Elona Mortimer-Zhika, CEO of IRIS Software Group: From surviving civil war to leading a £3.15B giant
My Duvet Flip by Jack Parsons
Jack Parsons
4.2 • 5 Ratings
🗓️ 12 November 2024
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Check out IRIS Software Group.
Episode Guest
Meet Elona Mortimer-Zhika, CEO at IRIS Software Group.
From growing up in communist Albania to leading IRIS Software Group, Elona Mortimer-Zhika's journey is one of resilience and inspiration. Her path to becoming a CEO wasn’t easy; she overcame language barriers and economic hardship, driven by her passion for tech, diversity, and making a social impact. Now, she leads a team of 3,500, empowering businesses with mission-critical software while advocating for equal opportunities for underrepresented backgrounds.
Episode Timestamps
00:00 Understanding Equality vs. Equity
06:47 The Journey from Albania to the UK
10:50 Resilience and the Power of Opportunity
15:46 The Importance of Diversity and Inclusion
20:29 Leadership and Passion in Business
25:41 Building a Strong Company Culture
30:52 Empowering the Next Generation
Episode Partner
Founded more than 45 years ago, IRIS Software Group (IRIS) is a leading global provider of mission critical software and services, and one of the UK’s largest privately held software companies. IRIS is a trusted partner to more than 100,000 customers across 135 countries,empowering finance, HR and payroll teams, educational organisations, and accountancy practices of all shapes and sizes to look forward with certainty and confidence.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The thing that people don't understand the difference between equality and equity. |
| 0:04.0 | And I speak to a number of leaders and they all have good intentions. |
| 0:07.0 | We've got 50 to 100 early career roles. |
| 0:10.0 | That still doesn't level the playing field. |
| 0:13.0 | It doesn't at all. There's a lot of ignorance, I think. |
| 0:16.0 | It's where people go. Why are we talking about this? |
| 0:19.0 | We're all the same. I treat everybody the same. I don't see color. |
| 0:21.2 | I don't see gender. |
| 0:22.2 | But you should see color. |
| 0:23.5 | Gender, social status. |
| 0:25.7 | Because if you don't see it, then you don't understand that my path is different from yours. |
| 0:30.4 | When you make your world bigger and you surround yourself with different people, they bring a different perspective to the table and that helps with the collaboration, your decision-making, your buyers, your curiosity, your innovation. |
| 0:41.3 | Absolutely. |
| 0:42.3 | My name is Elona Mortimusica. I'm the CEO of Irish Software Group, |
| 0:50.3 | Irish employees, 3,500 employees, and this is my D-Ve Fleck. |
| 0:55.1 | How did your lifestyle? |
| 0:56.3 | I was born in Albanian. |
| 0:57.6 | It's a communist country, pretty close off from the rest of the world. |
| 1:00.8 | But I have to say, I was really happy. |
| 1:03.1 | We're all poor, so we didn't know any different. |
| 1:04.9 | Your world is really, really small. |
| 1:06.6 | When I was 16, my life completely changed. The International Bacallori Program, |
... |
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