Aerial view of a city intersection at night, showing a traffic circle with radiating roads
#G+D World

The art of cross-cultural leadership

Interview
5 Mins.

From how to approach negotiations with governments to being known as the ‘Iron Lady’ of Bangladesh, Fabiola Bellersheim, Vice President Sales Asia & Caribbean at Veridos, shares her insights on leadership, working cross-culturally, and driving one G+D’s biggest-ever contracts.

Fabiola, today you’re speaking to us from Dhaka, Bangladesh. What brings you to this part of the world?

Headshot of Fabiola Bellersheim
Fabiola Bellersheim, Vice President Sales Asia & Caribbean at Veridos

Our longstanding and very important customer, the Department of Immigration and Passports, Ministry of Home Affairs, for whom we have deployed “one of the biggest ePassport projects in our industry”. During such a huge project there are always many topics to discuss and new opportunities to develop. During the day I engage in exciting and challenging, but also valuable, discussions with high-ranking government officials. In the early morning or evening I am competing with my colleagues and local partners in golf, tennis, or table tennis. That’s what I love about this job – it keeps me on my toes, literally!

How exciting! Can you tell us a bit more about the scope of the project?

It’s a turnkey solution – we’ve delivered the full scope of an ePassport system, starting with data enrolment to production, advanced personalisation infrastructure, and issuance, as well as “service and maintenance”. We are now concentrating on how we can support our customer to further improve citizen services. For example, by offering re-application for passports via mobile solutions. So, it’s a lot more than just issuing documents; we’re transferring knowledge and creating sustainable systems. 

“During the day, I engage in exciting and challenging discussions with high-ranking government officials. In the early morning or evening, I compete in sports with my colleagues and local partners.“
Fabiola Bellersheim
Vice President Sales Asia & Caribbean at Veridos

Let’s take a step back. How did your career lead you to this position at Veridos?

After graduating from my studies in business administration, I joined a consulting company working with security printers. They sent me to Indonesia to manage their office for three years for South-East Asia, and that’s where my fascination with Asia really began.

When I returned to Germany, I was introduced to Mr Hans-Wolfgang Kunz, who was then the CEO of Currency Automation at G+D. I joined the company in Munich, working in strategic business development. After 10 years, Mr Kunz took over the government solutions business area, and I transitioned into sales. My focus is on the international market – particularly Asia. When the opportunity came up in 2016 to develop the ePassport opportunity in Bangladesh, I couldn’t resist. 

By the time the contract was finally signed, I had travelled to Bangladesh at least 25 times, and thus had formative experiences, got unforgettable impressions, and had plenty of sleepless nights.

The project has been a major success for the company. How do you reflect on the work that has been done so far?

Firstly, it was the biggest order in G+D’s history – €342 million. The implementation of such a complex project was a real challenge – for Veridos and our customer – in terms of scope and timeline … and largely in the midst of the pandemics. Now, having successfully finalised the implementation with more than 14 million ePassports issued – thanks to our very professional project team – we have developed a trustworthy partnership with our customer and they are very satisfied. 

The project is ongoing and we hope to further improve our performance and efficiency. To give you an example, we have achieved a scrap rate of less than 1% in bookbinding and personalisation at the production site – no other factory we know of can boast such figures. We trained the local staff and supported them in operations, and they are performing very well. That makes me very proud of our work.

Can you elaborate on some of the specific challenges you have encountered during the project – and how you overcame them?

On the customer side, the ePassport project fell under the responsibility of army staff. It is a big advantage to have them as project counterparts due to their professional and straightforward way of working. However, as per their system there is a high fluctuation of staff, which leads to uncertainty and a continuous need to rebuild the know-how we’ve transferred, over and over again.

Since we started the project in 2018, there have been five different major generals, three brigadier generals, and many colonels working in different positions. You have to build relationships from scratch every time and each person has, of course, their own ideas.

In the end, we let the success of the project speak for itself. They really trust us and our technology, and that’s what counts.

“People value honesty and directness, even if it’s a bit unconventional.“
Fabiola Bellersheim
Vice President Sales Asia & Caribbean at Veridos

How about cultural challenges you have encountered, especially as a female leader?

To be honest, I don’t overthink it. Of course, I am always respectful, but I try to be myself, to be authentic. My style is very direct, which can be surprising in some cultures, especially here in Asia, as a woman. But whether I’m in China, Indonesia, or Bangladesh, this approach has always worked for me. People value honesty and directness, even if it’s a bit unconventional. I think that has especially helped working in an environment dominated by men and army personnel.

So, gender isn’t a topic for you?

No – throughout my career, I’ve been lucky in that I’ve always felt judged on my performance, not my gender. I work directly with military men and I’m often the only woman in the room. But if you are firm, authentic, and direct – even if that means being less diplomatic at times – they really respect that from day one. I don’t fear anything. Now they all call me the ‘Iron Lady’ or ‘the General’.

That’s quite a compliment. Is that your advice to other female leaders? To be bold, be yourself?

I can’t speak for everyone. I’ve heard stories from colleagues in other regions where women aren’t taken as seriously. Fortunately, I haven’t faced that. But I truly believe you earn respect by how you set the tone early on. And the other side of the coin is simply hard work. If you perform, usually you will be respected and rewarded.

What do you think is your greatest strength as a leader?

I think my ability to motivate people to work with me. I can’t do everything myself, and I’m not always the technical expert, but I know how to bring the right colleagues together and develop solutions alongside the customer. I drive things forward, but I also work as part of a team to make sure we deliver.

I’m also very open about giving credit where it’s due. If someone does the real heavy lifting, I make sure that’s recognised – I don’t take credit for others’ work. That’s something my team appreciates.

How do you manage to balance such a high-pressure role, with lots of travel, and your personal life?

Firstly, my husband and I were lucky enough to have a nanny who worked for us for 20 years to help with the children and household. That allowed me to focus on my career without neglecting my family. G+D also supported me a lot in the early days as a young mother, working from home or part-time.

Good health is another important factor. In 27 years at G+D, I’ve never had a sick day, and that gives me the energy and confidence to take on lots of travel and work. I make a lot of time for sports – tennis, running, golf, anything – which helps. But of course, it’s good to indulge in good wine and beer, too, now and then.

That sounds like a good balance. What is the most exciting aspect of your job?

I’ve had some unbelievable experiences in this job. I love to travel around Asia; I’m very curious to get to know new cultures, and new interesting people, like our customers and local partners. We have had, and are still having, so many exciting and interesting experiences in Bangladesh that you could write a book about it! This part of the job really feeds my adventurous spirit.

Can you share any stories from that book?

You have to understand, Dhaka is a really crowded city with lots of traffic. When stuck in a traffic jam, almost every driver is honking, hoping to advance by just one metre. When I first came in 2016, I was still exploring potential partners for the ePassport project. Everybody wanted to work with us, pretending to have the best relations with our target customer.

My every movement and activity was observed, and chauffeur services were offered just to find out with whom I’d be meeting next. To get them off my scent and navigate the traffic faster, I remember taking a rickshaw one day to one of the offices. My phone was dead, I had no map, and the driver couldn’t speak English, so I was a bit stuck. In the end, it took over two hours of roaming around to find the office. When I told my partners, they were shocked and told me I shouldn’t do that, for safety reasons. But I just found it funny and saw it as an adventure, since I never felt unsafe.

Finally, what are the biggest lessons you have learned over the years that you would like to pass on to Spotlight readers?

Nothing comes for free – it all comes down to hard work. You have to stay persistent and never give up, even when it’s tough.

You also need to know your stuff. Don’t just skim the surface; dive into the details and really understand what you’re talking about. That’s how you earn respect.

And keep a good attitude. A positive mindset goes a long way.

Key takeaways

  1. For the last few years, Fabiola has spearheaded one of G+D’s largest contracts in Bangladesh.
  2. The secrets to working cross-culturally: be authentic and bold; people value honesty and confidence, no matter where you are.
  3. Persistence and hard work are everything.

Published: 28/01/2025

Share this article

Subscribe to our newsletter

Don’t miss out on the latest articles in G+D SPOTLIGHT: by subscribing to our newsletter, you’ll be kept up to date on latest trends, ideas, and technical innovations – straight to your inbox every month.

Please supply your details: