Meet our candidates: Lenette Nielsen

My motivation for board work is rooted in my broad mindset developed at one of Denmark’s largest industrial companies. I aim to contribute to the growth and development of SMEs in Danish business. My years at Danfoss have provided me with a broad, international B2B business foundation, which I extend to smaller Danish companies as an engaged, active board member.

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What skills do you consider your strongest assets in a boardroom setting?

My specialty lies in international B2B sales, including sales channels and channel strategy. Over the past 7-8 years, I have honed my skills in this area and, in a board context, I can provide valuable insights, guidance, and strategic direction to help steer a company towards the most effective sales solutions. This involves, from board perspective, asking the right questions and ensuring all aspects are thoroughly covered.

Beyond this, I highlight my extensive international B2B experience and exposure to a wide range of challenges that smaller companies might not encounter. For instance sustainability and ESGs as a disciplines that are part of my daily work from customer and supplier point of view.

Additionally, I have a strong background in internationalization, scaling, and driving a growth agenda, and I have been responsible for digital transformation in both marketing and sales.

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Do you have concrete experience/case/results in the area as a board member, which you can briefly describe?

I have worked with company owners, GMs and CEOs of distribution partners on their internationalization strategy, their geographical expansion strategies and their acquisition strategies. All have been successful based on the guidance and input I have provided.

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What do you see as the biggest obstacle to companies succeeding right now?

I believe that ‘big topics’ such as ESG documentation from the sustainability agenda, the impact of AI, and strategies for successful international growth, like acquisitions, can be quite daunting for small companies. The knowledge and specific skills to tackle these issues may be missing, however, in contrast, these ‘big topics’ are part of the daily operations in larger companies. Therefore, I can guide, steer, and ask the right questions to help small companies overcome these obstacles. I would like to add that I see Change Management as a discipline. Communication and Change Management is part of my DNA, hence I equally believe that I can help steer smaller companies successfully through a big change, acquisition or international scaling – simply from being diligent to the change management aspect.

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Why is being on a board exciting for you?

I enjoy being part of finding solutions, taking responsibility, setting direction, and seeing a company grow. This drive is what motivates me. As a board member, I will challenge and question the status quo constructively, with a focus on solutions and actions important for a small company. I also see it as critical to bring diversity into the boardrooms, including having more women on boards in Denmark. I am used to being the only woman in the leadership team and am aware of the strength in diversity and the ability, as a woman, to see different perspectives.

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