Viking Magazine - November 2014 - Cover4

Q&A
Modern Manager
Meet savvy businesswoman and new director of Innovation
Norway, Anita Krohn Traaseth.
BY MOLLY OBERSTAR
In
September, Anita
Krohn Traaseth
started a new
role as director for Innovation
Norway, bringing with her 18
years of leadership experience-
most recently as the CEO of
Hewlett-Packard Norway. The
busy businesswoman, author,
blogger, wife and mother of
three believes in a contemporary
management style-one that
focuses on the management
of life, not just the job. Viking
caught up with Traaseth to talk
modern-day leadership and her
new role at Innovation Norway.
Q What is your vision for
Innovation Norway's role in
developing Norway's future?
A Norway is at the beginning
of its own transformation. We
need to replace a vulnerable
economy based on oil and gas
with innovative, sustainable
industries to fund our societal
structure. Our public sector
is also in a demanding
digitalization process, and we
need to develop a stronger
entrepreneurial culture to
change the way we work and
collaborate with the business
industry at large. Innovation
Norway plays an important role
in this effort.
Q What is your view on leaders
today having a strong social media
presence?
A As a leader in 2014, you need
to develop digital competence
with hands-on experience,
mastering the new tools to
understand the drivers of
disruptive business models.
To be relevant, leaders need to
be in constant dialogue with
customers to understand how
the market is changing. As a
previous Managing Director at
HP Norway, it was clear that
I needed to participate in the
tech arena. I chose blogging
as my key platform, where I
wrote about leadership and
life-not only business. I believe
it's necessary and part of my
job description to be available,
active, transparent and sharing.
Q What do you hope readers will
learn from your book, " Godt nok
for de svina " ?
A My readers say they feel
encouraged to dare to take new
steps and that they don't feel
they need to be a leader to enjoy
the book. There are many myths
and perceptions about leaders,
but I'm very open about my
personal story, my failures in
business and how I cope with
combining leadership roles and
being a wife and a mother of
three daughters. My goal with
the book is twofold: to pass my
stories on to my daughters and
to inspire the next generation
of leaders to take on leadership
roles. They don't have to be
54 VIKING NOVEMBER 2014 sonsofnorway.com
perfect; they can develop their
own style and mission. The
book's title is a phrase my father
has said since I was a child. The
meaning is: if you don't take
care of yourself, set your own
standards, decide when enough
is enough and learn to balance
and rest, you will not be able to
deliver meaning to others. You
cannot make any footprints or a
positive difference if you cannot
be satisfi ed with yourself and
what you do.
Q What advice do you have for
aspiring entrepreneurs,
particularly young women?
A Dare to go from ideas to
action. Do it, learn and move
on when you fail. Failures
are crucial for building key
knowledge, stamina and focus.
Also, some people say that
women cannot have it all-a
family and an interesting career.
I don't believe that. Yes, you
can have it " all, " as long as you
defi ne the standards of what
" all " is for you.
Name:
Anita Krohn Traaseth
Age: 42
Title: Director at
Innovation Norway
Origin: Sandefjord,
Norway
Book:
" Godt nok for de svina "
For more on Traaseth,
check out her blog
(tinteguri.com), and follow
her on Twitter (twitter.
com/krohntraaseth) and
Instagram (instagram.
com/tinteguri).
Read more from the
interview starting Nov.
1 at sonsofnorwayblog.
blogspot.com.
PHOTO BY BJØRN STUEDAL
http://www.tinteguri.com http://www.blogspot.com http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - November 2014

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