Adam Torres and Aslak de Silva discuss leadership.
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Show Notes:
What does it take to lead a team of 15+ nationalities that conducts business in 20+ countries? In this episode, Adam Torres interviewed Aslak de Silva, CEO of Selfly Store. Explore leadership and some of the common pitfalls that should be avoided.
About Aslak de Silva
As the CEO of Selfly Store, Aslak leads a company that makes grab-and-go food shopping easy, convenient, and fun. They combine IoT technology and powerful analytics solutions to enable merchants to remotely operate their own micro-stores, where consumers can “selfly buy” ambient, cool, and frozen items through the intelligent cabinets. Their production is in Finland, and they serve more than 100 forward-thinking companies in 21 countries across Europe.
With over 15 years of leadership experience in sales, marketing, and customer experience, Aslak is passionate about creating value for their clients, partners, and stakeholders. He has a strong background in martial arts, which has taught him the importance of life-long learning and coaching others.
Aslak is also a Forbes Business Council Member, a keynote speaker, and a co-author of the #1 bestseller book “Winner’s Mindset”. His mission is to improve the shopping experience for consumers and add sales opportunities for merchants, while reducing waiting time and food waste.
In 2023 Chief’s Digest listed Aslak in their “10 Best CEOs to Watch” -list.
In 2023 Self-Service Innovation Summit in Miami awarded Aslak as the “Influencer of the Year” in Automation & Self-Service.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right. So today my guest is Aslak Da Silva and he’s CEO over at Selfly Store.
Aslak, welcome to the show. Thanks Adam for having me. I’ve been listening to your show and I really love it. All right, Aslak, so it’s good to have you on the show, number one, and we’re going to start this episode the way that we start them all with what we call our Mission Matters Minute. So, Aslak, at Mission Matters, our aim and our goal is to amplify stories for executives and entrepreneurs and experts.
That’s what we do. Aslak, what mission matters to you? Yeah, from Selfrestore’s perspective. So I think we all hate queuing. So, so how to get conveniently whatever you need at wherever you are. So that’s what we are solving. And that’s our mission for Selfrestore. Personally, I’d say that I on top of that, I really value leadership and leadership is about people.
So I just want to make the better, the world better place for all of us to work in. So, so kind of that’s something that I’m really passionate about myself. That’s amazing. Well, great, great having you on the show. And I, I guess just to get us kicked off here, like when, when did you get, like, when did you catch this this concept of leadership in your life to where you’re like, you know what, this is something nobody’s born a great leader.
We all know that. But like, when did you take this as like, you know what, this is something that I want to be serious about. I want to be a great leader of people. Like, when did that begin for you? Yeah, I think kind of my first career was in martial arts. So, so I was about 20 years practicing martial arts teaching fighting about a hundred full contact fights.
And I was coaching in different countries and then kind of seeing how the, the, the. Mental training affected. Was this at a young age, by the way? So when you say 20 years, was that like you started young or I’m just curious when that’s, yeah, I started when I was 12. So, okay. So that was very young, that discipline and that go, go ahead.
I just want to double check. No worries. Yeah. So I just learned, like I saw the impact on people. Like I think it requires a lot of mental strength to go into a full contact fight. So, so. I could see that as a coach or, or a master, you can actually impact a lot on how people are feeling, do they believe in themself and how the, what the outcome is gonna be.
So I think that the seed of leadership started from there when I was like helping others, coaching others as, as well as finding myself. So I, I noticed this, that it’s about people. It’s about the, the kind of, the feeling that’s around it. When my, then my kind of career ended and, and as with many, with injuries, so then I started my work life.
So I, I just saw the same. Happening there that you can make others feel good around you, your, your colleagues and, and help them out. And then better things start to happen. So, so I think it, it came from there. And that’s when I got my first team leader position. So, so I wasn’t good at it in the beginning.
I thought it’s more like telling orders to people that they should do something. And and that’s where we all start though. I feel right. Like that’s like they gave that you’re wearing the manager hat, right? Yeah. Yeah. And I, I really kind of failed to keeping up the spirit. And then I started reading books listening to, to kind of speakers and end up in, in this business forum events or Nordic business forum is, is from the Nordic countries in Europe.
And they had great speakers from Sir Richard Branson to even the late Jack Welch and all these. So, so I started listening to them and what they talk about leadership. And I, I’ve just fell in love with those that how you can help people to succeed. And so I started applying those principles that I learned and see what impact do they have on people.
And it just got better and better. And so I just really got passionate about that. And I strongly believe that with good leaders and a good team around you, so you can accomplish a lot more, it’s more fun to work with. So, so that’s kind of my path for this, I’d say. Yeah. When did you, so, so now you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re thinking about leadership.
You’re obviously you’re in your first leadership position or you’re, you’re, you know, you have a certain base of this. What did, what do you think some of the, like early, and the reason I asked this question is because there’s you know, there’s, there’s, there’s, A lot of, a lot of people that are, that are going to be just getting started on just kind of getting into this thought process of leadership and what it takes.
Like, what are some of the early tools that you just kind of came across and you were like, Oh, this is interesting. Or, Oh, this is like, what it could be books. It could be obviously shows, podcasts, things you use now, but I’m always looking for resources, you know, that inspire people. Yeah, for sure. I mean, there are plenty of different content that you can go over.
For me, I think the biggest and most impactful to start with were Jim Collins work from Good to Great to understand what’s the difference between good and great and And the circumstances are the same, but for some reason, some succeed or companies succeed better. So just to understand the difference that you can make those are all great.
There are a lot of I love Simon Sinek to, to Adam Grant. So we teach about like how to understand people and, and in the end, leadership is about people and, and there are a lot of diversity in people. So they’re not all the same. So just like studying that and maybe even some sort of studying of sales and so on.
Psychology, marketing, so understanding business. So often that also helps to understand people and then kind of I’d say the leadership skills are kind of plenty of very much plenty of content related to only leadership, but then general knowledge will help you a lot because it’s more about also to, to be able to talk with everybody with the same language that they have be interested in what they’re doing.
So. I’d say that anything you can learn is related to leadership and in the end you can just benefit out of it. And so now just kind of, I guess, fast forward and just a little bit to present day. I mean, we’ve just, you you’ve led many companies. I mean, you have many, many leadership roles and obviously your, your CEO currently at self Lee store.
That being said there’s a lot of remote work now, right? The workforce has changed a bit. Like there were not all in person. We’re not going like the workforce itself has changed. Like, like how, how has that, how have you navigated this side of leadership from your role? Yeah, I think for many of us, like the pandemic COVID 19 just changed the game.
For me, I’ve always loved remote work. So I believe that there’s a kind of a, there’s different energy when you’re working alone at home and then when you are with people and you can benefit from that, so you cannot always be on the a hundred percent with with meeting people and, and doing a great job.
Sometimes you just need to work alone. And I think those people who can do that alone and work. remotely. So they have an advantage, but now we were all forced to this. So to me, it’s, it’s still about a lot of on the communication. So what I noticed that during the pandemic was that there are people prefer different modes of communication.
Some just prefer like maybe a WhatsApp message or even gifts or memes and just to have fun and just feel that you are there for them. Some might prefer calling, some might want video meetings or even face to face meetings. So I think If you just need to know your team members and what do they prefer and I think the biggest issue with remote work is how to spread the information and how to feel that you’re united as a team.
So you need these kind of we have, for instance, every week and all employee call where everybody’s present where we. Openly share from different departments, what’s happening and maybe even share more information that people would need. But that’s super crucial part of that kind of feeling United.
And then we have twice a year, like, all hands on deck meetings where the whole team is flying to 1 country and we are spending time together. And then it’s more about just being together and the personal relationships rather than the content itself. So you just need to balance it out in a way that I, I always say that whatever you can go over teams or zoom, use that tool.
And when you’re face to face, it’s about people meeting people and, and being together, so then kind of balancing it out and, and, and maybe having a bit more strategic approach of you know, Being there for people chatting with them, calling with them, having even meetings with people that you wouldn’t normally have just to be present.
So I actually believe that these tools that we have today are enabling more actually international leadership better way than ever before. Because it’s more common that you just have a call to, to today, to, to USA and England, and even China, and you can do it anywhere, anytime. So, and you, and I think what’s interesting as well from your, your position and what you do, I mean, correct me if I’m wrong in any of this, but I mean, your team, you have, you know, 15 plus nationalities, you’re doing business in, you know, 20 plus countries.
So. You’re all the concepts you’re talking about. Like this works across, you know, countries, borders nationalities. Right. Yeah, that is true. Yeah. Yeah. How does, how does the inclusivity, like, how do you pull that off? Like, how does all this work together, especially with inclusivity and like empowering your, your team when you have so many different cultures?
Yeah, I think that’s, that’s the hard part. I come from Northern Europe where the organizations in general are flat and it’s, it’s like the hierarchy is not, it’s not existing in a way. So, so people are used to talk to talk up and, and that’s not going to be an issue, but there are cultures where it’s just, Just the opposite.
So my, my father’s from Sri Lanka. So for close to India, so their, their hierarchy is very important. And so it’s, it’s to understand that there are differences from the start, but what I try to do is, is to, to meet one on one meetings with all of my team members, it’s, it’s doable if you have a plan. To 50 to a hundred people.
So then it’s doable, but just to have the personal connection and talk about that and say that that you value these kind of a candor openness, honesty all the time so that and I, I share examples of what I would hate. So I say that like, I would hate that if I, for instance, have letters on my teeth and then I smile and then people are laughing at me.
So I said that I want everybody to. Tell me about that. Then it’s not embarrassing because it’s embarrassing if I don’t know about it. So that’s a great example. I’m going to use that one. You just gave me a good one because that’s very relatable. And it’s like, Oh yeah, you wouldn’t want to do that to somebody.
You wouldn’t want them to do it to you. So if you’re doing something wrong, let me know. I need to know. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. But I, I mean, out of those conversations, people start to learn what. What is okay and what’s not. And then in the end, you kind of have your own company culture and people are more open and honest and similar.
Like that’s why I want to fly into team to be together for, for a couple of days, twice a year so that we can just see each other in action and just relax and just find our own way of talking their own language and also building this culture. And, and in the end, we are all humans, right? So it doesn’t matter where we’re coming.
So, so this is kind of like how the, the inclusivity starts building up and, and then you can showcase to people. So I, I many times tell that when I have one on ones and I hear something, so in the all employee call, for instance, I say that, let’s, let’s use, use you as an example. So I said, Hey. I heard a great thing from Adam.
So that this is what he said to me. Can you Adam continue on this? So I would put you there kind of as an expert who has helped me out. So showcase the other. So then you In the end feel empowered that hey, you were actually correct and you can do this and then you become more motivated and do the decision.
So, so just kind of finding these positive stories and helping out and putting people there in front of others and sharing the stories, individual stories. So I think empowerment is, is, doesn’t work if you say that you, all of you can do whatever you want and it’s going to be great. It’s more starting from individuals and that you pinpoint and say that, Hey Adam, you had a great idea.
Why don’t you continue with that? So then it brings, Kind of builds up your self confidence within that culture that we have at the at the company. And that’s how it starts building up. Talk to me a little bit more about, about culture and like what that means to you and like how you’ve like specifically for the company, because again, going through the diversity that you’re, that, you know, in your day to day operation of business, it’s, it’s immense.
So like, how do you, how do you keep a strong culture? I think that trust is crucial part of it so that the people need to trust that whatever is said is true. And again, coming from different backgrounds, the truth means different things. So, so not everyone is used to being, being hearing things openly and transparently.
So, so, but when you reach to that point that people start believing that this is true, of course, there are things that you cannot share. As a CEO, you might hear something that’s not shareable for the, for the whole team, but they need to know that if you’re not sharing something, so it’s not because of them, it’s more like that.
Something else is there that you cannot do that. So it starts from there. The other things I think is leading by example and doing things together the same way for me personally. So, of course, due to my martial arts background, for instance, that I still do a lot of training. So. I, for instance block from my calendar.
I have two daughters who are figure skaters. So they train a lot. So they often have trainings from 3 PM to let’s say 7 PM. So I blocked that from my calendar. And I tell people that I’m going to train at that time, that if they need to reach me, they can reach me, but I would prefer to train and be with my family and watch my daughters train.
So, so this way, it kind of Showing what’s what’s okay, what’s understandable, but again, it comes to the communications that it’s explained to everybody what’s happening and why and then still making them feel that if there’s something urgent, I said that I’m available. So talking about this kind of principles kind of a code of work out of line that we.
All share and understand. So that’s where the kind of the company culture starts building up. Of course, there are other things like valuing input from others how you talk in front of others, how you maybe say good things and, and compliment other team members. So those all start building the culture of, of how to work together.
And I think it’s a positive culture. It’s harder to build, but it’s more fun to work with than the negative culture. Like I had those experiences being a manager first time. So those are also part of a culture, but then wasn’t much fun place to work in. I want to spend a minute or two here just kind of with the time we have left.
And I mean, just tell, tell us a little bit about, about selfie store and like what, what your vision is for that. Yeah. So we work with the intelligent vending and so vending machines have been there for, I think, 2000 years. And maybe we see those kind of old, Tobacco newspaper, vending machines, where it just put a coin and grab and go.
But today I think what, what we are doing is self resource. So we are operating in Europe. We have more than 20 countries customers in more than 20 countries, but we believe like that the kind of the latest developments with IOT. So internet of things to, to machine learning and even to artificial intelligent.
So these tools actually now have created a world where we can predict The, the kind of the demand of consumers for each location and, and that’s what we are going for. So as an example, so hotels will know who’s coming and then based on data that we collect from these 20 plus countries. So we would know that families, for instance, might crave something different than business travelers, or at night there’s a different demand for, for supplies or, or even snacks than, than in the morning as an example.
And then using this information to just have the. Assortment ready for consumers, but they actually need. So that’s enhancing the customer experience in many ways. And this is what we’re working with. So kind of finding the location. So we, our operators, then we’ll use these machines that they buy from us and then with technical tools.
So they’ll know what to sell at what time and even what price so that the consumer start to get. They’re happy that the actual selfie store is next to them and they get what they need. So, so kind of changing the world. So one example that I use often is that the kind of the food delivery. So other deliveries talk about the last mile delivery, but we would want to be the kind of the half mile store or half mile marketplace that it’s kind of close enough to you that you can go there, but it’s not like at your home, but the feeling is that it’s just for you.
The assortment is there for what you are actually needing. Yeah. And I seen, I seen on your LinkedIn, I know on your LinkedIn banner, there’s some of the pictures of the store and the website and everything else, like the different machines and they’re beautiful. Yes. And I get the vision and I’m like, man, I want one of those right down the, right down from me.
Where’s my, my quarter mile you know, that’s a great. Oh, well well, first off, it’s been great having you on this show, getting to know more about you, your, your background, of course, your your, your current training schedule. Now you still got the training schedule with the family now, right. In history.
So that’s, that’s awesome. And love to bring these stories to, to my audience. That being said, if S if somebody is listening to this and watching this and they want to learn more about self restore, or even just to follow your journey, I mean, how, how do people do that? Yeah, so, of course, our website SelfieStore.
com is one source of information, there are plenty of references and other things there. We are active on LinkedIn so company page SelfieStore, and on Twitter sometimes as well. And I’m personally, like you said, quite active on LinkedIn and happy to connect with anybody and have a discussion on leadership or in this intelligent vending machine, whatever that is.
So I love learning, I love sharing what I’ve learned, so I’m always happy to connect with like minded people there. Amazing. And for everybody listening to this, we’ll put all those notes in the and we’ll put those links in the show notes. So you can just click on the links and speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with us, this is a daily show each and every day.
We are releasing new episodes, hit that subscribe button. We don’t want you to miss a thing. We have more executives, more founders, more entrepreneurs coming on the line. And again, we don’t want you to miss anything. So hit that subscribe button. So you’ll get the notification each and every day. And Aslak really, it has been a pleasure.
Thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank you, Adam, for having me. Really appreciate it.
