Interview with Horst Gallo, Founder of Indarra Ventures

I recently went one-on-one with Horst Gallo, founder of Indarra Venture. Horst was previously the Chief People Officer of Orion Innovation and was an HR executive for IBM.

Adam: What were the biggest challenges that you faced as an HR leader and how did you navigate them?

Horst: The challenges were always different, right? Because when I was with IBM, there was a lot of focus on productivity and efficiencies, and it was really about, how can we do a lot more with driving engagement on one side, but also at the same time, of course, actually, then saving money, not only for, of course, the HR function, but actually for IBM overall. So that was a very different kind of challenge than actually was, for example, for Ryan around everything was about growth. There it was about, how can we figure out the ways to do hiring in a better way? Because when I came there, for example, we always had, like any time, 1000 or so open positions. In 1000 open positions actually means that in a service company, that you're losing revenue. So we had to actually figure out how we can hire better faster, looking at different kinds of options as well around that, and then, of course, making sure that the people actually are going to be integrated very quickly, and they can be productive with the clients. So it's very different challenges around that. And that's also one of the reasons, actually, I moved from IBM, because I was looking at, how can we focus on this positive aspect of hiring, leadership, development, and culture building. They are the ones actually, of course, where you can really have a big impact on the growth of a company. We were also, of course, doing a lot of mergers and acquisitions, actually in that place, how we can integrate them, how we can make sure that one plus one is not one, but one plus one is three, because you're focusing on taking your solutions into their clients, and actually their solutions actually into the clients, actually what we had there, and that is a is a very, very interesting and positive kind of challenge compared to others.

Adam: What are the biggest challenges that HR leaders are facing today?

Horst: There's a lot of things happening around that. I think the one thing is, I start maybe with technology. So AI would actually impact of AI will have for, for for organizations, and I talked specifically about technology organizations, because everybody talks about it, everybody's expecting things. Everybody's expecting, like the CEOs the board, they expect actually a lot of productivity gains from that. But I don't think that it is that dramatic at the moment, at least. So there's going to be a bit of a challenge. In addition to that, of course, you have all of the regular things people are still, how do I put that in the right way? When I look at the trust between companies and employees, it's not so much there in many of the companies. Because, of course, companies are still laying off people, especially in the US, people actually are disenfranchised. There's still this notion of quiet bidding being around there. So all of these challenges actually are there. It makes it really, really important that engagement actually is there. And at the moment I see that very, very complicated, very long-winded answer, but there's lots of things actually do to unpack at the moment.

Adam: How can HR leaders address those issues?

Horst: I think we have to find a way so mean that the good thing is that HR is in a very different position than maybe 10 or 15 years ago because you have, you have the permission to do a lot of the things, because everybody has recognizing that people are really, really important around that now we have still that challenge that HR is very often actually only looking at HR, and I think we have to somehow change that notion and talk about the business from a people perspective. So how can we look at revenue growth, or how we can actually look at more productivity, or how can we look at more innovation depending on what your company actually does around that and then come to that with a solution from a people perspective, and that needs to include, of course, on one side, using technology for on one side, productivity changes or challenges. There's a lot of things actually you could do from an automation point of view or from an efficiency point of view, but at the same time, we need to actually have that balance of putting this, this human aspect in the forefront, so that balance between really using technology for the for this efficiency gains and all of the things, but then putting this human aspect to in the forefront so that we can really look at engagement. Because I think in the last years, we have done one or the other, but we have not really had a huge impact around that.

Adam: How can HR leaders help build successful cultures?

Horst: I think we need to be more transparent, from an HR point of view, actually, what the culture really is about. What are the things, that make you as a person, as an employee, successful in that environment, and that can mean you need to focus a lot more on teamwork, or you actually have to focus on risk-taking, or you have to do one or the other because, of course, it's very, very difficult. And then instead of actually putting that on words, on the on a on a piece of paper, where you put on the wall, but try to actually figure out how you can design your HR programs and support that across all of the functions. So for example, that you do conversation programs, and you reward the behavior, supporting, actually the cultural kind of values around that, doing the recognition programs, doing exactly the same kind of things, doing the skill building and actually focusing on that, because too often we do one thing actually when we say about culture, and then we do something else about the conversation, and we do something else when it comes to the usual development. But they need to be all connected, and you need to be very clear of what the employee value proposition actually is, and then focus on all of the programs actually around that, so that people can recognize it, because it's not what you say, it's really what you do, what people actually are looking for.

Adam: What do you believe are the key characteristics of a successful leader?

Horst: I think in today's world, it's not anymore so much about I need to be this motivational kind of person, having all of the answers. I think it's more the opposite. It's more about servant leadership, where, when we talk about people, they are all mature people, they need to actually design things for themselves. And what a leader and a manager actually needs to do is really to take the roadblocks away, to give them a direction, but actually support them so that they can get there. Because by doing that, you develop people as well in the right way. And you build succession planning, you can do a lot more things. Because also, of course, then it's about you defining actually, what is this, this vision, what you're going to look for, but supporting that overall, around that, that, for me, I think, is the main difference today than it was maybe a few years ago. Because in an agile environment, especially when you look at technology and AI and all of the things, everything is fast-moving. We're talking about when you develop a product, you're talking about design thinking. You're talking about agile methodologies. And if you stop there as a leader and you just try to observe and do things, it's not going to work anymore, because you're not fast enough to do that. So it's more about supportive, being supportive, actually, for the team, rather than anything else.

Adam: What can anyone do to become a better leader?

Horst: I think there's many, many things. I think the first thing is that you have a growth mindset to know that you actually have to learn and change every day because change is the only constant in today's world. You look at you look at around you. Changes are accelerating a lot in all of the kind of areas. And it starts off, of course, actually, with acknowledging that there are so many things actually happening around that, and you can't be an expert in everything. So if you try to learn to I think Microsoft actually has this term where they talk about learning it all instead of actually knowing it all. And that's really a very, very powerful statement for me because if I as a leader, actually go into a meeting and actually I pretend I'm the smartest in the room, that's not going to work. But it's really about if I want to learn and actually try to understand, actually, from different kinds of people, then I'm setting the right kind of perception and surround myself, actually with the right people.

Adam: Who are the greatest leaders you've been around, and what did you learn from them?

Horst: I remember one of my first managers actually in IBM. He was actually leading a very young organization, 400 people or so. And what was fascinating for me is actually that he knew. A small little things thing about everyone in the organization. So even he would talk to you, he would always talk about this small thing, and he made it very personalized, and it felt like he's caring, and he actually understands things about that. And I think that was one thing, what I was always trying to take away from that to be personalized and really have that individual one the other thing is, I get back to the CHRO for IBM back then, he made decisions, of course, for 400,000 people, but he would always step back and actually say, what does this decision that we as a company actually take mean for that one person who's sitting up in Vermont in a factory, what is the implication for that kind of person? And then working it backward around that, and figuring out how you can then later on, explain what it means from a strategic point of view for a company, for the shareholders, for the CEO, but also, of course, what it actually means for an individual working very far down, actually in the line, and that combination was, for me, very fascinating, because actually brings up a lot of different criteria. What do you have to think through? That's just two of them, but there's plenty more.

Adam: What are your best tips on the topic of hiring?

Horst: I think today, we hire far too much on technical skills instead of mindset. I always take people so Warren Buffett as an example, he talks very simplisticly about, look, I'm not hiring a person actually who has the right kind of skills, but I'm hiring somebody who has the mindset and the values that that person actually can be successful and be growing in the right way. And I think that's probably the direction we should be going, especially with I take again AI, when you look at generative AI, things are changing. A lot. A lot of the technical kind of capabilities can be done with technology in the future, but what cannot be done is critical thinking. Is trying to be more creative, being supportive, having the soft skill, actually, what we told, what we called in in the past, these kind of areas, is going to be much more difficult for AI actually do, to copy and change. Therefore, if we hire for these kinds of skills, for somebody actually who wants to grow and learn and is agile enough, they will always be actually in that way. And then, of course, they can actually get into this kind of places because technical skills, you can actually teach much, much easier.

Adam: What are your best tips on the topic of motivation?

Horst: Motivation, for me, is something which actually should come from within you, if somebody else actually needs to motivate you, it can have a short-term effect. But it's not as powerful actually. If it is something actually, which comes from within you, and therefore, of course, starting off actually, when you when you pick a job, when you pick something, it should be something, what you're actually passionate about, what you are interested in, and what you get up in the morning actually, and you want to do something, because if you need somebody else for that, there's going to be too many bad days where you actually don't want to get out of bed. And life is too short to not focus on things actually what you like doing?

Adam: What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

Horst: There's a lot of them because I was very fortunate enough to have a lot of great mentors and managers, actually over the years, but maybe one thing is, and this is maybe also getting back to culture, because again, I'm European, so we tend not to be so outspoken. Then maybe in an American kind of culture around here, but letting people know what you want and being very clear about that was, was something very, very positive. Because if, if you're not clear, people will make up their minds about what they think it is. And very often, actually, you make assumptions, and the assumptions actually are not true. But if you're actually telling people what you want, what you open for, it, what you don't like, it's a lot it's a lot easier actually to do that. And I think the other one for me is also, is to take control of things and at least try to figure out a way that you did you make decisions. So I take an example. When I was in my first executive position, like many of the other people, but we were talking about the other day, I was working 20 hours a day. I didn't have any time for anything else, and no time for the family. And you get worked out. But it was also because everything was coming at me, and I had the feeling, actually, I was not in control. Somebody else was actually. And my mentor at that time, the CH O for IBM, was telling me, is like, Look, you need to, need to make decisions. You can't do that. You can also say that you go home at six o'clock and you spend two hours with your family and you do things, and then afterward you work, but at least you feel like you have made a decision that you are working at that time and you're not working at that time. And that can be, of course, translated in many different areas around that, but just making the decisions and the choices gives you a lot more freedom, and you feel a lot more under control with things. I think those were the two things which actually stuck with me for the last few years.

Adam: Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Horst: Oh my God, we’ve talked about so many things. I think in today's world, the most important thing, and I think I said that before in our conversation, but it's like change, that transformation is one thing which is happening all the time, and it's accelerating no matter if you take technology, if you take other changes, you look at the geopolitical kind of impact around that. So there's so many things there, and it's the only, it's the only, the only constant. So in order to survive in today's world, it is about figuring out how you can live with the uncertainties of today's world and make the best out of that. And that, of course, actually goes back again to the growth mindset, to this always learning kind of culture and really being proactive around that. Because when you do both of these things change is easy actually to manage, because you see some positive things actually around that, and you don't see it as negative parts that I think is, for me, one of the important things in today's world.


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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