DORTHE HÅHR
Strategic LEADERSHIP
With 15 years of experience at the highest levels of financial service, Dorthe Håhr is an seasoned strategic leader with a Doctoral degree in Leadership and Digital Transformation. Here, Dorthe shares with us her deep knowledge on strategic leadership, digital transformation, and the future of financial services.
What are the qualities of a good leader?
The qualities of a good leader, and what sets a good leader apart, is actually the ability to not be in control of all kinds of stuff. Meaning that, once you give your employees an assignment, then you shouldn't micromanage them. You should let them do it their way - of course within the frame - but you should not control them in all areas, and in all senses.
What we see today is that good leaders, they trust in their employees, and they also allow them to - if they don't do it the right way, the first time - then that's okay, as long as they learn from their mistakes. So they allow their people to grow, and they enjoy to develop people. And I think that's one of the best qualities of a good leader. That is actually, the ability to enjoy to develop other people. If your purpose of becoming a leader is that you want the power, then you're in the wrong position. You simply need to enjoy watching other people grow, and enable them to do what they're good at, or to become good at whatever their passion is.
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I like people that like to collaborate, that have a passion for what they do, and who want to go the extra mile when it’s needed
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What are the three most important qualities you look for when hiring people and building a team?
Some of the most important parts that I look for when I recruit people and when I form a team, is to make sure I have a diverse team, and that goes for gender, it goes for age, it goes for skills. But when I recruit people, the personality is important. Of course, in some cases, they need to have certain skills. But the personality is even more important. I like people that like to collaborate. That have a passion for what they do. And who want to go the extra mile when it’s needed. And people that you can trust. That when you agree on something, that they’re going to go and do it. So that is very important for me, when I recruit people, and when I form a team.
What is the transition process to become a strategic leader?
If you look at the transition process to become a strategic leader, then you usually start with leading others - meaning you are leading at the more operational level. Then, you will eventually become a leader for other leaders, being at the more tactical level. And then, eventually, you will transition into the strategic level.
And what I have seen so far, is actually that the step from being a more tactical leader into the strategic leadership role, is for a lot of people, it's quite a difficult step that can take them a number of years before they excel well in being a strategic leader.
And that is, of course, because as a strategic leader, you set the strategy, you are at the strategic level. But you are not going to go down in the operation, doing all kinds of operational stuff. Because then you are sort of taking the work away from both the employees, and also their leaders. So it is this ability to know what's going on, but also respect that other people are of course doing what they are supposed to do.
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We need to have this balance in order to get the best results
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How important is female leadership?
When we talk about female leadership in an organization, there’s a lot of discussion about how important it is to have both male and female leaders. And if we look at the research, it shows that the diversity of having female or masculine leaders, not only in the management team and in the boards, but in general, is what makes better results. Because we complement each other. Because we have different ways of doing things and looking at things. So when we discuss female leaders, they are just as much needed in companies and organizations today as male leaders are. So we need to have this balance in order to get the best results.
Digital Transformation IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY
How do you see the future?
I think in the future, we will see a new way of providing services. And I think we already see it, bit by bit, today. What I think we will see in the future is much more networking. We will see a lot more geek workers. We will see people working together in diverse networks, meaning that, if you look at different assignments, they might be working with a group of people with a network for certain assignments, then they might want to work for others for other assignments.
And if you look at the large companies, then they will have to partner with some of these geek workers, you could call them. And I think that’s going to be an advantage. You will have access to highly qualified, and very specialized people, to be able to support you in whatever you’re doing. So I think we will see much more related to network and working together, that is, cross border, cross industries. So I actually foresee that we will see a lot of changes in how we work together and how networks will be formed in the future.
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When I talk about digital transformation, it’s not only the technology side, but also the people side
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What is the greatest challenge in digital transformation?
The greatest challenge in digital transformation is that in some cases, there is a tendency to focus on the technology part. And of course the technology part is important. But it has just as much to do with the people side. Because if the people side don’t get the digital transformation, If they don’t see the need, if they don’t see the urgency, if they don’t understand what is needed, then you can buy as much new technology as you like, or develop as much new technology as you can, but you simply need the people to be on board as well. So when I talk about digital transformation, then it’s not only the technology side, then it’s also the people side. And the people side includes the organizational culture, and also includes having the right talent on board. So you have the right people, and you have the right skills, within the organization, to develop to the next level, that is needed to meet customer expectations.
What is the state of digital transformation in the financial sector?
If I look at the financial sector, and I look at how they are in the digital transformation, I actually see a variety of states. We see some banks, they are barely getting started. And we have other banks that are actually working with new technology, they are partnering with fintech, some are even investing in fintech, working with the organizational culture.
There are certain ways you can rate it, and if I look at some of the ratings or the grades you can provide, then I would say, a lot of the more incumbent banks, they are trying, but it is difficult.
Because there is a part about combining new technology, and in some cases new core systems, with organizational culture, making sure you retain the right people, and you also get new skills into the organization. So it is for most banks, quite a difficult transformation. And then on top of that, from the strategic level, you also need to have this knowledge about what is a digital mindset, what is a digital process.
And today you’re not talking about the digital strategy, and the strategy of the organization. No. You would expect that digital strategy is part of the overall strategy. So for quite a number of leaders, and banks, it’s ongoing work. It’s not straightforward. It’s a little difficult.
What is the future of financial services?
I see the future of financial services different. It’s going to be different because consumers are changing their behavior. They are changing not only the way they interact with banks. But they are also changing their behavior in other areas.
For instance, the circular economy means that they will need other services from a bank. If they don’t want to buy a car - they subscribe to a car instead of buying a car - or if they don’t want to buy a house, but they want to subscribe or rent a house - then all of a sudden, what they need from banks is advice when they have changes in their life. When they get married, when they have their first child. If they want to move abroad, what does that mean? Do I need to change my bank? Can I keep the same bank? So I foresee that banks, not only will they need to change their models - meaning their credit models, their risk models, and so forth, because consumers change their behavior - but they will also need in the future to provide a new type of advice and service, meeting the changing customer behavior.
So for banks to stay relevant in the future, they will simply need to rethink what is expected from them. And, for some banks, this will most likely be difficult. Because if we look back in time, then a bank, that was a branch. You went into the branch, you had an account where your salary went in. Maybe you wanted to borrow some money to buy a car or a house. But if that is not what you actually want in the future. If you want to subscribe to stuff, then it’s another type of advice you want. Maybe you want to know, if I am taking off from work for a year or two, if I want to travel around the world, can I afford that? How do I make sure that I can do my payments abroad? It will be totally different advice that consumers will expect. And they will require, of course, very good digital solutions. They will require and expect banks to deliver solutions that work together with other digital solutions, to make it easy, to make it convenient.
So, I think in the future, we will see banking being done in a totally different way, and the financial sector will need to pick up on that development. What we see today is a lot of partnerships and a lot of investments in fintech companies. And going forward, I think we’re going to see even more of that. And consumers will also expect that there is this cooperation between the companies. That it’s not just silos. So I think we’re going to see a totally different bank in the future.
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There is a part about combining new technology, and in some cases new core systems, with organizational culture, making sure you retain the right people, and you also get new skills into the organization
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This interview was conducted by Marisol Menéndez, Chief Open Innovation Officer at Spain Startup - South Summit.
