Digital Transformation & AI for Humans
Welcome to 'Digital Transformation & AI for Humans' with Emi.
In this podcast, we delve into how technology intersects with leadership, innovation, and most importantly, the human spirit.
Each episode features visionary leaders from different countries who understand that at the heart of success is the human touch—nurturing a winning mindset, fostering emotional intelligence, soft skills, and building resilient teams.
Subscribe and stay tuned for more episodes.
Visit https://digitaltransformation4humans.com/ for more information.
Digital Transformation & AI for Humans
Future-proof Leadership: Crafting Success through Innovation, Mindset & Emotional Intelligence
In this episode, we dive into the world of future-proof leadership in the construction industry. Join Juan Tena from Abu Dhabi (UAE), a multi-award-winning leader and Digital Services Director at KEO International Consultants, as we explore how innovation, emotional intelligence, and a winning mindset are transforming success in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. Juan has been recognized as the CONSTRUCTION TECH LEADER OF THE YEAR at the Construction Innovation Awards 2024 in Dubai.
KEO International Consultants, Tech-Savvy Firm of the Year at the Design Middle East Awards 2024, is renowned for building legacies for a better tomorrow — from shaping iconic skylines to crafting sustainable communities. Ranked among the largest global architecture firms and the #1 firm in the Middle East for three consecutive years, KEO is at the forefront of innovation in the construction sector.
🔑 Key topics:
- Visionary Leadership in the Digital Age
- Harnessing Emotional Intelligence
- Building Collaborative Cultures
- Embracing Emerging Technologies
- Creating Success Stories
- Actionable Advice for Aspiring Leaders
Whether you're in construction, digital transformation, or innovation-focused industries, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you lead with impact.
Don’t miss this inspiring conversation — tune in now!
Subscribe and join us for this thought-provoking exploration that promises to open up new perspectives on transformation, innovation, tech and leadership.
Connect with Juan Tena on LinkedIn
Find out more about KEO International Consultants and follow the company on LinkedIn
About the host, Emi Olausson Fourounjieva
With over 20 years in IT, digital transformation, business growth & leadership, Emi specializes in turning challenges into opportunities for business expansion and personal well-being.
Her contributions have shaped success stories across the corporations and individuals, from driving digital growth, managing resources and leading teams in big companies to empowering leaders to unlock their inner power and succeed in this era of transformation.
📚 Get your AI Leadership Compass: Unlocking Business Growth & Innovation 🧭 The Definitive Guide for Leaders & Business Owners to Adapt & Thrive in the Age of AI & Digital Transformation: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNBJ92RP
📆 Book a free Strategy Call with Emi
🔗 Connect with Emi Olausson Fourounjieva on LinkedIn
🌏 Learn more: https://digitaltransformation4humans.com/
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🔔 Subscribe and stay tuned for more episodes
Hello and welcome to Digital Transformation for Humans with your host, emi. In this podcast, we delve into how technology intersects with leadership, innovation and, most importantly, the human spirit. Each episode features visionary leaders who understand that at the heart of success is the human touch nurturing a winning mindset, fostering emotional intelligence and building resilient teams. Today, we are going to discuss visionary leadership for the future and share some secrets around building success stories through digital transformation, innovation and emotional intelligence. I am happy to welcome Juan Tena from Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates multi-award winner, executive director at Keio International Consultants, working with digital technologies, digital transformation and innovation for the built environment. Keio builds legacies for a better tomorrow, from shaping iconic skylines to crafting sustainable communities, and has been ranked among the largest global architecture firms and the number one firm in the Middle East region for three consecutive years. Welcome, juan, it's amazing to have you in the studio today.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Amin. It's my pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1:Let's start the conversation and transform not just our technologies but our ways of thinking and leading. If you are interested in connecting or collaborating, find more information in the description, Subscribe and stay tuned for more episodes. To start our today's conversation, I would love to hear a little bit more about you, about your life journey, about your professional achievements, about your vision for the future.
Speaker 2:Thank you. So I am. As you can hear from my accent, I'm Spanish. I did study my Master's of Architecture in Spain, gran Canaria.
Speaker 2:I've been using technology since I was doing my studies in architecture. I did see the benefits of using technology and to help into being more effective and to convey my designs in a more effective way. To convey my designs in a more effective way, and since then I've been using technology throughout the different companies that I work for, in a different method, in a different manner. I've been focusing more and more into the use and implementation of technology with time. Use and implementation of technology with time and right now I'm completely focused on how technologies are helping and shaping the built environment, from consultancies, contractors, asset owners, developers and operators as well. So all this experience on designing projects using technology has been companies into maturing on implementation and use of technologies.
Speaker 2:Being proactive in sharing experiences through conferences and events. Participating with software vendors as well to help them in their software development. Being really lucky and successful with winning awards. Participating with software vendors as well to help them in their software development. Being really lucky and successful with winning awards demonstrating all of the work that I have done. All of this is helping me have the vision for the future, as how technology will continue to evolve, how technology will continue to be more and more relevant for companies, as we see that this sector, this industry sector that we work at, is the sector that has probably the biggest gap and lack of adoption of technologies and definitely there is a bigger impact in our industry in the latest years and that will continue to evolve more and more rapidly as this industry needs to evolve and to be more efficient, as other industries are.
Speaker 1:Sounds amazing. Sounds amazing. As a multi-award-winning leader in digital technologies and transformation, how do you define visionary leadership in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape? What qualities are essential for driving innovation and setting your organization apart?
Speaker 2:One of the most important aspects is and that's why, from the first time that I had a chat with you, it's about people. When we talk about for your humans, I think that's the most critical aspect. We do have to take the importance on people and how will they make use of any of the strategies and technologies that we been doing their task in the past or the activities, and therefore we have to think always first on people, on how these changes will affect them. So having that mindset of considering them is one of the key aspects for kind of leadership. In implementing technology. There will be always resistance from people to change. It's a common human nature to be in that way. So that's why we have always to consider that factor of people.
Speaker 1:Speaking about resilience and human factor and leading your teams to success. How has emotional intelligence influenced your leadership approach, especially when leading teams through uncharted waters in the digital space? Can you share an example where emotional intelligence played a key role in overcoming challenges and gaining support for new initiatives?
Speaker 2:So, yes, I mean, it's something not easy to explain. As an example, emotional intelligence is something that can vary from every person. So having that interpersonal relationships with people is important, depending on how do you work with them. What is your relationship with them, either personal or professional, that can affect this perception as well. To me, it's very important that factor of what perception is. Some people can perceive something in a different way depending on how you approach them, on the way that you convey the message, on different factors. So perception is very important. Everyone can have different perceptions depending on several factors and I think that, at the end of the day, increasing the communication is what can make this better and more effective.
Speaker 1:It makes so much sense to me and with your extensive experience in leading digital transformation, what strategies have you found most effective in fostering a collaborative culture that encourages innovation and creativity? How do you ensure that communication and collaboration remain strong even in high-pressure environments?
Speaker 2:So, yeah, it is a super important factor about communications. In the Middle East we have a very broad multicultural environment where it's very important to keep that communication flow between all the different teams involved. Having the opportunity to live in this part of the world got help into having a more open-minded mindset, which is very important to have to be able to understand different people's mindset. Being open-minded is one very important factor when it comes to communication. You have not only to communicate, but you have to listen to them as well. Have not only to communicate, but you have to listen to them as well. I am a person who likes very much listening first than speaking, and that listening factor to me is very important for having a successful collaboration and communication with other party.
Speaker 2:So, of course, maintaining different communication methods Some people may prefer calls, some people may prefer chats, some people may prefer emails you have to understand the different methods of communicating and what could be preferred for different teams. So you need to be open as well into being flexible. It's another important factor flexibility and try to accommodate everyone. It's impossible to accommodate everyone always, so you have to be flexible.
Speaker 1:In a constantly evolving industry where new technologies like Meta, ai, vr and digital twins are defining possibilities, how do you maintain resilience as a leader? What practices or mindset help you and your teams navigate the challenges of exploring new markets and pioneering innovative strategies, markets?
Speaker 2:and pioneering innovative strategies. Technology is evolving very, very rapidly.
Speaker 2:And the way that we maintain our understanding of technology and how it can help or assist our business or other businesses is always to be informed and connected with our industry leaders and experts. Informed and connected with our industry leaders and experts. We need to be open of understanding areas where the industry is moving forward, not only our specific sector, but with other sectors as well, because the technology that may be happening in other sectors can be applicable to our industry in the coming future. So maintaining being informed is very important. Keep reading any updates when it comes to different technologies.
Speaker 2:As I said, not only in our sector, but in other sectors. Attending conferences and events is a great way to get connected to people to see what other companies are doing as well and how are they applying technology to their practices. These are the main factors of being connected, being informed and sharing as well. It's very important that others see the value of sharing the information that they already experienced that you may have, so that they're more open to share as well from their site. I do believe that the market is quite open for everyone to collaborate and participate. I don't like to see others as competitors. I think we all have enough opportunities for all of us to have the experience of working with our clients, and I do see the value of collaborating with others to make what we do better. So, as I said, being informed, being collaborative, staying up to date with anything that might not be related to our industry are the key areas for that.
Speaker 1:Gold. I love everything you just mentioned because it is so important and it requires an additional engagement. It requires passion, it requires burning for what you are doing and burning for the outcomes, but also taking your responsibility and being mindful about how you come to your results and how your journey looks like. Did you enjoy it and, um, what was the experience of that journey? So all that together, it makes absolute sense, and thank you so much for sharing that part. It's super valuable. Juan, you've been a part of numerous award-winning projects and teams. What are the key factors that contribute to building success stories in digital transformation? Factors that contribute to building success stories in digital transformation. How do you align your leadership strategy with the goals of your organization to create and sustain these success stories?
Speaker 2:At the end of the day, we do spend a lot of effort with our teams, everyone collaborating with our teams, everyone collaborating researching, planning, implementing, managing different technologies that we are working with and, as I mentioned earlier, I think it's important for others to see the value on what we do.
Speaker 2:It's not only about that others will recognize the efforts that they have done and what values and outcomes can that provide, but also to motivate others in order to do the same. I'm not a person who likes to be recognized for that factor, but mostly to be recognized for being someone to be seen as an example, so that I can help others to see and understand the value of what we do. So it is one of our core values at KEO as well about the integrity and the value of technology and innovation. So reflecting externally on what we do is important to us that we'll see how much effort we put to give this value internally and, similarly, what we are doing in the last years externally as well, to help other clients into going through the same journey of adopting technology and different objectives that they may have as businesses as well.
Speaker 1:Amazing and you are a real role model and that type of leader I would love to see more of in the future and even today. But it is great that you are so willing to share your experience and your ways of thinking and leading so that other leaders can get inspired and hopefully even learn a little bit more from you, because it is important to learn from others more from you, because it is important to learn from others. It is important to have that broad perspective and navigate in an adaptable way so that we become stronger. No matter how strong and experienced we are, there is always something more to learn and to adapt that stack to become even better. What role does visionary leadership play in not only adapting to but also driving the exploration of new opportunities and innovative path forward?
Speaker 2:So I believe that leading by example, others will follow if you see what you do. So leading by example is always a very important factor for for others to follow the way that you work, the way that you do, the way that you are expecting others to work as well. So leading by example, by going along with them in the journey, is super important. It's not only about mandating or establishing certain expectations. You have to lead by example on what you do and I believe that the others will follow. You have to keep up, of course, this relationship with them, understanding the limits that there should be, but if you lead by example, most likely others will follow, and this is how I have perceived that other people is following you as a leader.
Speaker 1:So true. For the leaders aiming to make a mark in digital transformation, what advice would you offer? How can they cultivate the qualities needed to become successful, particularly in pursuing and supporting innovative strategies?
Speaker 2:Well, I guess that people is the key, as we said, and you have to find the right team to work with you. You have to make them work with you, to be aligned in the same path, engaging with them early in the process so that they don't feel that they are excluded from your planning, your vision, your strategies. So, engaging with people, it's very important that they see that they are part of the process of considering them, as they will be the one adopting your strategies, your planning, your guidelines, your workflows, your tools that they will be implementing. So, engaging with them, it's important to consider their thoughts. One cannot have all the different perspectives and information. So, listening to others, what could be their views, their perspectives, their ideas, being open to that dialogue and not to be stricken in the way of having the straight understanding of what can be done without getting them involved so being open-minded is a very important factor too. So I think that all of these aspects can help.
Speaker 1:Sounds great. And if you would need to choose just one quality to develop so that we can recommend to all the leaders of today to become more impactful tomorrow, what is that quality they should work on and add up to their toolbox?
Speaker 2:I believe that being more open-minded and empathetic with the people that they work with.
Speaker 1:I absolutely love this advice and it suits so well to wrap up today's conversation, filled with so much wisdom and experience and also so well balanced and human-centric. Thank you so much, juan, for sharing your experience, for being here today, for inspiring everybody who is listening to us, who is watching this interview today. Thank you for your time and your engagement. I really appreciate you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, Vanya.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us on Digital Transformation for Humans. I am Amy and it was enriching to share this time with you. Remember the core of Transcription by CastingWords? Subscribe and stay tuned for more episodes where we uncover the latest trends in digital business and explore the human side of technology and leadership. Until next time, keep nurturing your mind, fostering your connections and leading with heart.
