Leading Cultural Transformation – A 30-Year Journey of Overcoming Challenges by Sandrine Pons

Sandrine Pons
MD France, GM Iberia and BeNeLux

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Automatic Summary

The Power of Cultural Transformation: A Journey Towards Inclusion in Tech

Transformation doesn't happen in boardrooms. It happens in hallways, in one-on-one conversations, and in quiet moments when someone chooses courage over comfort. Today, I want to share a personal journey that spans over three decades, during which I navigated challenges and ultimately shaped company culture in some of the world's most renowned organizations, including Ernst and Young and SAP. This story is not just about organizational change; it's about resilience, leading with purpose, and recognizing the importance of the human element.

Understanding Cultural Transformation

Cultural transformation is a lifelong pursuit that requires patience, empathy, and a steady reserve. It isn’t a sprint but a marathon measured not in miles but in moments of courage and connection. My hope is that by sharing my experiences, you will see the value of this journey and feel inspired to embark on your own.

  • It Starts with Courage: My first job in tech was daunting. As the only woman in a room full of men, I felt the weight of unspoken cultural norms. But instead of backing down, I listened, learned, and began to advocate not just for myself but for others like me.
  • Transformation through Mindset: Ten years into my journey, I had the privilege to lead a diverse team. I chose members based on talent and potential, not pedigree. This approach led to an innovative team that thrived on creativity, diversity, and shared purpose.
  • Representation Matters: I led a significant initiative focused on inclusion and sustainability in tech. We showcased diverse voices that are often overlooked, emphasizing that innovation must serve people and not just profit.

Key Lessons from My Journey

After navigating the complexities of the tech industry and cultural transformation for over thirty years, I’ve learned some core truths:

  1. Transformation Requires Trust, Truth, and Time: Without a foundation of honest conversations and psychological safety, strategic initiatives are bound to fail.
  2. Diversity without Inclusion is Decoration: It’s vital to empower differences within teams, ensuring that diverse voices are not just present but influential.
  3. Build Belief, Not Just Systems: People are more likely to buy into change when they can envision themselves in a transformative future.

The Impact of Empathy in Leadership

Reflecting on my journey, I am reminded of the words of Maya Angelou: "I've learned that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel." This sentiment is at the heart of cultural transformation—it’s about how we empower, value, and see each individual.

Join Us for the Transformation World Event

As a part of this journey, I invite you to join us at the S&P Transformation World event in June, in Hertenberg, Germany. This event will bring together over 1,600 attendees from global leaders such as Audi, BMW, and Total Energy to discuss the transformative power of knowledge transmission, diversity, and inclusion.

Scan the QR code to register and be part of conversations aimed at empowering our community. Together, we can tackle challenges and develop innovative solutions that matter.

I look forward to connecting, learning, and exchanging ideas during our discussions. Remember, we are always stronger together! Thank you for being part of this transformational journey.


Video Transcription

Transformation doesn't happen in boardrooms. It happens in hallways, in one on one conversations, in quiet moments when someone chooses courage over comfort. Hello, everyone.I'm truly honored to stand here among such inspiring women and men leaders. Today, I want to tell you a story. I want to take you on a personal journey of thirty years of navigating challenging and ultimately shaping company culture across some of the world's most renowned organizations such as Ernst and Young, SAP, so many more, and now at S and P Group. This isn't just a story about organizational change. It's about resilience, about leading with purpose, and about the human element, people, relationships, and the power of a shared vision. This is a story of my forty year journey from being the only woman in a room in the mid of nineties to leading global transformation across continents and cultures. My hope is that through sharing my experiences, you will see that cultural transformation is a lifelong pursuit, one that requires patience, empathy, and a worrying reserve.

Cultural transformation isn't a sprint, it's a marathon measured not in miles but in moments of courage and connection. I hope it inspires all on your own one. Let's go back in time, my first job in tech. I was ambitious, eager, and, let's be honest, completely unprepared for the culture I had stepped into. I wasn't just new to the industry. I came from a small French village where people didn't dream of working in big cities, let alone across borders or inside global corporations. By most expectations, I wasn't supposed to be there, but I never let anyone else decide what I could or couldn't do. Even back then, I had a strong character, one shared by my roots, my by resilience, and by the quiet determination of knowing exactly who I was.

I still remember my first team meeting. 10 men in dark suits. I was the only woman, and I wasn't wearing a suit. I offered an idea about optimizing our clear client data processes, and in the room went silent, really silent. Then someone said, that's really, really ambitious. It wasn't meant as a compliment. That was the first time I truly understood the power of unspoken culture, not in rubrics or organization charts, but in tone, posture, and those voice gets space and those doesn't. But I didn't walk away. I learned Alini. I started listening not just to what was said, but to what was not said. I began mentoring younger women. I've read informal networks. I learned how to advocate, not just for myself, but for others like me who didn't fit in the mood.

And that's when I began to realize real transformation is not about changing systems, it's about shifting mindsets. About ten years into my journey, I found myself in a regional leadership role that allowed me to build a team from the ground up. I made one decision early on. I would choose people not by where they came from, but by what they could do. Talent would speak louder than titles. Passion, louder than pedigree. And what a team we built. They were former actor, a nurse, a programmer, a student, someone from audio visual media, and yet a few people with very traditional tech backgrounds. It was unconventional. It was bought, and it worked.

What started as an evaluation project became, a living, briefing example of what's possible when you bring people together with diverse minds with shared purpose. We didn't always speak the same technical language, but we talked to each other, we learned, we listened, we stumbled, we grew. And in the space of honesty and the and difference, will creativity flourished? And I want to say this clearly. Over the years, I had had the immense privilege of helping thousands of women grow their careers, not because they were women, but because their talent, courage, and perspective were undeniable. I chose them transparently, and I championed them loudly. And they went on to lead, to innovate, and to mentor others. This is cultural transformation in action. Not just new systems, new standards. When you build a team on trust, diversity, and belief, the results take care of themselves.

A few years ago, I led one of the most meaningful initiatives of my career, an innovation forum. Designed not just to talk about tech, but to center people sustainability and purpose. But we wanted to do it differently. We wanted yeah. We handpicked a brilliant group of women, leaders, thinkers, and doers to take the stage and share the vision of what innovation could look like when it was inclusive, human, and sustainable. These, weren't the usual headliners. There were voices that had been overlooked for too long. And when they spoke, something shift in the room. They didn't just talk about technology. They talk about empathy, about building solutions that serve people, not just profits, about the environment, about designing with dignity. We called it inspiring to cover for a stronger future. And you could feel the power of that sentence because it wasn't just a slogan. It was a truth. But here is the reality.

That kind representation is still the exception. Let me share a number that keeps me up at night. In 2023, only 18% of women, of speakers, sorry, at major tech events across Europe were women and fewer than one in 10 keynote slots were to women. That is not a missed opportunity. This is a systemic silence. Because when women, women aren't on stage, they are not just missing from the spotlight. Their ideas, their solutions, their perspectives are missing from the future we are building. That forum taught me something very powerful. Representation is not about visibility. It's about voice. And when you amplify diverse voices, not as a favor, but as a priority, innovation gets stronger, teams get bolder and culture begins to change. Because when people see someone who looks like them, thinks like them, dreams like them, standing on that stage they believe, maybe I belong here too.

After three decades of navigating tech and transformation, here are three core truths I've learned and a hard way. Number one. Transformation begins with t for trust, truth, and time. If your culture doesn't allow honest conversations, no amount of strategy will succeed. Talological safety isn't a buzzword. It's your foundation. Number two, diversity without inclusion is decoration. Hiring for difference is easy, really easy. Empowering difference is leadership. Inclusion is not just who is at the table, it's who is shaping the menu. Number three, don't just build systems, build belief. People don't buy into change until they can see themselves in it. Paint the vision, tell the story, and remind your teams. We are not changing because we are failing. We are changing because we believe in something better, bigger. As I look back on my journey, I often think of the people who helped me to be here today. Good leaders, mentors, challengers, and allies.

And I remember on how they made me feel. That's why Maya Angelou's words ring so true for me. And to me is, I've learned that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you make them feel. That is the heart of cultural transformation. Not policies, not tech, but people, and how we make them feel. Empowered, valued, seen. If you remember just one thing from today, let it be this. You don't need permission to lead cultural change. You just need the courage to begin and the empathy to make it human. Yeah. For the last part, I wanted to invite you all, all the audience, to the S and P transformation world.

You see here you have a QR code that you can just click on and register. That will be in June, in Herdenberg in Germany. I really rejoin a fantastic lineup of women and men to discuss the topic of transformative power of knowledge transmission, a topic close to my heart. I will dive into themes of diversity, inclusion, equity, knowledge sharing, skill development, all aimed at empowering our community. There will be two sessions in one in, on the twenty fifth and the other one in the twenty sixth. This event, one of Europe's largest SAP centric gatherings, brings together over 1,600 attendees from global leaders like Audi, BMW, Total Energy, Simons, and so many more. It's joint a joint platform for collaboration within our ecosystem, including strategic partners like, of course, SAP, IBM, Accenture, Deloitte, and so many more at cutting edge tech alliances.

I look forward to connecting, learning, and exchanging ideas during our t and I workshops and canaries. You have also my LinkedIn here link in the chat. Really come with challenges. Live with solutions. We are stronger always when we are together. Hope to see you there. Thank you. Thank you for joining today.