Tailor-made management development program for the Private Broker

I wanted to be better at seeing everyone

CEO of Privatmegleren, Grethe Wittenberg Meier (59) wanted the company to become really good at management. That's why all their 110 managers train on this. But how did she experience getting leadership training herself?

- I think I've gotten a little better at listening, a little better at asking good questions, and a little less dominant. I think there is a lot that each of us wants to get better as leaders. And I'm pretty sure everyone who has participated has become more aware of how we are and perceived as leaders,” Grethe explains.

The CEO says her biggest challenge as a leader is having enough time to see as many people as possible.

'Making time for a little phone just to have a chat is worth gold, 'she says.

Unfortunately, so many of the everyday tasks eat up time.

- Think we all find that we don't always have time for our managerial tasks. They are really much more important than everything else,” Grethe says.

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Understands the industry

Four players in leadership development were considered by Privatmegleren. The choice, however, fell on the Execu. Grethe says there were several reasons why the brokerage chose to invest in 2-year management training through a tailor-made program: the Leadership Academy.

- First of all, we had created a fairly clear description of what we wanted to get out of a leadership development program. Among other things, the goal was to find methods for our managers to function effectively as both managers and real estate agents. Because it is often our best real estate agents who become managers with us,” she says.

Grethe says that she appreciated how Execu understood the industry, and their challenges in everyday working life.

- I liked the way the scheme was stitched together and that we saw a good cost-benefit from the leadership development. It was a clear goal to get better at leading through demanding changes,” she says.

Besides, getting better at clarity, getting better at listening and getting better at disposing of time.

- Simply become more aware of what we can do more of to lead better. Not least what we should do less of, she says.

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Dare to dumb themselves out

Grethe says she is happy to recommend executive development from Execu, and boasts of how the 2-year Private Broker program has been set up. 1 out of 2 years of continuous management training has now been completed.

- I liked the combination of physical community gatherings, and meeting digitally on Teams. In addition, we were divided into smaller learning groups of 5 to 6 people. The learning platform was a useful tool and reference book for us. The tools have been simple and tangible to use,” she says.

She highlights the approach to leadership development: completely free from heavy preparation, presentations and exhausting writing.

- We have trained over time on real situations in managerial everyday life, and in the smaller learning groups that I had a special feeling for. Here we really got to know each other well. Here we have dared to fool ourselves, laugh together and be honest with each other: about what has gone well with the leadership training, and what has gone absolutely wrong,” she says.

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More curious about people

Does she think the leadership training has spilled over onto private individual Grethe? Could she have actually become a better fellow human being outside the job arena?

- I hope so. That we have become more curious steadily over. That we don't give up so quickly, and have become more aware of our fellow human beings,” she concludes.

An aha moment for the top manager was to get acquainted with a template on how to conduct a conversation in only 15 minutes.

- An intensive conversation that makes it possible to get to know the person in question improbably well in a short time. It was an incredibly useful tool,” she says.

The private broker has 700 employees, spread across 75 offices across the country.

The effect of open-ended questions

During management training, the chain manager for banking cooperation at Privatmegleren, Anne Lorentzen (61), learned the effects of asking open-ended questions. And do not always come up with the solution yourself.

- That's probably one of the things I've really seen the effects of. Just by changing the question position slightly, the conversation changes completely. Now, as managers, we get trained to ask good questions in the field we work with. I've also become more aware of myself in my leadership role. How can I best follow up with my managers, partners and employees, says Anne engagingly.

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Is the manager's solution always the best?

She highlights a common mistake most managers make at work:

- That the leader believes that he or she himself sits with the answer to the problem, she says.

This was something that she herself had challenges with as a leader.

Now I've learned to become much better at not saying anything. To rather let the person who gets the question come up with their solution. Allow the person to respond without interruption. Not being so impatient with coming up with my solution,” she explains.

The leadership development has made Anne aware that it is not best practice to present her own solution as 100 per cent facet:

- When I have already decided that my solution is the one that is best. And I thread it over the heads of my employees, without any co-determination. Well then the result of problem-solving will be poorer, she acknowledges.

The final result may be only 30 percent, she said.

- Together we might get to an 80 percent final result, or better. We leaders must realize that there are many paths to Rome, and not just one solution to a problem,” says Anne.

Her main task at work is to motivate the 75 offices of Privatmegleren to cooperate closely with Nordea (who are the owners).

Here I have become better at doing my job, by working in a slightly different way. Motivating the people I work with in a more effective way. I've learned what I should spend more time on and what I should spend less time on,” she says.

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Leadership needs to be trained on (all the time)

Anne Lorentzen describes Execu's management program for the Private Broker, which was thoroughly reviewed. She also highlights how useful it is that the program runs continuously over 2 years.

Leadership is like a sport. You can't get good without exercising often and continuously,” she says.

Management development has also been practically oriented, addressing many different areas within management.

- It's really been a good kind of leadership development. It's not based on going to a course for a couple of days and managing to change the world,” she says.

Anne says that the smaller development groups, is something she has really had a taste for. Here, 5 people have worked closely together on a new topic each time. They have been given various practical tasks to be done ahead of time.

- At these denser collections, it is much easier to get to know each other across the offices. We discuss cases, get feedback and summarize the progress we have had as leaders since last time. It's been incredibly good,” she says.

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Better at work and at home

Anne also believes she has become a better communicator of leadership development.

- My husband often says that I'm bad at interrupting, she interjects and laughs, and continues:

But I think that both he and the children think that I have become better at listening now. Hopefully I've actually become a slightly better spouse, mother and discussion partner overall now,” she says.