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Digital transformation

Leadership & Organisations

Leading Change in Turbulence: Case of Discovery Inc.

Leading Change in Turbulence: Case of Discovery Inc.

In this video, Marinella Soldi shares ways to navigate the turbulent waters of digital transformation and why it is important to tackle both the strategic and cultural facets of change.

Marinella Soldi, Chair of Italy’s national broadcaster Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), has been a pioneer of digital transformation since the late 2000s. The INSEAD MBA alumna is the protagonist of a new INSEAD case study written by INSEAD professors Jennifer Petriglieri and Gianpiero Petriglieri.

The case charts a crucial juncture in Soldi’s varied career: the first 18 months as the President of Discovery’s ailing Southern Europe area. Like many leaders, she realised the need to make a radical turn towards digital to future-proof her business, but she faced scepticism from peers and bosses. In this interview, Soldi shares her lessons for navigating the turbulent waters of digital transformation, emphasising the importance of tackling strategic and cultural facets of change at once.

A former management consultant and executive coach, Soldi leveraged both her skills in data analytics and nuanced understanding of people dynamics to connect a change in culture towards a more inclusive and empowering workplace with a change in strategy – the digital transformation. As Soldi notes, “digital transformation is not the job of the CTO”, changing technology is not even half the battle. The real change is changing how people work and their mindset about work and about each other.

Fostering a more inclusive and empowering culture was key to getting her team to follow through on strategic insights and turn them into new products. Her unique perspective reframes the role of a successful transformation leader, arguing that it involves bringing together technological and human expertise to change products and people at once.

Edited by:

Geraldine Ee

About the author(s)

About the research

This video is based on the INSEAD case study "Marinella Soldi at Discovery Inc.".

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