Meet Kimberley Gardiner, former Senior VP of Marketing, Volkswagen

Download the 21 traits of authentic leadership e book In this episode, you’ll meet Kimberley Gardiner, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Volkswagen. She truly is a model in leading authentically with confidence, caring, and understanding.You’ll learn how her twin passions for marketing and the environment propelled her into a career in automotive, and how her many experiences and her love for variety helped her become a true change agent. She talks about her game plan for effecting change within Volkswagen, including removing silos and “thinking small” to achieve big things. She discusses marketing the automotive industry to a new generation, and how important it is to understand their needs.02:47 – Kimberley’s story03:38 – Falling in love with marketing, and the environment04:57 – Job opportunity at Toyota, marketing for Prius06:56 – Using experiences in and outside of automotive to be an agent for change08:05 – Why Volkswagen?11:51 – Understanding other’s perspectives to effect change14:36 – Breaking down silos and “thinking small”17:24 – Marketing a career in automotive to a new generation21:18 – Starting at VW22:16 – Getting to know the team, and coming up with a plan25:58 – What authentic leadership means to Kimberley33:53 – Advice to a leader wanting to embrace authenticity36:36 – Embracing failure40:24 – What Gravitas means to Kimberley41:27 – How Kimberley starts her day50:22 – Advice to her 25-year-old self