One of my most important driving forces is “learning.” Perhaps that’s why I love “best practices,” as I’ve always seen this as an effective opportunity to learn from the best. Let me provide two concrete examples of how I have applied this throughout my leadership journey.
1. Handelsbanken
As the CEO of Martinsson, after the acquisition of IMS, we had 16 offices throughout Sweden. I spent a lot of time thinking how to organize ourselves to provide our customers with the best service and value. I realized that Handelsbanken (with several hundred offices) was an interesting case study. So, I delved deep into Handelsbanken’s history and structure. I was fascinated by CEO Jan Wallander, who, in the ’70s, created the profit-sharing program Oktogonen, switched to rolling twelve-month tracking instead of budgets, and, most importantly, granted significant autonomy to local bank managers. I carried this knowledge with me into Martinsson and later into Atea, where we gave local site managers significant responsibility and authority under their own profit and loss accountability.
2. Cisco
When I later became CEO of Atea, we started working more with major American suppliers such as IBM, Microsoft, HP, and CISCO. One company that left a profound impression on me was Cisco. I found the company remarkably well-managed with extremely high efficiency in its processes. From Cisco, I learned the value of closing the books quickly at the end of each month and, perhaps even more importantly, how to manage business momentum. I incorporated much of this learning into Atea.
Based on this mindset regarding the value of continuous learning, I’d like to conclude by offering you a fantastic tip – Read Walter Isaacson’s book about Elon Musk!
People may have different viewpoints on Elon Musk, but no one can deny that he is one of the world’s most powerful entrepreneurs. By reading the book about Elon, I am reinforced in my fundamental belief in clarity, simplicity, and personal responsibility. And, extremely important, as a leader, you must deeply understand your business! If you want to learn from one of the world’s most driving entrepreneurs right now, read the book – and enjoy!
Learning is my passion
