When I stepped down as chief executive of Akvaplan-niva in May, I expected things to go quiet for a while. It did not.
Calls, messages and invitations to meet came in – from people I have worked with over the years, and from some I knew only by reputation. I said yes to everyone who wanted to meet. They were good conversations, and they gave me new perspectives. They also became part of my own process of working things out: they told me something I had not seen as clearly from inside a position.
What the conversations told me
Two things kept coming up. One was the expectation: “You’ll be picked up for a new top job soon.” It is what people say to each other in business, and it is kindly meant.
The other was more interesting. Several did not ask whether I was looking for a job. They asked whether they could use me – in their company, on a project, or as a partner.
A combination, not a CV
It was the way they described it that made me think. None of them asked for a CV. They described a combination: someone who has held operational responsibility in several companies and industries, who has built markets abroad, and who has at the same time sat on boards across research, innovation, education, banking and seafood – and who can be brought in without a large apparatus attached. It was put quite directly: that combination is hard to find.
That was the recognition that stayed with me: what I have learned can be used in more ways than in one company at a time. And I think they are right. None of the parts is rare on its own – there are plenty of capable executives, experienced board members and people who know the markets abroad. What is rare is that they sit in the same person, and that this person is available for a defined assignment. Most people with that background are occupied in a chair somewhere.
That is a description of a gap in the market, not of me. And it changed the question: not “which job comes next”, but “what happens if I make this combination available on my own terms”.
Why my own company
The answer was Kristiansen & Co.
I will be honest that this is also about what I want. All my working life I have carried responsibility on behalf of others – for companies, owners and boards that were not mine. It has been rewarding, and I have learned a great deal from it. But I now have more freedom than before, and I want to build something where I take responsibility for the development myself – creating value with what I know, this time on my own account. That is what I am taking on now, and I intend to do it properly.
What I left at Akvaplan-niva was a mission I cared about: bringing knowledge about the ocean, climate, aquaculture and new technology across into value creation for business and society – together with colleagues who wanted to make a difference. That mission does not end because the position does. It continues in a different form.
What I bring is not one perspective but three at once. In a boardroom, I know how a matter looks from management’s side. In a management team, I know what the owners are going to ask – and what it takes to build a team that delivers. In a market expansion, I know what tends to go wrong, because I have been in it.
If you have a company, a board or a project where I could be useful, do get in touch. And if you simply feel like a conversation about the opportunities in the north, that is a good reason too.