Welcome to our interview series presenting our accomplished board candidates. These interviews give you a unique opportunity to get to know our accomplished board candidates, who are ready to bring their expertise and insight to the boardroom.
We have access to Norway’s most comprehensive database of board candidates and from it we have handpicked a selection of experienced leaders with a broad range of backgrounds and expertise. They represent a diversity of perspectives, and all share an understanding of how important good governance is to achieving strategic and operational goals.
Through these interviews you will gain insight into what motivates them, how they view board work and, not least, the personal qualities and skills they can offer. We hope this will give a fuller picture of each candidate and inspire engagement and discussion about the role of the board in modern business leadership.
This time we talk to board candidate Ingvild Huseby
Ingvild is highly experienced, with 21 years of board experience, 10 years as board chair and 26 years of operational leadership experience. She is founding & general partner and board chair of Scale Leap Capital I and Scale Leap Management.
Ingvild is described as business- and results-oriented. She is committed to strategic growth and to creating value for companies and owners. She is clear that the role of a board is to build solid companies through the group CEO and through a well-composed, committed and strong board. She focuses on what matters and steers by what creates value in both the short and the longer term. It is essential that this is, proactively, the main agenda of the board plan and the board’s work. She has held some 20 board positions, 12 of them as chair, in listed companies (Komplett ASA, Renonorden ASA), family-owned companies (Berggård Amundsen & Co AS, Skolt Holding AS) and partner-owned companies (AWA Group AB, Vince AS, Pearl AS), as well as in foundations, private equity and venture. With 26 years of operational profit-and-loss responsibility at Telenor, UPC, Hafslund and Nokas, she understands the challenges facing a CEO or group CEO and can credibly act as a source of support, a challenger and a sounding board for the CEO. She brings experience of a very wide range of issues and challenges from the boardroom. Through many years of working with owners, and as an investor herself, she knows what different owners care about. She thrives among diverse stakeholders and in environments with big business ambitions, and enjoys creating a shared direction and shared goals.
What motivates you to serve on a board?
I enjoy the strategic agenda that the board holds, being able to work at a suitably high level with value drivers and risk, and setting direction together with ambitious people who want to achieve something. As board chair, it is a good mix of leadership, culture, people management, the board agenda and working with the CEO, the owners and the board to reach our goals.
What do you think are the most important qualities of a good board candidate?
On a board, you have to understand your responsibilities and know the difference between the board, the management and the owners’ agenda. It is a great advantage to have leadership experience with profit-and-loss responsibility, a solid amount of board experience and, not least, to have been in the trenches before. It is absolutely essential for a board that the important matters make it onto the agenda, and that whatever does not belong with the board is dealt with where it does belong. As board chair, setting the agenda together with the CEO and the board is very important, as is working well with the CEO and handling the different stakeholders well. Owner expectations and dialogue with the owners are often underestimated. As a board, you carry a great deal of responsibility. The board chair has a particular responsibility for ensuring this and for getting everyone on board with the important questions and issues. As a board member, you also have to take the initiative independently. Both the individual and the collective responsibility, and the expertise you bring into the room, carry real weight. A board has no need for nodding dogs, but for people who can bring relevant issues to the agenda and make sure that the board as a whole sets a sound direction and takes good decisions where needed.
What is your philosophy on board work?
Focus on and deal with what matters, ensure a good shared understanding of direction, strategic goals and business risk, and handle all of this proactively. Keep everything in good order.
How would you like people to describe you after a board meeting?
As someone who makes sure the important matters are on the agenda, that they are properly examined and discussed, and who sets direction with sound conclusions and real progress.
What is the most valuable lesson you have taken from your previous board experience?
Have great confidence in yourself. If something seems odd, or something important is not being addressed, raise it and make sure it is resolved satisfactorily. Use the expertise in the room, and bring in expertise in key areas.
What do you hope to contribute as a board member?
I primarily chair boards, and in doing so I make sure the board actively helps give the management a clear direction, clear goals and the right conditions to deliver robust results over time.
