Work From The Inside Out 163: Jump from Your Heart with Jens Heitland
Jens Heitland is an entrepreneur, connector, innovation culture expert, business adviser and the CEO of Heitland Innovation. In 2019, he stepped out of his role as Global Head of Innovation for IKEA Centres with the goal to find ways to empower people to innovate in large organizations. Jens founded Heitland Innovation on the basis that it would not be the usual consulting company. His mission is to build approaches to engagement that inspire people to innovate while delivering business results.
Having worked in large corporations for over fifteen years, Jens experienced a wide range of ways (positive–negative) that innovation is utilized in organizations. He found that the key factors contributing to his most positive experiences were how people were empowered during change initiatives and the innovation mindset within the organization.
You might wonder, where did Jens get his start? Born and raised in Germany, he began his career at sixteen as an electrician. In Germany, students complete high school in 10th grade and begin to focus their education and vocational goals. Jens worked in construction and facilities management for many years. He evolved into higher levels of responsibility, expanding his skills, and was recruited to IKEA where he spent twelve years advancing from managing one store to overseeing innovation strategies and initiatives on a global level for the whole company.
Jens thrives on a good challenge that stretches his abilities and pushes him to develop new skills and gain additional knowledge. And over the years he has done this across Europe working in Sweden, Russia, Spain, and Germany.
In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Jens’ journey:
- At 21, Jens was obliged to serve his country, either in the military or take a social service assignment. He chose the latter and you will never be able to guess what he ended up doing but it became a significant turning point in his life.
- Jens hosts his own podcast where he interviews inspiring people to connect the dots between innovation and entrepreneurship. I was his guest for Episode #112.
- He is the co-founder of several businesses such as Ai- Fortuna, Heitland Clothing, and the reverse mentorship platform XYZ playground.
Learn more and connect with Jens here:
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