As a young student, Barbara Frei had ambitions to become an energy-saving consultant. Due to the oil crises of the 1970s and ‘80s, the topic of high energy costs – and how energy can be saved – was highly relevant, even at school. During her studies, however, the oil price fell from just below $40 a barrel to less than $20. “So nobody spoke about energy savings anymore,” she observes, wryly.
It was a chastening experience, but also a valuable one over the longer term; not only because the issue of efficiency has risen to the top of the executive agenda during the energy transition, but because it was an early experience of the unpredictability of markets.
During her long tenure as an executive at global engineering firm ABB she was responsible for operations in the Mediterranean region in the early 2010s, shortly after the global financial crisis. The economy contracted sharply, with many construction projects unfinished. She offers
some intriguing glimpses of how a smart business like ABB responds to a recession. “Even in a downturn market, there are still opportunities.”
One profitable enterprise was to work with partners – electrical panel builders and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) – to help identify new export markets.
It was still tough. Redeploying resources to focus on sectors with possibilities “sounds nice on a slide, but to do it, it’s not that easy.”
To ensure such responsiveness, you need collective adaptability. This is where the different strands of learning from the EMBA come together – the ability to understand markets and businesses, and the leadership capabilities to guide teams. The knowledge-based learning you can apply immediately; the behavioral may take years.
“I think with the EMBA you lay the base, but then over the time you really start to benefit from it. I would say it took me another 10 to 15 years to really fully benefit from all that.”
“Even in a downturn market, there are still opportunities”
She comprehends the paradox that the more you ensure psychological safety, the more directly you can address performance issues, because individuals will receive criticism as advice, rather than as a threat. During a Discovery Expedition on the EMBA, a colleague was vocal, and sounded self-confident, but a fellow team member advised her that he was not – the talk was masking feelings of uncertainty. He advised: “Let’s first give him a safe environment, and when he feels safe, then we can start to criticize about things we want to improve.” The assessment proved correct, “and that’s one of my key learnings.”
Prior to the EMBA, the significance of power dynamics in a team were somewhat hidden, because she had worked in structured groups with a clearly defined leader. In the groupwork at IMD, with “alpha animals”, they had to work out how to take decisions, “and it was the whole group who had to pass”, she adds.
She received a distinction in her EMBA [top six], and was invited by her line manager at ABB to talk about new opportunities. “They felt: Now we need to do something, otherwise she will leave.”
Having worked in a global role, Barbara expressed a desire to have managerial responsibility in a local posting, and was appointed President for ABB in the Czech Republic. The culture was surprisingly different to Switzerland or Germany. The year was 2008, 40 years after the Soviet government crushed the Prague Spring, and less than 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. “I had team members at that time, they wouldn’t openly speak out about certain mistakes because they were afraid.”
She adds: “People can react very differently to what you may expect, depending on the local culture, and their personal experiences. I believe that developing sensitivity to this is fundamental in a leadership position.”
By 2016, she was ready for a fresh challenge, and joined the industrial automation and energy management and tech company Schneider Electric, initially as President for Germany and, since 2021, Executive Vice-President Industrial Automation.
She can offer a front-row perspective on the progress of artificial intelligence in a global industrial business, and its likely impact. Her perspective is intriguingly nuanced. “I don’t think it’s a revolution. It’s an evolution.” She adds:
“We [at Schneider] only do artificial intelligence where we have clean data and an intimate knowledge of the use case to develop the right algorithms that will bring value. The collaboration between those with the expert know-how and the specialists in data processing for a specific domain is key to really get the full usage of artificial intelligence.
“Implementation should be guided by human intelligence on operational needs. Therefore, we involve the people on the shop floor. Because they know their systems by heart.” “It took me another 10 to 15 years to really fully benefit from the leadership training.”
“It took me another 10 to 15 years to really fully benefit from the leadership training”
After many years in engineering and executive roles, sometimes the only woman on the team, Barbara is keen to improve the gender balance in her profession. Schneider Electric takes it seriously, seeking gender parity from the top management to graduate intake, but it can be a struggle. Her own daughter has graduated in engineering, 24 years after her mother – but she was the only woman in her cohort.
“It is still a struggle, but it helps to have strong role models.”
