Charlotte Bach Thomassen is board chairman of the main board of DGI, deputy chairman of Danske Spil, deputy chairman of Madkulturen, an institution under the Ministry of Food, and board member of TV 2 Danmark – to name just a few. A short time ago, she chose to participate in the Advanced Board Program INSEAD, which is the Scandinavian Executive Institute’s board program for experienced board members and board chairmen.

“I chose this particular program as it hit really well in relation to the inspiration I needed. I have many years of experience with board work, and that is where I spend all my working time. The Advanced Board Program appealed to me as it focuses on the long-term perspective in board work – after all, a board’s responsibility is precisely to look into the future on behalf of the company. The program has a strong focus on the trends in the uncertain world in which we have to operate, and in addition it provides a future perspective with a view to the “board landscape” as well as the roles and responsibilities that a board has – all extremely important perspectives for me,” she says.

She highlights the participation in the training program as being a very positive experience.

“The board program offers teaching, presentations and planning from the top shelf, and I was extremely satisfied with the composition, versatility and quality. Both the professional presentations, the discussions, the group assignments and the feedback sessions worked extremely well. There is no doubt that those who organize and deliver the teaching have a strong theoretical and experiential basis to say something about what the direction is and what trends will apply in the future when it comes to board work. There really is a lot of very important inspiration to take away from here, and just the environment on the INSEAD campus is enormously exciting in itself,” says Charlotte Bach Thomassen.

Essential points of attention
Specifically, the DGI chairman highlights three concrete key-learnings that she has taken home from the INSEAD program and which have had particular significance.

“As boards, we are naturally very decision-oriented, but we should change our mindset to also focus on making choices. Choices are more abstract and more directional, and that is definitely something I will bring into play going forward. Also the point that we as a board must focus on both competence and behavior and ensure that we have a broader view of recruitment to the board, so that we achieve diversity in terms of competence and experience, was incredibly important. In conclusion, I would like to highlight the topic of how essential it is that we continue to have a strong focus on the digital transformation that we are in the middle of and that we have been in the middle of for many years. The digital transformation is a paradigm shift for all boards, and we should not lose focus on it for a single second,” she says and adds:

“All in all, the new inspiration and learning will have an impact on how I prepare my board work and how, via my role as chairman, I spar with the director and the management – not least between board meetings. But also in a future perspective, it will have an impact on what I choose to get involved in and which points of attention I take with me in my future work and into new boards.”

From a purely networking perspective, the training program has also been rewarding.

“We were a mixed group of owners, directors, board members and consultants, and for me it is enriching that we represent such a broad palette and that all the participants are such professionally strong and skilled people. We hit each other’s level, and it’s good to know that you have a network you can tap into if you need sparring with like-minded people,” concludes the board woman.