Job Shadowing: Giannis Syleounis from Johnson & Johnson
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be in a leadership role? We, in the context of the Lab “Leadership and Emotional Intelligence” of ADandPRLab, wondered, examined and closely observed a person in a leading position. This person is none other than Giannis Syleounis, the Business Unit Manager at Johnson & Johnson MedTech Greece. Although he studied chemistry, he ended up dealing with a field that was never his “dream”. He accidentally found himself in the industry and saw that in the end it was something that suits him. He trained and networked to the point where he can now do anything he wants professionally, as he pointed out in the interview we did.
These, of course, are just the outputs of a first reading of Giannis, just as he urged us to address him, but we had the opportunity to get to know all those elements that outline him as a leader. Or to keep up with his own beliefs, as the person who has to manage and develop his team. As you can imagine, his view of leadership goes outside frivolous frameworks as he believes that the title of leader is conquered by someone after years, having completed a cycle in some branch. He doesn’t feel that way at the moment.
However, he shared with us some characteristics that he considers important to have someone who is in a role with increased responsibilities, which could not fail to include emotional intelligence. He experiences it through the phrase “Put oneself in someone else’s shoes”. He likes to understand in depth the different perspectives and needs of the members of his team, as his goal is not related to commercial indicators, but to how satisfied his team is. At the same time, in these characteristics he classifies justice in the sense that he cannot treat everyone equally, he has to adapt to different needs. All this, of course, is framed by the third characteristic of clearly communication, as it is the one that will lead his team to continue to trust him. As a fourth characteristic he pointed out the vision, which should be a common denominator for the whole team, not just for him. He and his team, three years ago, set two goals and specifically metrics for their achievement: To conquer to the maximum the trust of the Greek market and to find themselves in the top 10 of the European Market. The first goal was implemented and they continue to implement it successfully, while for the second they consider that they are quite close.
As our conversation progressed, we wondered what his everyday life might be like when he was in a company of this magnitude. He urged us to visit the offices of Johnson & Johnson. Through the participatory observation and the discussion with him we found that he has no typical day, every day at work is different, while his interaction with people in Greece and abroad is continuous. He has a calendar to schedule appointments with clients and hospitals, which leads him some hours to the office and some outside it for meetings. He deals with various projects in Greece and abroad and at the same time he assumes additional responsibilities from which he may not have financial rewards, but they please him and he considers them part of his work. At the end of the day, he makes a sum up call with his colleagues about the daily course of their task.
When, of course, the door of his office closes, everything stays there and he tries to devote constructive time to himself, his family and his friends. Although, he does not have much time, he considers that he has found a fairly good balance between personal and professional life. Moreover, this may also contribute to the satisfaction and completeness he receives from his work. The main skill, however, that has led him to this condition is the adaptability to new, possibly difficult, data such as the economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. He does not consider that there are any disadvantages, or at least he has codified the difficulties as part of his working reality.
Crisis management, therefore, is part of his everyday life, so he always makes sure to be proactive, so that he can immediately and effectively solve anything that arises. If this becomes impossible at some point, he has the composure and integrity to have fun with the difficulties. For him the biggest crisis would be to lose his team at some point. That is why a personal challenge he has set for himself is to always have the whole team involved. For him it is not “One Man Show”, he never saw it that way, and considers that this model has failed where it has been applied. Everyone has their role and proposes solutions based on this, which he may not have thought of.
Referring, of course, to roles, it was interesting to see how he stands across his role. He stressed to us, therefore, that he is completely aware and familiar with the idea of personal responsibility that suits his position. Everything that happens is a challenge, an experience, from which you learn and become better. Especially if you ask for help, no matter how old or high you arrive, you will learn perpetually. In general, constant learning through seminars, coaching, mentoring and in every way anyone chooses, is something that he has constantly pointed out to us. Through the trainings he has carried out he has received important skills, such as the value of adapting to the goal setting and the equivalent of the whole team feeling important to offer.
But can a young person, inexperienced, offer to the Johnson? In this way the company remains “alive”, as he pointed out to us. He also believes that it is beneficial to start from his field, as it is a specialized field, so you focus on something special and not vague. He is happy to work with young people as they have a modern way of thinking and perceptions without stereotypes. Accordingly, it supports and helps them, although experimenting and making mistakes at the beginning of their careers is considered a source of life-lessons. In fact, he pointed out that companies like Johnson that fall under the healthcare industry are difficult to find themselves “outside” everyday life. “Today” for the industry must follow the evolution of IT and technology, as they offer Artificial Intelligence and Digital solutions.
Regarding the Johnson’s COVID era, he says that the company’s sales were affected, as expected, but the main priority was the mental health of its human resources. The company has strived to offer a safe environment to its workforce throughout the pandemic by following a specific benefit protocol to facilitate working from home. The plan to deal with this crisis appeared to have worked constructively given the situation, as there were fewer problems than other companies. This happened as the human resources appreciated the human priority shown by the company to them, resulting in them working productively and the company’s numbers not being much-affected.
In the management of this crisis, the emphasis was placed more on people and less on results and figures. This is also a cornerstone of the company’s culture. The company’s long-term goal is to shape its people with the best possible supplies, who will properly manage not only situations as “cold” issues, but the people who shape the situations, the teams. For Johnson, human resources continue to remain in focus, as the company offers the flexibility to its employees to choose and balance work from the office and from home. At the same time, pro-COVID rhythms are returning as Giannis travels again for meetings abroad, while the company prepares kick off meetings for all employees.
In conclusion, if we could stand across our choice of a company of the Johnson’s range, the only sure thing is that we would return to a corresponding dynamic firm. The intense pace, the increased responsibilities and the imperative to offer back to society are just a few of the elements that led us to want to discover the everyday life of a leader, in this case Giannis Syleounis. The data we kept from Giannis is that despite his anxiety due to his responsible role, “It is important to know what you are doing and why you are doing it. If at some point you find yourself in a leadership role, don’t be afraid, there is no right answer to dilemma leader you are born or you become. If you are a talent and you are not trained, you will remain talent. Always focus on yourself and your improvement!” as he urged us.
Big thanks to Giannis Syleounis and Johnson & Johnson MedTech Greece and, of course, to our professor Dimitra Iordanoglou
Written by ADream Team: Maria Patinioti, Mirto Theodosopoulou, Marikelly Laskou, leonidas lepidas
