GREAT LEADER
LEADERSHIP STYLES
FROM A DANISH
DIPLOMAT PERSPECTIVE
Denmark is well known for having an education
system with a reputation for producing creative
and innovative problem-solvers. As technologies
keep developing at a rapid pace and economic
competition remains fierce, the country of more
than 5.7 million population has proven to be one
of the best and most advanced e-government
countries in the world. There are many generic
principles in any organization, no matter what
field or industry a leader works in. The Danish
Ambassador, who finished his postgraduate
studies in Political Science and International
Politics, then added that to try the maximize
learning and deliberately look for learning
opportunities is also necessary for leaders.
People can learn about leadership from multiple
sources, such as books, the internet, sharing
sessions, or even their own daily experience
from their leaders, etc. For Rasmus, who
likes to read at least two to three leadership
books in a year, another inspiring leadership
book he suggests is Daniel Goleman’s book
titled Leadership That Gets Results from the
Harvard Business Review. Published in 2000,
Goleman’s study’s findings explained about six
types of leadership. Those six are categorized as
coercive, authoritative, figurative, democratic,
pacesetting, and coaching. From this book, the
father of one daughter outlines that a leader
needs to implement all six types, because
leadership depends on the circumstances.
With almost 80 embassies across the world,
diversity in cultures and working environments
is common for Danish diplomats. “I think
what characterized us (diplomats) is that we
are typically very far away from home. In this
case, Copenhagen is on the other side of the
planet. And what that means is that, first of all,
we have to be very adaptable. We’re working
in different countries, different cultures and
we need to understand that, and get the best
outfit, without losing sight of ourselves. I think
that’s the key thing of a diplomat. I still represent
my own country, but I work somewhere else,”
emphasizes the Ambassador who is fluent in
four international languages.
With more than 30 Danish companies operating
in Indonesia, Rasmus realizes the challenges that
foreign companies experience. “Sometimes it’s
not an easy market to understand, there are
a lot of different regulations. And sometimes,
I think it’s a little slow in terms of making
decisions. Before you finally have an order, you
need to be very patient,” he says.
Regardless the challenges, Denmark has been
contributing to Indonesian economy and welfare
by creating jobs through ISS Indonesia. Indeed,
ISS Indonesia is the biggest Danish company in
“I think in many ways, it captures nicely
what is the essence of a Nordic or Danish
leadership style. And I think what you
realize, it doesn’t really matter how smart
you are, how smart the plan you have if
your team cannot execute it, and if the
team is not encouraged to do it. So that’s
the key,”
Having been appointed to lead Danish Embassy
in Jakarta since September 2017, the Danish
Queen’s Representative finds Indonesia a
fascinating country. Besides the natural beauty
and friendly people, he also appreciates the
great diversity of Indonesian peoples and
cultures. In terms of his responsibilities to
promote Danish interests, he will do this in a
way whereby he tries to see what Denmark
can offer to Indonesia, how both countries can
work together, what both countries have in
common, and how both can benefit from the
cooperation.
As Denmark and Indonesia celebrate the 70th
anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2020,
partnerships and cooperation have been
intertwined in many sectors such as political,
democracy and human rights, as well as trade
and economics. In recent years, Denmark
in Indonesia has also been promoting clean
energy, circular economy, healthy environment,
waste management, and agriculture.
the country, measured in terms of employees.
The Danish Ambassador optimistically says, “ISS
has only one raw material for its production,
which is people. And it is known for investing in
its people and developing them. ISS has a lot to
offer to Indonesia.”
At the first quarter of 2019, ISS Indonesia
employs and empowers almost 60,000
Indonesians all around the archipelagic country.
Established in 1996, ISS Indonesia promotes
Indonesian values as those values have shaped
the corporate culture system. Starting with
building pride to become proud Indonesians,
ISS Indonesia’s purpose-driven human capital
development strategy encourages each of
its employees to be proud of him or herself
because of what they do.
Vol. 4 - No. 14 | Agustus 2019 | GREAT ISS
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