From a high-flying career in global corporations like Coca-Cola, Vodafone, and Microsoft to an introspective journey of personal growth and self-discovery, Vlad Bog's unique journey is one of transformative enlightenment. Stepping down from the c-suite to meditate on self-importance, Vlad reconnected with himself and his purpose.
With renewed vigor, insight, and a novel approach to his role Vlad is now the Global Group HR Director at HERO, a multinational agro-food giant. His leadership ethos combines the power of individual self-expression with the goal of creating a flexible, adaptable, and future-proof HR structure, thereby ushering in an era of sustainable growth for both HERO and its human resources. Here is our conversation:
Q: How did you get into Human Resources?
A: Interestingly, my career didn't start in HR but in Finance. I pursued a degree with a concentration on investment banking. However, my first job was in sales, a position I found advertised in a newspaper. I joined a large American multinational organization that was setting up a local office. With the help of a supportive colleague during my onboarding phase, I quickly became adept in my role, and my sales results started to attract attention. As the company grew, there was a need to internalize training. After an aptitude test across the sales team, it was clear that I was best suited for this role. Given that I was also a top salesperson, the company enrolled me in an intensive train-the-trainer program. I developed a curriculum for training the sales teams that later expanded to other areas of the company. My training work evolved into coaching the sales force in the field, giving me the opportunity to observe common issues and address them directly. Then, the company tasked me with recruiting not just the sales force, but all employees. My role naturally shifted towards HR, leading to a formal transition from sales to HR by the company.
Q: What made you excel in Human Resources?
A: To be candid, I wouldn’t say I excelled right from the start. The transition into HR was a steep learning curve. I got my first taste of genuine people management experience when I became a country HR Lead, overseeing all HR sub-functions and being part of the leadership team. I was quite young then, around 25 or 26, and had to rapidly learn to find my true leadership style. I then got my role at The Coca-Cola Company, where my responsibilities grew incrementally from managing HR for one country to managing HR for 43 countries. My success, I believe, stemmed from my openness to learning, my drive to succeed, and the realization of the importance of authenticity. Even though I transitioned into HR, I never forgot that at heart, I was a businessperson who had become specialized in HR.
Q: What was it like managing HR for a quarter of the world at The Coca-Cola Company?
A: The Coca-Cola Company played a defining role in my career. The experience was invigorating. I saw rapid advancement, getting substantial promotions every 1 or 2 years, which required me to continually reinvent my business strategies. With each new level of success came greater authority, larger budgets, and expanding teams, all of which created an intoxicating sense of achievement. However, with time, I realized that the rapid ascent was causing me to drift away from my real self. This triggered a need within me to initiate some changes.
Q: While at your peak, you decided to step down into a "lesser" role, why?
A: I made a conscious decision to prioritize the satisfaction of achieving results, seeing the impact of my work, and collaborating with people I liked over hierarchies and power dynamics. I chose to seek out country or regional roles that aligned with this new focus. It was challenging because it felt like I was going against the grain, and executive search consultants found my career trajectory difficult to understand. But with time, I found a role that not only suited my new direction but also enabled me to pivot into the technology sector.
Q: What are some of the key lessons you learned from that decision?
A: One profound lesson I learned was the importance of embracing what I have, now. I used to believe that happiness was always a future event, a time when everything was perfect. But I came to understand that such a moment does not exist. Every situation has its benefits and drawbacks, and it's important to make the most of the present, appreciating its ups and downs as part of the journey. This realization led me to focus more on helping people find satisfaction in their current roles, which had a direct positive impact on business results. It also reminded me of the influence I could wield to improve not just my life, but the lives of many others.
Q: How have you incorporated these lessons at HERO?
A: At HERO, our approach is centered on empowering individuals to implement our strategy. However, we acknowledge that the most meaningful results stem from personal truth, psychological safety, and alignment with the organization. To promote this, I led a project to define a new set of organizational values, involving more than a quarter of our employees. It was a wonderful exercise in co-creation, a departure from the norm of developing values in isolation and then communicating them down. Alongside this, I crafted a talent strategy to enhance visibility into our talent pool, develop it in a targeted way, and match talent with suitable opportunities. I also devised a Leadership Excellence Strategy that outlines the Hero Leader Profile and guides how we select, align, and develop our leaders.
Q: How does helping people discover themselves contribute to the company's success?
A: Encouraging self-leadership is essential to sustaining business. With business landscapes evolving at a rapid pace, adaptability and agility are paramount. Self-leadership – understanding oneself, recognizing how one's mind operates, and creating a space between situations and our responses to them – lies at the core of this. Kahneman's work showed that 95% of our decisions are driven by our subconscious, making us reactive. We need to flip this dynamic. Leadership begins with self-leadership, and that's where our efforts need to be directed.
Q: How do you encourage people to open up in a corporate environment?
A: The key is to understand that you can't force anyone to do something they don't want to or don't see the need to do. The need can be determined by others, particularly by a direct line manager who sets expectations. If there's a gap between what's expected and what an individual can deliver, it creates a need for change. I believe our next project at Hero should involve defining the roles of the Manager and the Employee, to better address these dynamics.
Q: What advice would you offer to other C-suite leaders in corporate positions?
A: Today's leaders are faced with the challenge of processing vast amounts of data almost instantaneously, which often leads to quick, black-and-white decisions about people and situations. However, today's volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world requires leaders to be open, vulnerable, and willing to say "I don't know, tell me more." In my view, it all begins with understanding how our brains operate and regaining control over our mental processes, so we're the masters of our actions, not puppets on the strings of our reactions.
