Marcin Skarbon is the Global Director Capability Development, Diversity & Inclusion and Talent Acquisition at AkzoNobel in Amsterdam. He has been with the business for over seven years, having previously spent almost nine years at DSM and six years at ALSTOM.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your career so far?

There are probably two elements. One is related to the career path I’ve chosen, which is more around what I’m working on, and the other one is the people aspect.

If I think about the career path I have chosen, it was a very conscious choice to be an expert in the centre of expertise area, which is part of the Human Resources practice. I think the most rewarding part of being in that area of HR is when you see what you’ve designed come to life in the business and they tell you that it made a difference.

On the people side, I think the most rewarding part is when people voluntarily come over to me and ask for my opinion on something that they’ve developed or that they’re working on, and they say, “If we work with you, it will work better. You will make it better for us.”

I find this extremely humbling, because I never look at myself as someone who knows everything, but the fact that people come and ask for my opinion is quite a rewarding experience.

Thinking about your role as a leader, what would you pick out as being the biggest challenges or the biggest learnings from being in a people leadership role?

One element that I undermined during my career is mental health and employee wellbeing. I took it for granted. But the last three years have proved how fragile humans are.

As a leader, you are not only responsible for the output of your team, but also that there is psychological safety in your team. Leadership is not just about the hard stuff, it’s also about the heart and mind of people you work with.

What I’ve seen recently is that some people have become more comfortable showing their real emotions in the workplace. If you think about it, five to ten years ago, tears in the workplace were quite stigmatised; you were considered a weak person or you were not adjusting to the corporate environment, etc. Now, if you cry, you just show a moment of vulnerability, and the day after nobody remembers it.

Looking back, have you taken any risks within your career and has that helped you get where you are now?

Generally, when I look at my career, I make very conscious choices. I chose the path and I follow that path, which is also how I work on a daily basis. I have never had a problem - even when I was 20-something - packing my things and moving continents, moving countries, trying new things, which was very scary, because you didn’t know what you were signing up for.

Also, nobody’s career is always going to go upward or without big bumps. In 40 years, there’s going to be family situations, relationship circumstances, health challenges or big company changes. Those things will impact your career

I was never afraid to take on a new challenge with the assumption it might not work and, if it doesn’t, you cut the losses and you move on - and it happened to me. I give myself permission to make the wrong choices. We all sometimes roll our eyes over something that’s happening in front of our eyes. Believe me, the one person I roll my eyes over the most is myself. But guess what? We’re just human. Sometimes we get taken with the flow, but it’s okay - it’s what makes us unique.

Was there a manager that stood out for you in the past and what was it about their style that makes them stand out?

There was one that really stood out for me. There were elements of his management style or his personality that I found extremely powerful and had an impact on me.

One was that, when I entered his office or whenever we had interactions, there was never anything fake about him. He was authentic, but also very consistent. I always knew where I stood with him in terms of whether he liked what I was doing, whether there were some suggestions to improve, and whether he had criticism of something I’d done.

I also appreciated the speed of his decision making. He was somebody who was able to decide very quickly, which I found very important, and I knew whether we were going to do something or not and we did not procrastinate.

The last thing was his sense of humour. It was almost self-deprecating humour; he wasn’t positioning himself as the best next thing. It made him very approachable and relatable to me.

I think it had a profound impact on me, because - as I grew older – I noticed I started role modelling some of those behaviours in my life.

Was there a different path you might have taken or something you might go on to do as a second career?

Interestingly enough - and more on the wild side - I dreamed about running a dance club. I always had it in my head. Originally, I thought I would be a teacher, and I was prepared to do my PhD and then actually teach. But the one aspect I would probably lack enormously is the practical application of what I’m teaching.

To a degree, the path I’ve chosen in the centre of expertise on one side gives me the possibility to do theoretical elements, where you design and create, but then I can also see the actual application in a business, and I find this very important. I think the element of teaching and imparting knowledge to other people has stuck with me, because I have mentored many talented people through my career.

Outside of the work environment, what do you do to relax and have fun?

I’m an avid runner. I run five days a week. I put my headset on, turn up the music, I run through the path I choose. For me, it’s the reset button. I get a runner high and I push myself to breaking point, where I almost feel like I’m reborn after it.

On the opposite side, when I reach a maximum stress level - which happens sometimes - I go to a wellness centre with saunas and steam rooms. I like the fact that there’s nothing to hide, but also, it’s the environment where people don’t talk. It’s a silent environment, you’re on your own with your thoughts. I can spend five hours in an environment like this.

Interestingly enough, both are solitary activities. I work with people and talk to people eight to ten hours a day, which is probably why I chose Human Resources in the first place. However, that doesn’t mean it should continue for the remainder of the day. I re-charge when I am alone.

The interesting part is that the virtue of the job I do may lead people to think that I’m a very extroverted person. But, deep inside, I’m quite introverted and those solitary moments of running or being in the wellness centre are very dear to me and help me to re-charge and face whatever life throws at me.

Thank you to Marcin for speaking to Katie Insley, Associate Director in our HR recruitment team in the Netherlands.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment.