LEAD Network Event Speaker Spotlight

Maren Gerhäuser-von de Fenn

September 2018 

Head of Leadership Development at METRO AG

Can you tell us a bit about your background and your role?
My background is based on a rich personal life along with extensive experience working in different industries, always in Human Resources.  I am an HR Professional with a focus on leadership, learning and development. My current role at METRO AG is Head of Leadership Development. This includes designing leadership development programmes, workshops and learning opportunities as well as facilitating train-the-trainer sessions in different countries. I love enabling people to grow and one of my passions is agile working and the use of creative methods to come up with new ideas.

Why is diversity important for you?
Whenever I am working in a diverse environment I feel the positive energy and the richness of the differences in the room. It´s fun working with diverse teams.  I learn and grow from listening to different perspectives and the outcome very often is more sustainable. Diversity makes the (working) environment rich, colourful and inspiring.

What is your biggest achievement related to diversity?
I hired people different from the majority of the staff in the existing environment. One of my greatest achievements was the delivery of “awareness exercises” showing how biased we are.

What is the “Mentoring Speed Dating Workshop” about and how does it relate to LEAD Network?
The “Mentoring Speed Dating Workshop” is about what is needed to make a mentoring relationship most effective for Mentors and Mentees. The workshop will offer the opportunity to speed mentor somebody and to receive speed mentoring. I am a member of the LEAD Network Education Committee and lead the LEAD Network Mentoring Program since July of this year.

Who should be joining the workshop?
Anyone who is interested in learning more about the ingredients of a good Mentor-Mentee relationship. We also invite anyone who wants to address a specific topic during the speed mentoring workshop and who is willing to speed mentor somebody else.