Building Trust While Leading Change with Toner Babovac

Innovation and the Digital Enterprise

Today, Patrick and Shelli are joined by Toner Babovac, the Technology Managing Director and Senior Location Executive at IBM. In our chat, Toner delves into his long career at IBM and how building trust has allowed him to drive innovation while coordinating a large team. He highlights the role of effective communication, in particular the importance of video calls and in-person meetings for fostering a strong team culture, especially in a hybrid work environment.

Toner also shares his approach to leadership and coaching, emphasizing the difference between mentoring and coaching, and the importance of asking thoughtful questions to help teammates arrive at their own answers. We talk about ways to simplify complex projects, and close with a discussion on the future of hybrid work.

• (00:24) Introducing Toner Babovac
• (03:23) Building Trust in Business Relationships
• (08:31) Importance of In-Person Collaboration
• (11:45) Mentoring vs. Coaching
• (18:33) Simplifying Complex Problems
• (23:17) The 80/20 Rule in Manufacturing
• (25:34) Encouraging Introverts to Share Insights
• (33:04) Navigating Hybrid Work Environments
• (39:01) Final Thoughts

Toner Babovac is the Technology Managing Director and Senior Location Executive at IBM. He’s had a long career at IBM, holding VP positions, and working in software leadership and sales. Previously he was Principal Account Manager at Amazon Web Services, and Vice President at PSC Group. He earned his Bachelor’s degree at Bradley University then later did grad work at Harvard Business School and at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to his responsibilities at IBM, he is a musician, an active speaker, presenting “Toner Talks”, and he teaches Personal Finance at Peoria Central High School.

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Podcast episode production by Dante32.