Exclusive Interview: Meet AmCham’s New Chairman Nicolai Moresco
AmCham Denmark is delighted to welcome Nicolai Moresco, Senior Vice President for Central and North Europe for Dell Technologies, as its new Chairman. Nicolai assumed the position earlier this year from Tisha Boatman, Managing Director of Siemens Healthineers in Denmark.
In this exclusive AmCham interview, get to know Nicolai as he discusses being a business leader in Denmark and which leadership principles he lives by…
***
What motivates you to invest your time in AmCham Denmark?
Dell Technologies has been a long-standing member with AmCham. For Dell, AmCham can connect organizations on a political level and cross industry level, which is important for us.
For myself, I have been on the Board since 2019, and when I was recently approached to step in as AmCham’s chairman, it was an easy decision – and an honor. Today AmCham delivers significant value for its members, and I look forward to work along the great AmCham Team to continue to drive value for our members.
What does it mean for Dell and your team in Denmark to be part of AmCham?
Dell has seen great value from being an AmCham member – and we truly utilize our membership. For example, we organize an annual IT industry conference in Copenhagen. Diversity and inclusion (D&I) is a strong part of our organization’s agenda, therefore we partnered with AmCham on a D&I lunch during the conference, broadening our reach to non-IT individuals who attended and joined the conversation.
What makes a good leader and how do you personally continue to grow and develop as a leader?
Leadership is a choice, and I believe that when you decide to be a leader you need to take on the full role. When you become an individual who sets direction within an organization, you carry a lot of responsibility to help the organization see through the complexities. As we live in a changing world, leaders need to anticipate the future, bring the organization’s purpose to life, execute the strategy on a daily basis and ultimately guide the organization in the right direction – these are core leadership skills you need to persist.
We’ve been faced with so much disruption these past few years. As you think back on the last three years is there anything key in your leadership strategy that you think was successful in helping guide your teams through these challenging times?
It’s been an unprecedented period over the last couple of years that has challenged me as a leader. Almost overnight we had to learn to work from home. How do you set-up a management system that brings people together when we are not physically together and not losing the innovation and creativity that comes from being together?
Reflecting on that period, I was so focused on bringing people together that I ended up over-facilitating and people found themselves on Zoom all the time. At some stage I realized that things would sort themselves out to some extent. We saw over time that there was no drop in productivity or satisfaction – in fact, just the opposite. People became flexible and adapted to a new normal. As a manager or leader, you need to be careful how much you try to govern, control, and manage that. Empowering the organization to find the right way and balance was the right approach and a key learning for me.
How do you ensure a diverse and inclusive workplace?
In Denmark we often praise ourselves for being open and inclusive minded, but when you look at leadership positions across organizations and within boards, there is more work to do in getting that diversity profile right.
Creating an inclusive culture is not always easy. For me however it’s the right thing to do. Everyone needs to come to work daily, bringing their authentic self. If they can’t do that, we don’t have an inclusive workspace.
Having an inclusive workspace creates an environment that drives better business outcomes. When you bring a diverse mindset into an organization, you get a broader view of the world. The world around us is changing at a fast pace. Industries are being disrupted from areas they didn’t anticipate yesterday. So how do you see that disruption coming if you don’t have a diverse point of view or a broader view of the world around you? That’s why diversity, not only gender diversity, any diversity, is good for business, it brings a broader perspective.
What do you see in the next generation of leaders aspiring to run an international organization? Any advice for them?
There are many paths you can take to get a career with an international company. Business is all about people. The ability to build relationships both internally and externally with stakeholders, partners, and suppliers and building trust, are some of the key competences that you need to be successful.
When I look for future leader potential, I also look for what we define as ‘grit’ which can also be translated into persistency. The ability to hang onto something, execute, and not give up. Why is that important? For me between intellectual capacity and effort, effort counts twice. I look for individuals who have the right mindset, the right grit, and intellectual capacity, because they will always thrive, grow, and perform.