Your Difference is an Asset with Barbara Salopek
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Diversity delivers value.
In this episode of Speech Bubbles, Charlotte Otter talks to Barbara Salopek - Founder & CEO of Vinco Innovation, TEDx speaker, lecturer at BI Norwegian Business School, board member, and author of Future Fit Innovation - to unpack a powerful leadership truth: the very things that make you different can become your biggest advantage.
Barbara, Croatian-born and Norway-based, challenges the modern obsession with innovation shortcuts. She argues that real, sustainable innovation isn’t delivered by a single workshop or the latest fashionable framework. It’s built by doing the deeper work: understanding individuals, how they form teams, and how teams operate inside organisations shaped by technology, markets, and society. Her three-level lens makes innovation feel less like hype and more like a capability leaders can intentionally grow.
A standout theme is the link between diversity and psychological safety. Barbara makes the case that diversity can’t deliver value if people don’t feel safe enough to speak. When the loudest voices dominate and everyone else goes quiet, organisations end up with echo chambers, weak decisions, and missed customer insight. Her memorable analogy lands the point: we don’t expect everyone to wear the same shoe size - so why would we design one-size-fits-all products, solutions, or cultures?
The conversation also explores Barbara’s leadership journey: learning under pressure early in her career, developing a practical, action-oriented style, and navigating cultural differences between direct Croatian communication and more conflict-avoidant Norwegian norms. Barbara shares what it took to write Future Fit Innovation alongside full-time work - including reviewing 50–60 scientific articles - and why she ultimately enjoyed the process more than she expected.
In this episode of Speech Bubbles, Charlotte Otter talks to Barbara Salopek - Founder & CEO of Vinco Innovation, TEDx speaker, lecturer at BI Norwegian Business School, board member, and author of Future Fit Innovation - to unpack a powerful leadership truth: the very things that make you different can become your biggest advantage.
Barbara, Croatian-born and Norway-based, challenges the modern obsession with innovation shortcuts. She argues that real, sustainable innovation isn’t delivered by a single workshop or the latest fashionable framework. It’s built by doing the deeper work: understanding individuals, how they form teams, and how teams operate inside organisations shaped by technology, markets, and society. Her three-level lens makes innovation feel less like hype and more like a capability leaders can intentionally grow.
A standout theme is the link between diversity and psychological safety. Barbara makes the case that diversity can’t deliver value if people don’t feel safe enough to speak. When the loudest voices dominate and everyone else goes quiet, organisations end up with echo chambers, weak decisions, and missed customer insight. Her memorable analogy lands the point: we don’t expect everyone to wear the same shoe size - so why would we design one-size-fits-all products, solutions, or cultures?
The conversation also explores Barbara’s leadership journey: learning under pressure early in her career, developing a practical, action-oriented style, and navigating cultural differences between direct Croatian communication and more conflict-avoidant Norwegian norms. Barbara shares what it took to write Future Fit Innovation alongside full-time work - including reviewing 50–60 scientific articles - and why she ultimately enjoyed the process more than she expected.
Chapters
- 00:03 Introduction to Speech Bubbles and Barbara Salopek
- 03:16 The human instinct for shorthcuts in innovation
- 04:58 Examples of deep innovation success
- 07:13 Barbara's innovation background and passion
- 08:15 Diversity, psychological safety, and innovation
- 11:29 The echo chamber problem in leadership
- 13:41 The writing process and learning experience
- 14:53 Book's core message and purpose
- 15:34 Leadership learning journey
- 16:50 Practical leadership style
- 17:38 Diversity experience as Croatian in Norway
- 18:57 Language learning and multilingual challenges
- 20:45 Reputation management across cultures
- 21:48 Personal reputation philosophy
- 23:02 TikTok experimentation and learning
- 24:54 Video production process and platform differences
- 27:44 Changing old leadership archetypes
- 29:18 Book recommendation
- 31:09 Three tips for diverse leaders
- 32:50 Finding joy
