Petra Barkeby, Head of BRB & Group Functions Tech, has a strong passion for technology and often draws inspiration from her experience in the world of sports. She holds an MSc in Engineering and has many years of experience working as a developer of financial trading systems, as well as serving as Head of Technology Trading before stepping into her current role.
As Head of BRB & Group Functions Tech, what do you do?
“I'm responsible for the systems used by the Business Retail Banking division, as well as a wide range of systems that are shared across the bank such as Financial Crime Prevention, Finance, Risk, HR, access management, and customer data.
Our field is evolving incredibly fast, so it’s crucial that we stay ahead of the curve to keep pace with innovation and meet the expectations of our customers. Working with innovation is something I truly enjoy!”
Why is trust so important?
“Trust allows employees to test new approaches. It creates an atmosphere in which failure doesn’t feel so dangerous – and this means employees dare to take risks and innovate.
Within leadership today there is a lot of talk about psychological safety – that every team member should feel safe enough to dare to say what they think.
We need to be out ahead and on our toes to meet competition in the market. In order to be innovative, we need to continually improve and say what we think. One key task for me as a manager is therefore to strengthen and inspire my colleagues to accept new challenges.”
What advice do you have about becoming a leader?
“My career was influenced by former managers who inspired, pushed and supported me. Being a manager was not really on my career agenda but some years ago, an opportunity arose by chance to obtain my first managerial position. I took that chance, largely thanks to the support from my manager at the time who believed in me. So look for people who believe in you and take chances when they come.
You can start by taking on an informal leadership role to try it out, as a scrum master or team lead for example. Managers should obviously be leaders, but leadership is not confined to managers alone. There are so many opportunities to be informal leaders. These days, being a manager is about coaching, supporting, developing and removing obstacles. It’s not so much telling people how to work or what to do. That happens in the agile context where there are many roles that play such a huge role in leading without being managers. I know my team is much more expert than I am, so it cannot be my role to micromanage. It is better to trust the ones who know what they are doing and offer more of a sounding board.
When I start in a new role as a leader, I start out listening first. I feel out the room and learn from others. Do not try to change everything right away. Observe and create psychological safety, and then you will find the best way to make your mark.”
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