Credit Risk to the Campfire with Gustavo 🔥

I’m Gustavo Aquique and I work In Credit Risk Management (CRM) in the Americas region and I’m based in Ontario, Canada. Our team is small with limited opportunities to directly lead people so that’s why I initially wanted to become a Leadership Playground Builder for my team. So, to continue my Leadership journey and to contribute to our belief that Leadership is a mindset not a position I started my Leadership Playground builder role and I want to share my journey with you.

The Campfire

Several tools, some provided and some others organically developed, have been deployed to facilitate the Leadership Playground rollout. One is a ‘campfire’, a safe place where colleagues can have open conversation on any topic. We use them to discuss everything from team development, where we can connect with senior leaders and each other to have open and honest discussions on current topics such as Inclusion and diversity or to focus on priorities.

I thought a Campfire was the perfect tool to achieve my CRM team priorities. Fortunately for me and the team, it turned out to be a huge success 😊.

One of the key success drivers was the preparation, specifically providing the team with clear examples of what was expected during the conversation. All of them anchored in The Leadership Playground Behaviors:

  • Be Brave: Don’t be afraid to speak up, this is a safe place to do so
  • Be Curious: Be open to hear your colleagues perspectives and where they are coming from
  • Be Focused: Be present, engage and lean in

My Reflections on the Playground

I have been very passionate about the Leadership Playground since day one. I immediately realized the organization was truly empowering me as an individual, professionally and personally and it allowed me and my colleagues to have fun whilst remaining focused (who knew that was possible!)

One of the main reasons I embraced it from the start was the fact that, if you look back in history, nothing big happened without somebody being Brave, Curious and/or Focused. We wouldn’t have had a Steve Jobs story if he hadn’t been focused or we wouldn’t have had a Martin Luther King Jr. story if he hadn’t been brave.

In summary, the deeper I go into what this means, the more I discover ways to develop and evolve as an individual and as an organization using this framework. I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to build the Leadership Playground in CRM.

My advice

If you thrive on being Brave, Curious or Focused, and are looking for for an organization that truly lives and breathes these behaviors, I encourage you to come and play. It means we can also learn from your experiences and perspectives and make the Leadership Playground and the LEGO Group even stronger.