In today's dynamic business landscape, those who have strong analytical and transformational skills are in high demand. Among them is, businesswoman Daniela Sorriso Valvo, an exceptional individual. A multilingual leader: born in Italy, living in Spain and working for a Global company, with their headquarters in the UK. She is known for her ability to get things done and find opportunities in any circumstance. She sees challenges as avenues for growth and self-development. She is an empathetic leader who takes the time to understand others' experiences, enabling her to navigate challenges effectively and support those around her with a personalised touch. She has achieved internal and external recognition for transforming a business function, which significantly improved the customer experience. Her commitment to personal and professional growth, leadership skills, and transformative abilities makes her a valuable leader in Colt.

What are your areas of expertise as a ‘generalist’?

I am passionate about self-development and I spend a lot of my personal time learning. I have pursued diverse educational and professional development opportunities. I hold a bachelor's degree in Communication Sciences from the University of Palermo and a Master's degree in International Business Studies from CIS Reggio Emilia. I completed a Master of Science in Project Management from the Rome Business School in 2020-2021, I also undertook a Digital Disruption Course at the Cambridge Business School in 2019-2020.Additionally, I enrolled in the Global Executive Master in Operations and Supply Chain program offered by MIP-EADA in 2015-2016, focusing on operations and supply chain management excellence. Now I am training to be a professional coach so I can use this to coach and mentor those in our organisation more effectively. I have versatile, transferable and adaptable skills which allows me to thrive in various business areasand working styles. I focus on driving improved customer and business performance through continuous improvements, transformation and change management, including operating model re-design and my leadership skills enable me to build high-performance teams to work alongside me to achieve business success.

Tell us about Colt Technology Services and the various responsibilities you shoulder at the firm.

Colt is a global digital infrastructure company that delivers extraordinary connections. We bring together amazing people, intelligent networks and like-minded partners on a global scale to create solutions that put the power of the digital universe in the hands of our customers. I consider Human interaction very fascinating and I truly believe that People are the most precious asset for any organizational success. When we speak about Customer experience we cannot think about it without looking after the Employee experience in a 360 degree approach: “Total experience”. This was one of the reasons I moved into Human Resources.

In my current role as HR Transformation Director (since July 2021), my primary responsibility is to drive the HR Transformation agenda, which focuses on process and systems change. People often describe me as a leader who gets things done but with a human touch. I am resilient and tend to view every situation as an opportunity: "every cloud has a "silver lining" and I strive to make "lemonade out of lemons".

Tell us about business challenges in your role at Colt and how do you overcome them.

My current role focuses on analysis, planning, navigating through the unknown, and problem-solving. I have to engage with a diverse range of stakeholders and this means managing complexity, finding the right balance and trade-offs among different factors, variables, and potential outcomes, always with the best interest of the business at the center of it.

"I view challenges as opportunities towards growth, transformation, change, & self-development"

My attitude towards life and work means I view challenges as opportunities for growth, transformation, change, and self-development. They also serve as catalysts for innovation and have contributed to shaping the aspects of myself that I am most proud of today. In all of this, it is really important for me to be empathetic towards the challenges faced by others, to put myself in their shoes and better understand their experiences. We all have different backgrounds and experiences, knowing and understanding how to best utilise these for the benefit of a collective outcome is really important to me.

What have been your biggest ‘wins’ in your professional journey?

When it comes to reflecting on my own experiences, I tend to focus more on the opportunities rather than dwelling on my wins. One of my experiences that I am most proud of is when I stepped into the role of Global Customer Services Director and had the opportunity to completely redesign the function and how it operated. The significant improvement achieved in employee and customer experience with this transformation, was recognized as a success within my company but also externally by ECCCSAs, with two awards in two consecutive years. I am really proud of what my team and I achieved for our customers and business.

How do you foresee the women’s representation growing in the global business landscape? What steps must companies take to bring more women into top leadership positions?

Various studies and research consistently support the notion that gender diverse companies experience tangible benefits in terms of market share improvement and capturing new markets. For instance, research findings indicate that gender diverse companies have a 45 percent higher likelihood of improving their market share compared to companies with less diversity.

Companies must actively eliminate bias in hiring and break down barriers that hinder the progress of women and minority groups. At Colt, we take pride in our open and flexible culture. Under the leadership of our CEO, Keri Gilder, we have achieved 50/50 gender parity in our Executive Leadership team, emphasizing our diversity, inclusion, and ESG values. It is such an important part of who we are as a company, it really is integral to our DNA. We set targets, hold ourselves accountable, invest in training, and role model inclusive behaviours that drive psychological safety - the right to be yourself at work without fear of consequence. These efforts, combined with our commitment to internal mobility, are helping us address gender disparity and increase female representation in senior roles.