses on people in the long run leads to optimal business success.

In February, I attended the session with Jay Parker, CEO of Lenovo North America. (Link to my blog about that session.) The April 23rd session featured Greg Scheu, the CEO of ABB (link) North America and the head of Business Integration and Group Services globally. ABB is a global innovative leader in power and automation technologies with annual revenue of $42B and with 150,000 employees in 100 different countries.

Here are the six leadership points shared by Greg from his own career journey:

1. Your personal passions and aspirations need to align with the company in which you work. This will maximize enjoyment from work and career development. (The first blog I wrote – link – when I started my consulting practice is about being passionate about what I do)

2. If you take great care of your customers, they will take great care of you.

3. If you take good care of your people, they will stay. Part of this point is that a good leader needs to realize that he or she cannot do it alone and needs to build and lead empowered teams to sustain success.

4. Life is bigger than work. That also means that members of your team may go through rough periods in their personal lives and a good leader needs to be aware of that and provide support and understanding during those times.

5. Mentoring is key; it is very important to learn from others. (See by blog about mentoring)

6. Being a global leader requires a global mindset. I wrote a paper on leading in the diverse global economy (link) which is available on the Workforce Diversity Network website.

I look forward to more of these inspiring informational sessions from the Raleigh Greater Chamber of Commerce!