Be there as a manager and take an ACTIVE look

I talk to Alexandra Eichberger, Head of People & Culture, Erste Digital, about empowerment as a manager in challenging situations. She believes it is important to lead teams out of the comfort zone and into the development zone so that growth can happen.

You are a role model for empowerment. How do you ensure that employees to whom you assign a challenging project do not feel overwhelmed/stressed?

Encouraging and empowering colleagues for new tasks is an essential part of leadership for me, as this is the only way development and growth can occur. As a manager, it is important to be there, to ACTIVELY look and listen in order to understand how they are dealing with the new challenge and what may be causing them stress. It is also important that stress per se is not automatically bad or bad, but that it is about how you deal with it. Empowerment in practice requires a trusting framework; the term “psychological safety” is often used in this context. – This includes being approachable as a manager, not “putting down” concerns and fears and seeing supposed mistakes as learning opportunities. Success in challenging and encouraging is achieved through DOING, active communication and a lively dialog.

What do you do yourself to actively reduce stress? Do you have any tips?

I often travel to visit my family outside Vienna. This gives me the necessary geographical distance and allows me to look at open challenges differently. I love taking long walks in nature there. I speak openly with friends – this trusting exchange helps me to gain new perspectives and distance.

In the event of organizational overload, I create a list of priorities, reposition the tasks regularly and thus create a structure that allows me to take one focused step at a time.