Podcasts

Michael Connolly

is the COO of Corporate Bank and Investment Bank APAC at Deutsche Bank. He is responsible for business management, office control, strategy, and transformation, of around 2300 employees across the region. Under his leadership, the Investment Bank in Asia topped Asia Risk Awards 2020 with 3 House Awards, winning the coveted titles of: Crisis Response of the Year, Market Maker of the Year, and Deal of the Year. A Canadian native with a love of France, his deep vested humanistic leadership has touched many.

In this Episode:

What makes an exceptional leader?

Company’s addition of skills to employees throughout career progression

Adaptive leadership in navigating the pandemic

Company’s adapting technology and management to support employees during the pandemic

Work from home difficulties and programs to help people in the company

Pillars of "The People Strategy" Program

Mental First-Aiders and The Resilience Collective

Leadership awareness of employee state

Attributes of a great leader

Stigma of Mental Health

Important Quotes:

"There’s no silver bullet yet, but we’re spending a lot of time working on it." - Michael Connolly

"The skills that have gotten you in the door are absolutely not the skills that will make you an excellent managing director or business head." - Michael Connolly

"As an organization, we need to ensure that we are adding skills to people as they progress through their career." - Michael Connolly

"There absolutely was a high correlation in the observations that I made during the lockdown period of people that had a big safety net around them and arguably flourished and those that were under a lot of stress and it became all the more important that we understood what was going on with them." - Michael Connolly

"Wellness including mental wellness is absolutely something that we have identified as a priority." - Michael Connolly

"Empathy as a manager, is one of the most important attributes to display." - Michael Connolly

"A manager must have awareness of all the factors that can impact the emotional state of employees." - Michael Connolly

"Emotionally inclusive leadership means that yes, as leaders we commit to truly ensuring that our teams, that our employees are cared for so that they can really feel a sense of belonging and value to achieve their full potential." - Mollie Jean De Dieu

"There's definitely something to be said about bringing qualified expertise to tackle a very specific challenge. And I think the events of the last 18 months have proven that ensuring that everyone is getting support they need is definitely a challenge." - Michael Connolly