We recently had the privilege of interviewing Anastassia Beliakova, an experienced entrepreneur and visionary leader. With executive experience with esteemed organizations like The Leading Hotels of the World, Kempinski Hotels & Resorts, and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Anastassia founded Add One Touch, a premier HR consulting firm transforming leadership skills across diverse sectors.
Her commitment to social impact also shines through the Balanciada Project, promoting wellness and combating burnout. In this insightful session, Anastassia shares her groundbreaking methods, global perspective, and strategic insights on achieving success in today’s complex market landscape.
On Being A Successful Leader
We started the interview by asking, “What role does a leader’s mindfulness play in team management?”
Anastassia shared, “To my mind, a leader must understand how his actions, decisions, and management style impact those around them. It’s not just about achieving goals. It is about how we reach those results. A highly mindful leader sees objectives as well as people achieving them and understands the importance of maintaining healthy communication within the team. Such mindfulness enables us to grow the business along with building a strong team.”
Traits Of An Efficient Leader
We were interested to learn more about the traits of a leader that ensures the success of a team. So, we asked Anastassia Beliakova, “What personal qualities of a leader define the team’s success?”
“Empathy and the ability to manage communication are two of the most important qualities of a successful leader. A leader must be able to “read” the team, understand its mood, and know when to offer support and when to push for solutions. It’s also important to remember that successful leadership is built on mutual expectations and accountability. The leader’s task is to create an environment where each team member understands his goal and contribution to the overall result, while the leader ensures everything works smoothly and effectively.” She replied.
Common Mistakes To Avoid As A Leader
We further asked, “What are the most common mistakes leaders make?”
She added, “A common pitfall for leaders is attributing problems solely to their team while assuming their actions are flawless. However, effective leadership begins with self-reflection. A leader should ask, ‘What can I do to improve the situation?’ Recognizing that team members require training, integration, and development, leaders must take ownership of this process.
By acknowledging their responsibility, leaders gain clarity on how to manage the situation. Ultimately, true progress stems from acknowledging that we have limited control over others, but complete control over ourselves. When leaders take responsibility for their team’s results, they empower themselves to drive meaningful change.”
Building Strong Foundation
To learn the approaches followed by Anastassia Beliakova to ensure minimum mistakes in her team-building process, we inquired, “What steps do help to minimize mistakes when building a team?”
“First, it’s crucial to have a deep understanding of who you are looking for, along with a clear vision of how these people will interact with each other. Second, proper onboarding is essential. At Add One Touch we help our clients not only find the best people but also integrate them effectively into the existing team to minimize hiring risks and speed up the adaptation process. But the most important thing is that building a successful team is not a one-time event, but a meticulous daily effort, made up of small but consistent adjustments.” She responded.
Effective Communication Is The Key
We asked, “What principles do you consider essential in managing communication within a team?”
She shared, “For me, three principles are crucial: openness when it’s common practice in the team to share problems and difficulties openly while also suggesting solutions. To achieve this, it’s important to learn how to give constructive feedback and create conditions for safe exchanges of opinions.
Second, engagement in results or caring about the outcomes – this is when a team member views any underperformance as unacceptable and acts accordingly. Third, proportionality of stimulus and reaction. For example, if you’re investing in an employee’s training, you want to see him learning. If a challenging situation arises, the employee should engage in solving it, rather than standing by. If a conflict occurs, the emotions should match the issue. This is the foundation; the rest can be worked out.”
Adaptability Amidst Challenges
Challenging phases are an inevitable part of the team-building process in any business. So, we asked, “What are the main challenges in building a strong team?”
Anastassia replied, “Building a strong team is always a complex and multi-layered process. It’s not just a matter of one iteration or a lucky hire; moreover, it’s a ‘work in progress’ that has no final point. Every leader has his own unique approach and personality type, so what works for one may not work for another.
I believe that the key to success in team-building lies in the leader’s high level of self-awareness: how well they know themselves, how objective they are in self-assessment, how they maintain healthy communication within the team, and how authentic they are. These leadership skills help in forming strong, motivated teams. At Add One Touch, we know how to initiate, sustain, and develop this process, quickly navigating through bottlenecks and leading teams to high levels of efficiency.”
Hiring The Best Talents
To gather Anastassia Beliakova’s perspective on the secrets of building a good team, we asked, “How to build a great team?”
“At Add One Touch, we have a separate hiring track where we help our clients minimize hiring mistakes by implementing systematic approaches aimed at fast track of new employees to bring them up to speed. We conduct behavioral diagnostics during the selection stage, which reduces the risk of hiring errors by 60% and, according to our calculations, saves about 30% of the payroll fund in annual terms. Plus, we help our clients train their managers, who bear the main responsibility for hiring decisions but aren’t necessarily recruitment professionals.” She replied.
Tailored Solutions For Clients
To learn more about the offerings of Anastassia’s company, we asked, “What support does Add One Touch offer to clients regarding team-building?”
She added, “Our core approach is ‘one size does not fit all’. We understand that every team is unique, and every company’s situation is different. That’s why each of our training and development projects is tailored to align with the company’s strategic goals, resources, current situation, and competency levels. We act as your outsourced training department, providing a highly professional approach to your tasks. We teach leaders to consciously approach every aspect of management, from hiring to strengthening teamwork, helping them minimize mistakes and achieve impressive results.”
Anastassia Beliakova’s Perspective On Team’s Success
We ended the interview by asking, “What, in your opinion, makes a team successful?”
Anastassia concluded, “There are many secret ingredients. First and foremost, mutual respect and support, and the ability to make mistakes. Mistakes are an integral part of growth, and it’s essential to cultivate a culture where they are seen as growth opportunities, not occasions for judgment.
Two-way feedback is also crucial, where both the employee and the leader can receive it. And, of course, trust – it’s built when promises are kept, and there is a mechanism for non-judgmental communication. When you start with yourself, it becomes clearer how to manage the situation – we have far less control over others than over ourselves.”
Follow Anastassia Beliakova on LinkedIn.
Find Add One Touch on LinkedIn and visit their website http://www.addonetouch.com/
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