Goes through acid tests to determine if he is capable of leading others

SYSCO’s CEO Dagfinn Ringås was recently featured in Karriere360’s summer interview. This fall, he will mentor young, female leaders who aspire to take the next step in their career. In this interview he shares some tips.  

Read an excerpt from the interview: 

Why are you a mentor, and what can you contribute with in terms of competence? 

I am passionate about diversity, like to share and have very good experience from the past which tells me that you often learn as much from your students as you teach yourself. 

What rookie mistakes are common for new leaders?  

A classic is probably that it takes some time to realize that you are assessed on the achievements of your people, and not what you do yourself. Many people may have a strong desire to deliver and perform strongly themselves and therefore become stuck in "hamster wheel tasks", where they struggle to scale themselves by hiring and developing others. 

“The worst experience is when I see really talented people fail because I have placed them in the wrong role, in the wrong context, at the wrong time. That hurts to think about.”  

Dagfinn Ringås 

I think it is a good acid test to think about how you feel when you see a colleague on your team shine. Do you wish it was you, do you feel threatened, or are you genuinely proud and happy for them? The day you experience the latter feeling, you have come a long way towards being a good leader of others. 
 
Can you elaborate on a mistake you have made, which you drew great learning from afterwards? 

Ah, there is an awful lot to choose from here. I make mistakes every single week. However, in total I think I have made more rights than wrongs.  

A very important learning point for me has been the importance of applying different management styles towards different profiles. In technical terms this is referred to as situation-specific management. It entails not just pursuing the same style in all situations, but adapting your management style, coaching and communication for different individuals, depending on context, background, experience, and culture.  

At the beginning of my management career, I probably tried to follow the mantra of “being the leader you would prefer yourself”. However, this has not always gone according to plan. People are different, and they both desire and expect different attributes from their manager to be able to perform.  

Another mistake I made was putting too much faith in hiring “star players”, expecting them to be able to carry out anything. That is not how it works. It is not sufficient to get the right people on board, you also need to place them in the right position on the field so that they are able to function well with the rest of the team.  

Some of my worst experiences as a leader are when I see really talented people that I care about failing because I have placed them in the wrong role, the wrong context, at the wrong time. It hurts to think about, even after all this time. 

Tell us of something that you are proud to have achieved during your management career?  

I get very proud when I see people from my team grow up to become both skilled and profiled leaders. Some return to work for me, others receive cool management positions at other places, and I probably end up working for some myself one day. It is awesome reading that Kristine Bjørnstad will be the new CEO of Making Waves. Kristine has always been very skilled, and deserves all credit for getting there, but I still feel a little proud.   

Additionally, I am very proud of what we have achieved at SYSCO, where a mixture of entrepreneurs and new leaders together have managed to lay a new direction for the company and our identity, without stepping on each other’s toes. It is not easy, but we have achieved it and the result is fast growth.  

“Keeping your dreams to yourself is not particularly career-enhancing.”  

Dagfinn Ringås 
 

Do you see young leaders under 40 today as different from the generation before them?  

Both yes and no. I find many young leaders to be extremely reflected and smart. Simultaneously, some young leaders may be “a little too hasty to become managers, and even more hurried to become CEO”.

Ambitions are great. However, at the end of the day, leadership is the sum of what you learned at school, your smartness and your experience. The latter cannot be gained without taking your time, and some things just need to be experienced. Often several times. 

An example is a young, forthcoming leader I had in my team a few years ago. She was incredibly smart and capable and had advanced quickly in her career. During our coaching, I specifically focused on teaching her about the somehow diffuse topic of “executive maturity”, which is exactly this: some things just take time (the term involves being able to handle emotions in stressful situations, among other things, journ. note).  

After an individual session on the topic, she went home and read an extensive article about executive maturity. The day after, she reported that “after reading the article I now understand what it is about, and she could now confirm that she was executively mature”. I rest my case… 

If you were to choose only one piece of advice to give those you mentor, what would it be?  

– If I have to limit myself to one piece of advice, it must be being considerate and open about what you want to people around you. What role, position or version of yourself do you see down the road? If people around you know it, it is much easier to both coach and support, and maybe even tip someone about your name when the opportunities arise. Keeping your dreams to yourself is not particularly career-enhancing.  

Who is your role model/mentor?  

 I have been lucky to experience many great leaders and mentors during my career, and I have learnt different things from them all. I had a fantastic leader during my first years at Super Office, Hilde Dvergsdal. She was tough, but simultaneously very good with people.  

Additionally, I had the chance to work with Erik Bertrand Larssen for several years. He is about much more than just “giving it your all”, and he taught me a lot about putting things in perspective, coping with stress and working on small details in my management style.