Why Company Culture Matters More Than Strategy | Diary of a CHRO Ep32
Janina Norton is Group Head of Culture at AXA with core priorities focused on bringing thought leadership and strategic direction on matters relating to employee listening and culture measurement, culture transformation, employee experience, and hybrid working.
A strong company culture shapes how people work together, boosts motivation, and drives long-term success.
In this conversation, we cover topics like:
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ข๐ฑ๐ช๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ?
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ?
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ?
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฐ-๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ด๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ?
She will also be a speaker at the People Experience Conference in Lisbon on 17 April 2026.
Meet Janina Norton!
What Makes Introverted Leaders So Powerful? | Diary of a CHRO Ep31
Niels Jansen is Head of HR at LG Benelux.
Niels is passionate about developing people and creating environments where they can thrive through โIntrovert Leadershipโ.
Introverted leaders are often underestimated but, in reality, they bring some of the most powerful qualities to leadership.
In a world that often celebrates loud, charismatic leadership, introverts lead differently and that difference can be a major advantage.
In this video, we explore what makes introverted leaders so effective, and why organizations should rethink what great leadership really looks like:
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ
๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด
๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ฆ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บโ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ
Whether youโre an introvert yourself or leading diverse teams, understanding this leadership style can change how you approach management and performance.
He will also be a speaker at the People Experience Conference in Lisbon on 17 April 2026.
Meet Niels Jansen!
The Secrets to Building a Powerful Employer Brand | Diary of a CHRO Ep30
Luรญs Sottomayor is the Founder and CEO of Talent Portugal, a Talent Attraction and Employer Branding platform that joins candidates, companies, and universities.
In this video, we will cover topics like:
๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐บ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ
๐๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐บ
๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ
Meet Luรญs Sottomayor!
The Leaderโs Toolkit โ Essential Leadership Tools for Managers | Diary of a CHRO Ep29
Dรณnal McConnell is the founder and creator of โช@LeaderToolsโฌ . These are pre-baked management solutions, useful whether it’s delegating tasks or dealing with underperformance
The Leader’s Toolkit is your go-to deck of 50+ actionable leadership cardsโeach one a battle-tested tool you can use immediately. No theory. No fluff. Just practical solutions for the leadership challenges you face every single day.
In this video, we will show the following tools:
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ต
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ต
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ
And address some topics regarding them like:
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ต
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ด ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ?
๐๐ง ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ 10 ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ?
Meet Dรณnal McConnell!
Industry 5.0: How Danone Is Driving Transformation Via Strategic Upskilling | Diary of a CHRO Ep28
Beata Sawicka is the Head of Industry 5.0 Academy at Danone, leading a global initiative to empower employees to thrive in the era of human-machine collaboration.
She shares how Danone is leading operational transformation by digitally upskilling its workforce. This approach is helping factories โ and the broader organization โ enhance performance, drive growth, and increase flexibility, ultimately strengthening supply chain resilience and advancing toward Industry 5.0. To make this possible, Danone recognizes that upskilling, reskilling, and effective change management across the entire manufacturing community are essential.
She will also be a speaker at the People Experience Conference in Lisbon on 17 April 2026.
Meet Beata Sawicka!
Take Care of Your People, and Theyโll Take Care of Your Business | Diary of a CHRO Ep27
Ricardo Costa is the Chairman of the Bernardo da Costa Group, Top 3 Most followed Portuguese person on LinkedIn, and also author of the 2024 book โHappiness is Profitable.โ
In this video, Ricardo breaks down a powerful leadership principle: when you genuinely take care of your people, they naturally take care of your business. Culture drives performance. Trust builds loyalty. And strong teams create sustainable growth.
Youโll learn:
Why people-first leadership leads to long-term success
How valuing employees increases productivity and retention
The connection between company culture and profitability
Ricardo will also be one of the keynote speakers at Fรณrum de Lรญderes 2026, taking place on March 4 in Lisbon. In his session, he will explore why Leadership has become such a prominent topic in recent years and reflect on what truly matters most in great Leadership.
Meet Ricardo Costa!
Sustainable HRM leads to Increased Productivity | Diary of a CHRO Ep26
Rogier Van Hamburg is the Co-Founder of ImpactWork, a company helping organizations with the transformation to Sustainable Work.
Rogier believes that sustainable work is the key to a future-proof society. Via ImpactWork, his mission is to support companies in creating work environments that are not only productive but also people-focused and future-proof.
In this video, Rogier explains how he helps his clients with the challenges of today and tomorrow, such as labor market shortages, technological transformation, and changing employee expectations.
He also shares the โSustainable HRM in 2025 Reportโ key findings, as well as inviting everyone to participate in the 2026 edition! (both links below)
Meet Rogier Van Hamburg!
Great Leadership, Financial Independence, and Retirement at 44 | Diary of a CHRO Ep25
Rita Piรงarra was CFO of Microsoft Portugal before making the bold decision to retire at just 44 years old.
She gained widespread recognition for this move and later authored the book โLife Canโt Waitโ, where she encourages people to reach key life milestones that enable financial independence, without having to work until a later age, while still achieving success in their careers and personal lives.
She will also be one of the keynote speakers at Fรณrum de Lรญderes 2026, taking place on March 4 in Lisbon. In her session, she will explore why Leadership has become such a prominent topic in recent years and reflect on what truly matters most in great Leadership.
Meet Rita Piรงarra!
Why 30% of Employees Have a Hidden Disability, and What Leaders Miss? | Diary of a CHRO Ep24
Antรณnio Vieira Santos is a Sociologist & Innovation Strategist @Atos
A LinkedIn Top Voice, Podcast Host, and Book co-author about Accessibility
He will also be a speaker at the HR Week Lisbon 2026, April 28-29.
In this Conversation, we unpack why around 30% of the workforce lives with a hidden disability, what that actually means in day-to-day work, and the critical things leaders and HR teams often miss.
Hidden disabilities donโt always look like disabilities. They can include neurodivergence, chronic illness, mental health conditions, sensory differences, and more, often invisible, often unspoken, and frequently misunderstood.
Youโll learn:
Why hidden disabilities are far more common than most leaders think
The assumptions that quietly exclude people at work
How โone-size-fits-allโ leadership creates unnecessary barriers
What Leaders and Companies can do differentlyโstarting now
This isnโt about compliance or labels. Itโs about better leadership, better work design, and better outcomes for everyone.
If you lead people, manage teams, or shape workplace culture, this conversation matters.
Meet Antรณnio Vieira dos Santos!
The Biggest Mistake HR Professionals Make: Assumptions | Diary of a CHRO Ep23
Eduardo Andrade is VP, People at Feedzai, enabling People Experience, Business Partnership, and Workplace to actively contribute for Feedzaians stellar employee journey.
In HR, assumptions can quietly undermine trust, damage culture, and lead to costly decisions, often without us realizing it.
In this video, we explore why assumptions show up so often in HR work, how they impact employees and leaders, and what HR professionals can do instead to make better, more human decisions.
Whether youโre an HR leader, business partner, or people manager, this video will help you:
Recognize where assumptions creep into HR decisions
Understand the hidden cost of assumption-based thinking
Build stronger trust through better listening and inquiry
How technology can help in HR
Meet Eduardo Andrade!