It addressed a dimension of leadership that was new to me; helping me understand how to inspire and align teams across different cultures to achieve organisational goals.
“I spent most of my career leading complex, high-value industrial projects worldwide,” Dr Modet Georgei shared, reflecting on more than two decades of experience leading complex industrial projects across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Bringing both technical depth and global perspective to her role at Thermo Fischer Scientific, she now leads a global team of project managers responsible for delivering Analysers for web, metals, lithium ion batteries, minerals, Pharma and food sectors.
An engineer by training with a PhD in environmental science, Dr Georgei has worked at the intersection of innovation, sustainability, and large-scale execution throughout her career. "The most fulfilling part of my work is seeing our teams deliver complex systems that make a tangible difference to our customers," she shares. Mentoring and developing her team has also become an important and rewarding part of her leadership style. “Coordinating across cultures and locations is complicated,” she admitted, “but it’s also inspiring. You learn a lot about people, motivation, and how to lead effectively in a global context.”
As her responsibilities and team expand, Dr Georgei recognised the challenges of balancing diverse stakeholder expectations as well as the organisation’s financial performance. She highlighted a critical leadership insight: technical and operational excellence alone are not enough to implement change successfully. With that in mind, Dr. Georgei enrolled for the INSEAD's Leading for Results programme— a chance to step back from day-to-day execution and refine how she can lead more effectively, inspire commitment, and create strong alignment across her organisation to deliver greater results.
The programme helped me see that aligning people’s intrinsic motivation with the organisation’s mission is equally — if not more — important.
Walking into the amphitheatre on the first day, Dr Georgei found the experience both exciting and humbling. “There were senior leaders from many sectors and countries,” she recalled. “It was inspiring to meet them, but also a reminder of the calibre of participants around me.” By the end of the week, however, she felt the group had moved beyond formal introductions to engage in candid, often vulnerable discussions about leadership challenges and day-to-day work.
The programme’s structure — combining research with practical application, case studies, group discussions, and coaching — allowed her to reflect deeply on her own leadership style. Sessions with the INSEAD faculty helped her surface underlying behaviours that might limit collaboration, while candid peer discussions made the concepts tangible and actionable. One key assumption that shifted during the programme was her view of what drives success. “I had always focused on metrics and delivering results,” she reflected. “The programme helped me see that aligning people’s intrinsic motivation with the organisation’s mission is equally — if not more — important. It changed how I frame goals and engage with my team.”
It really shifted the way I lead and work now.
Since returning to her workplace, Dr Georgei has noticed a significant shift in how she leads. “I’m more conscious when coaching and discussing development with my team,” she explained. One key change has been moving away from feeling she must solve every problem herself, instead focusing on helping her team find solutions independently. Tools and frameworks from the programme, such as stakeholder mapping and practical exercises, have also helped her improve collaboration across functions and sites.
Completing Leading for Results also clarified the type of leader she wants to be — not just someone who manages teams or projects, but someone who shapes and drives business strategy. As part of her broader commitment to lifelong learning and staying at the forefront of innovation in her field, Dr Georgei completed INSEAD’s AI for Business programme a year later.
Reflecting on the differences between the programmes, she noted that the AI for Business programme was designed around strategic application. “It was more about understanding why companies should consider AI and how it can be integrated into a business strategy,” she explained. “It opened my mind to how we can use AI in our business, both at the team level and more broadly. As a result, I came back and started working on a pilot project with more initiatives rolling out by the end of the year.”
The more you share about your challenges or the issues you face in your daily work, the more you gain.
Reflecting on her INSEAD experience, Dr Georgei believes Leading for Results is ideal for leaders who already deliver results but want to elevate how they lead people. “To get the most out of this programme, it’s essential to come prepared to be self-reflective and open to feedback,” she advised. With the diversity of her peer group as well as INSEAD’s experienced faculty, being open and ready to discuss challenges had helped her discover new perspectives.
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