Leading and Innovating in the Age of Disruption

Leading and Innovating in the Age of Disruption - Note from the Field. This was the topic of Winston Singh, Director for Strategy and Operations, Google Customer Solutions. On Friday, March 29, 2019 he spoke to more than 120 Executive, Full-time and Part-time MBA students as well as alumni at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. How do Google managers define and live leadership and corporate culture? How does a corporation the size of Google stay innovative?

For more than a decade, Winston Singh held different leadership positions at Google.

His secret of success? Apart from leadership and professional competencies, Singh named the capability to network inside an entire organisation, cooperative collaboration across departments, entrepreneurial thinking and acting, as well as a healthy mix of perseverance and flexibility.

In an interview with Frankfurt School, Singh affirmed that even after more than ten years he still thinks his workplace is amazing.

The tech giant from Silicon Valley, said Singh, encourages innovation through design and atmosphere at the workspace. Google´s mission to organise the world´s information and make it accessible is particularly motivating. In addition to that, the company fosters and promotes transparency. Every employee has a voice, and the workspace is designed as pleasant as possible, including a pool, fitness studio and restaurants offering nutritious meals.

Graduates of Frankfurt School, who want to work at Google, should show good cognitive skills, leadership, and expertise in the respective field. In addition to that, said Singh, they have to fit into the open and diverse Google culture.  

German candidates, he said, have a good chance to get a job at Google.

Does the seasoned Google manager have a tip for Frankfurt School students starting their careers?

“Run your own race! Do something really fulfilling. It is not bad to fail. Decide very carefully, because a professional career lasts 40 years and longer.“

Winston Singh visited Frankfurt School in line with a series of regular “Executive Talk“ and “In the Boardroom“ events. With these presentations,  the Frankfurt School MBA programmes allow students a direct exchange with German, European and International top managers.