Open letter to Ester Baiget, new CEO of Novozymes

Dear Ester, Congratulations on the new job as CEO at Novozymes! I hope their people are preparing you (and themselves) well for the arrival in February.

You already know it. It will be darn challenging – both the job and the relocation. All eyes will be on you, as the first expat-CEO in Novozymes. While at the same time getting your family settled in. And building up your network in a new field – and for the family. Enough to shake the faint-hearted, but clearly you are not among those. Good for you.

I wanted to share a couple of ideas for how your new colleagues could prepare for your arrival:

Getting the company ready for a non-Danish CEO. Although Novozymes for years has strived for a truly international business culture, getting a non-Dane as a boss will challenge this self-image. You have the experience from Dow, in a whole other league also in terms of business culture and awareness of how to get diversity to work for the best of the company. Now Novozymes has to follow suit. They could take a look at Dow’s diversity practice – quite impressive!

The Novozymes colleagues may want to look at language as well (no chatting in Danish in corridors – it sends out weird vibes to non-Danes), work practices and culture (which parts constitute true Novozymes culture – and which parts are Danish and could be tweeked), leadership culture (with a CEO being a non-Dane, the culture is certain to change. What do they believe should remain, in order not to scare off the Danish managers and employees?).

Lastly, the networking! I am sure your colleagues are thinking of who you should meet within the Pharma Industry and in Danish society. But, if you will allow me, you are clearly unused to social media (judging from a quick search). Being the Novozymes head means taking on a public figure that you have not been used to. They need to help you in this process, to find the time and to find your own style and voice. And they do need to go easy on you, as you will undoubtedly feel very exposed in the beginning.

And as for yourself:

You need to contemplate what sort of leadership style you will bring to the table. Would you say it is Dow Industry-ish? Spanish? Or Ester’ish – and in what way? Where are you willing to compromise and take on Novozymes specifics, in order to get your Danish colleagues to follow your lead?

On the practical side, you need a top-notch relocation company – or an especially assigned person to handle the relocation, including the moving-in. You will not have time for fitting lamps and shopping kitchen towels in IKEA – and you do not want your family to be flooded with even more obligations on account of your job.

You also need to think about networking socially – both for yourself but not least for the sake of the family. Denmark, as you may also know, is not the easiest of countries to settle in, as we tend to be… slightly stingy on the friendships.

You have undoubtedly already read InterNations 2019 re. Denmark). There are networks for expats but my advice is: Do not rely solely on the expat-circles. It is tempting, with a busy life. It is so easy to take the feel-good choice of the expat bubble. But it will undoubtedly limit your understanding of Denmark as a country, making you feel even more of a visitor than you already are. This is not a good choice, taking your position into consideration. Go for Danes who have been abroad themselves. They tend to understand your world.

Lastly, good luck, Ester – I hope Denmark will turn into a great experience for you and your family both personally and workwise. And again, please do engage on social media – the Danish discourse needs your voice.

Kind regards,

Signe Biering Nielsen