Embracing Modern Leadership and Innovation while Empowering
Jasmina Schramm’s commitment to trust and openness has profoundly shaped her
journey through life. She emphasizes the significance of fostering trustworthy
relationships with family, friends, and business partners, believing these connections
create a more prosperous, more meaningful life. For Jasmina, communication is the
cornerstone of these relationships. Whether facing challenges or celebrating
successes, she believes sharing these moments makes life worthwhile. Her approach
to life underscores the value of a supportive and communicative environment where
mutual trust and openness lead to genuine, lasting fulfilment.
Beginning her career as a system analyst, Jasmina quickly advanced to become the
head of an innovation department, a role she held for nearly 12 years. During this
time, she recognized the need for a shift in project management methodologies. Over
the past three years, she has spearheaded data lake projects as the leading product
owner for a distinguished German DAX-listed company.
Nowadays, she oversees agile project development, starting with demand analysis,
creating a product vision, and ensuring continuous delivery. The current company is
committed to generating visible value and developing immediately productive
software, offering comprehensive support for agile projects from start to finish.
Jasmina’s business journey has been shaped by implementing agile frameworks,
which provide immense flexibility in business development. However, this approach
necessitates a significant mindset shift for her team, stakeholders, and clients. One of
her primary challenges is accentuating the value of her work to the customer, often
needing to explain that what clients want may sometimes MERELY align with what
they need.
Beyond merely delivering project value, Jasmina strives to transform the process
itself. She believes traditional methods must be updated, where value is realized only
at the project’s conclusion. By implementing frameworks like Scrum or SAFe, her
team can deliver fully functional software in two-week cycles. This approach ensures
that from the very beginning, they provide usable products, allowing for rapid
adaptation to changing requirements and market developments.
Without a doubt, people are Jasmina’s greatest passion. She thrives on challenges,
particularly solving problems with innovative technical solutions. However, what
truly drives her is inspiring people to engage with the process, gather feedback, and
work collaboratively based on that feedback. Jasmina finds immense satisfaction in
identifying areas for improvement through positive and negative feedback. She
cherishes most when her team presents their results and receives immediate
reactions. As she initially stated, communication remains paramount in her
approach.
While the rat race can sometimes be unavoidable, Jasmina firmly aligns herself with
the tiger mentality. The rat race triggers an alarm for her, signaling the need to break
free from monotonous routines. She considers there is far more to explore beyond the
confines of routine. Embracing a tiger’s attitude allows growth, learning, and
stepping out of comfort zones. Jasmina finds it exhilarating to face challenges and
discover the unexpected opportunities that lie just around the corner.
Jasmina finds inspiration in simplicity, whether in her personal or professional life.
Nature provides her with excellent examples of efficient organization, such as bee
colonies or plants flourishing in harsh conditions. These natural systems often offer
unexpected yet elegant solutions that might be applied to various challenges. Jasmina
believes in adapting these principles from nature to overcome obstacles in all spheres
of life.
In reflecting on achievements, Jasmina emphasizes personal satisfaction over specific
awards or accolades. She takes pride in her role as a devoted mother and the support
of her close-knit family. Professionally, she finds realization in collaborating with
international teams and navigating successes and challenges with positivity and
openness. Notably, Jasmina highlights the development of the “365 days fair”
concept during the pandemic, which facilitated seamless interaction between online
and onsite participants, including visitors, exhibitors, and the press.
For Jasmina, leadership in the modern context revolves around empowering her
team. She believes in fostering an environment where team members are encouraged
to think critically and contribute their ideas rather than simply following orders.
Jasmina highlights the importance of collaboration and team culture, where
everyone’s input is valued. In her view, leadership involves guiding and facilitating
the team’s efforts while allowing them the autonomy to develop solutions.
Considering her journey thus far, Jasmina offers insights into navigating the
intersection of career and personal life. When asked about managing these aspects,
she provides a straightforward approach. “Pursue your vision with courage, embrace
discomfort as a path to growth, and cultivate a culture that embraces failure as a
crucial component of innovation.” She aptly concludes, “Life is indeed a journey, and
it’s the pursuit of our visions that makes it meaningful.”