Thriving through change: The importance of compassionate leadership

Shortlisted for the Human Manager Award by TLC a few months ago, Marc Fischli has impacted his teams through his unique vision and compassionate management style. In this interview, he talks about his commitment to fostering DEI values in his everyday life and the future he foresees for companies in Adtech. Marc explains why we must adapt to change and, most importantly, how to do it through authentic and empathetic leadership. Have a good read! 

Can you tell us about your background and current responsibilities at Criteo? 

I'm originally from Switzerland, and I have been with Criteo for nearly two years where I run the EMEA business, which consists of mainly three large teams: Enterprise, which looks after our largest clients and includes all EMEA retail media. Emerging, which runs performance media including retargeting, acquisition, and retention for all other retail clients as well as verticals like travel or classified. Field Operations, which enables the other first two to run smoothly. We all partner to deliver to our clients across the EMEA market. As we often work hand in hand with marketing and other internal stakeholders, I see myself as a general manager of a business unit dealing with both existing and new businesses. We all nurture each other's work and that's why we must think broader than just sales.  

Can diversity truly be a business asset? 

To me, what makes you good in business is your capacity to bring a certain diversity of skills and ideas to the table. Diversity is the ultimate business asset, whether we’re talking about gender, people, background, or skills. It is what allows you to adapt to change, and those who can do so will thrive. I believe diversity only makes your business stronger as getting diverse opinions is the best way to ensure great input from everywhere. As a manager, you must make sure you have diversity in your teams and that those diversities are heard and encouraged to contribute equally. Looking at my Criteo CS EMEA team, we are moving from selling point solutions towards more strategic, consultative selling. We now must master the art of managing a larger portfolio of products and services across the region. How can you cover all these things without any diversity of skills and backgrounds? We can only thrive by thinking horizontally and adopting a collaborative approach where we make the most out of everyone’s skillset.  

Many global companies have dismantled their DEI strategies though. How do you feel about that?  

I'm convinced that being open-minded will win the day eventually. In a constantly evolving environment, the companies that will survive aren’t the biggest but those that can adapt to change. Adaptation requires flexible and broad minds! So, when a company respects its individuals and their differences, whether cultural or not, it creates a space where people can truly grow and collaborate. Make people happy to be here and they'll commit and contribute to their best. That’s why, when done right, empathy and diversity can be efficient drivers of business growth. I can still see how having learned about different cultures and ways of working through my career helps me on the human side of my job today. 

What stands in the way of fully embracing diversity at work? 

Ego and fear; Fear of the unknown, of others getting recognition and glory when you don’t. We should trample fear with curiosity! False assumptions like "I won’t move as fast forward in my career if I don’t put myself in the foreground” only fuel ego and individualistic behaviors. It brings back memories of my days in investment banking. There was only one spot for a trader or an equity analyst, so you had to be considered better than the other person or you didn’t get the job. In such a world, there wasn’t too much to be gained from collaboration. Luckily, things have changed, and there are many places where collaboration can boost growth. Being people-oriented brought me a good, strong network in tech and retail over time, and that’s why I believe in fostering DEI values. By encouraging exposure and interaction we can get rid of fear. I believe that even when two people with radically different opinions argue, there is a way to see we all have things in common and capitalize on that. Thinking differently doesn’t mean we can’t thrive together. 

As a leader, how do you set your teams up for change? 

Adapting to change goes both ways: top-down and bottom-up. However, a leadership team is responsible for elaborating a race plan and ensuring everyone is aware and prepared to implement it successfully. It is about embarking people on a journey, rather than enforcing it. Over my career, I've found that treating people fairly and respectfully is at the core of any team that performs well. To me, what’s crucial is to create a space where everyone feels comfortable where they are and if not, ensure they feel free to speak up and voice their challenges and concerns. Many people fear that speaking up will open the door to potential conflict. But confrontation and conflict aren't the same thing to begin with and the whole thing can be healthy when you express your thoughts with respect for your peers. They too ought to feel comfortable with you, you know?  At the end of the day, fostering DEI values starts with how we behave with each other. Ideas can’t flow where nobody is open to listening, and that’s a shame because having diverse ideas is what will best set you up for change! 

What about Criteo? Are we ready for the future? 

The future is going to be complex and will require both flexibility and open-mindedness. Luckily for us, our Criteos fall under that description! We need people who humbly know what they're good at and what they’re not. Take me for instance; I have most of my professional background in retail, right? So, if it gets very pure Adtech, I’m not your guy but I can take somebody else into the meeting with me to ensure we can deliver. It’s all about collaboration and honesty with others and yourself. We've been preparing for the future, having moved from a product-focused to a client-focused organization. Clients now come to us with a challenge, and we deliver strategic insights and base our campaign recommendations on those. Retail media has become more interconnected than before, so if you’re in sales or account strategy at Criteo today, you’ll probably need to know 3 or 4 products along with what the trade-offs are for clients, in what situation, etc. When I see how people here seem open to learning new things, I’m sure we can double down as we did when reinventing our approach. Being impactful isn’t about making statements. It’s about getting concrete results. I think we are on the right track to keep growing through innovation and making a greater impact around us. 

What is leadership about for you? 

Leadership is about empowering people. As a leader, you’re not here to solve others’ problems but to lead them so they can figure it out on their own, because most of the time, they can and often better than you. If two people come to me with a problem, my first insight will be to ask them to talk it over and, if they still can’t agree, to come to me with two solutions and I’ll make the final call. A leader is here to make you see what you’re capable of. The best ideas don’t always come from the top and my job, as I see it, is to create an environment where people can let their creativity flow, express themselves, and come up with solutions. And for that to happen, we need to treat them like adults, not kids. We’ve become mistake-avert, which is unfortunate as you can learn so much from making mistakes. That’s something we celebrate at Criteo EMEA during our Global All-Hands. We present the best ideas of the quarter that failed and what we learned from it. Like in Monopoly, when you get the get-out-of-jail-free card, it gives you the freedom to try, fail and try again. You must feel comfortable taking ownership and discussing success as much as failure so we can be more intelligent the next time around. We shouldn’t be afraid to dream big! Life’s too short, you know? If everyone did only what was safe, we’d never go anywhere.  

How would you define your management style? 

I believe the best ideas are not necessarily driven by hierarchy, so the key is to make people feel part of the decision-making process. If they feel part of the decisions, they’ll own the targets and results—no doubt their commitment will then come naturally. To lead with authentic empathy, I take the time to know the person individually and cultivate a participative approach where we discuss everything together. In my EMEA Leadership Team, we have created this risk-free zone where we can talk about everything, knowing it will stay there. As a leader, I wear different hats and it’s all about knowing when to put which on. When you talk to an individual, you need to acknowledge what's best for them as a person; sometimes it’s the same as what's best for the company, and sometimes it is not. Still, if you force people into something, chances are it will explode at some point. You must make sure people follow what’s best for them, in their heart and their minds. I was honored to be shortlisted by TLC for the Human Manager Award but what touched me the most was to know that my team had been maneuvering behind my back to make it happen. External recognition is great, but the greatest achievement is what came from within, from the people I work with every day. I haven’t been at Criteo that long, and I’m so proud to know I’ve played a small part in helping the people around me grow and excel. 

Did compassionate leadership come naturally or did you build it through time? 

You do get wiser with age. I used to be a geneticist, so I’ve seen a world where logic always prevails. But whether they’re clients or teammates, you soon learn that logic isn’t the only thing at play when interacting with people. You cannot ignore the emotional link and all the underlying biases, like cultural backgrounds for instance. Talking with clients is no different. They’re not just representing a company or a logo you try to get on your resume. They’re people with lives, issues, and challenges of their own. I think acknowledging the human side of things gets you further, both in life and business. My first job in strategy was pure logic, but when I learned negotiation, understanding the client’s universe and reading them as a person was half of the prep work. I needed to know what situation their company was in, what their strategy was, what made this person look successful in this company, etc.  

Do you have something to add to conclude? 

Businesses are mostly here to make money, but I believe organizations have a role to play beyond that. If we embody our values in the workplace and lead by example, we can change the minds of people outside the company as well. People will always come up with excuses to say equity and diversity are hard to implement and maintain over time, but at Criteo, we continue to make it happen. So, it’s possible! Things are always as hard as you want them to be. And even though the battle for diversity is not yet won, every step in the right direction is good for the taking.