"Leaders must create an environment for development."
Those are the wise words of long-time leader, HR professional and my former colleague, Bitte Kverum. Bitte recently retired after a long and fruitful career, which gave me the chance to pick her brain on what it takes to be a great leader.
Where did your career begin?
Bitte: I studied social science and thought I’d go into science, and so, I became a professor’s assistant. After a while, I felt the urge to move out of academia. That’s when I began working for the Norwegian government in Oslo, where I stayed for the next 10 years. Then one day a headhunter called about a position in Orkla. I was about to turn 40 at the time, and I thought, it’s now or never in terms of moving to the private sector.
So, what happened once you made the move to the private sector?
Bitte: I stayed in Orkla for three years, working as Head of Organization. After that, I made the ‘big’ move that would mark the rest of my career. I started in Telenor, starting off in the division of the company that made the ‘yellow pages’ of Norway. This was my first-ever HR role, but it proved to alter the course of my career. From that point I stayed in HR roles, moving across the Telenor system, working in Norway, Hungary, India and Myanmar.
Wow, that’s quite the ride! What would you say was the high point?
Bitte: Definitely the time in Myanmar. Being there and building not only a telecom company but also witnessing a country being built, was probably one of the most meaningful things I’ve experienced.
You’ve clearly experienced a lot in your career, in many settings and even several countries. What would you say are some of the common mistakes that you’ve seen leaders make?
Bitte: I think that some leaders simply try too hard. They read all these management books, they make great strategies and plans. But I always say to these types that they need to read some good fiction instead, because then you may actually learn about people! You need to know how react to people’s problems, understand the challenges they face. You need to be able to empathize, and I don’t think you can really learn that in a management book.
What advice do you have for managers who want to be better leaders?
Bitte: Be more relaxed. Use common sense. Focus on what’s important, and that’s empowerment. You have responsibility to make sure that people around you develop. It’s your job to help them grow in competence, both professionally and personally. That’s maybe your most important job. Make sure that your team has the right backbone and culture to move in the right direction, and check in on them from time to time. Tell the you’re there for them…but trust them to do the job.
Why is that so hard to do for some leaders?
Bitte: It’s tough to let go of the details. But I often say that if you can’t let the details go, you have to do something else. Holding so tightly onto everything will destroy you and the people around you.
Who’s the best leader you’ve ever worked with?
Bitte: I have to say it’s the leader I had during my two years in Myanmar. What made him so good was that he was strategic, tactical and operational, all at once. He was also very approachable and personal with everyone, walking around and engaging with people. He operated on a combination of instinct, competence and knowledge. He felt secure because he knew what he was talking about, and he could talk about it with a degree of humor. That’s an especially important quality in a leader when you are under difficult and high stress situations.
What makes a bad leader?
Bitte: I believe that autocratic, detail-oriented leaders are dangerous for the organization. If a leader cannot control his or her temper, if they cannot control how they present themselves, if they cannot be a leader all the time, even in extremely difficult situations, then all you achieve is making the organization around you very insecure. I am also wary of laissez faire leaders who are overly relaxed. You know, the type who change their minds all the time; they think over the weekend, do a flip flop and come back on Monday saying to do it the other way. This also makes the organization insecure.
How would you describe your own leadership style?
Bitte: I’m feel that I’ve been successful at empowering people. I trust people to find their own way. I remember, one of my colleagues once told me that I was throwing people out in the deep water with a very small life vest. But if anyone in the team started drowning, they knew that I’d always be there. I was quite proud when he told me that.
What are you doing with your time now that you’re retired?
Bitte: I’m still quite active within leadership, coaching and mentoring. Currently I am a mentor for immigrants and refugees who have come to Norway and are seeking to join the labor force. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know some highly skilled women through this work, and giving them guidance on how to getting started building a career in Norway.
If you can leave me with one piece of advice, what would you say is the most important thing for leaders to remember?
Bitte: Most important thing is to give people responsibility and freedom at the same time. As a leader, you are responsible for creating an environment for development, and you have to be able to give people responsibility for their own development at the same time.
Bitte Kverum