E
lisabeth Larsson is a multi-faceted woman. It’s hard to do justice to her incredible personality in a few words. As the
Vice President of Vehicle Sales and Marketing at Volvo Asia Oceania, she is the
perfect role model, especially as a woman professional in a predominantly male bastion.
The thorough professional
As a young woman growing up in Sweden, Elisabeth felt very strongly about Volvo. After all, her
father and brother had long and exciting careers
there. An Economics major at university, she was
recruited directly from campus and began her career at Volvo with a role in manufacturing. Volvo
being a large and global company, additional responsibilities soon came her way. A stint with the
Volvo market company in Paris from 1999 to
2001 provided her with an extremely challenging
yet enriching experience. She cherished the opportunity to be closer to the customer.
A few years later, she was offered the role of
VP of Vehicle Sales and Marketing based out of
the Asia Oceania regional headquarters in Beijing.
She gladly accepted.
Elisabeth’s move to Beijing in 2008 brought
with it great possibilities. Asia-Pacific being in
growth mode, there was nowhere else she would
rather be. She quotes Wayne Gretzky, the Canadian ice hockey great who once said “I do not
focus on where the puck is, but where it’s going
to be.” The move to Beijing gave her the chance
to be closer to where all the action lay.
Once in Beijing, Elisabeth’s love for languages
prompted her to learn Mandarin. She took Mandarin lessons twice a week for 2 years and has
great respect for the complexity and depth of the
language. Her knowledge of Mandarin, though
basic, helped in her daily interactions during her 4
year stay in Beijing.
When the decision to move the Volvo’s Regional Headquarters to Singapore was made, Elisabeth welcomed the prospect of living and working in a new city. For the past 1.5 years, she calls
Singapore home and appreciates the safety, the
cleanliness and the high quality of life that Singapore provides. She does miss the Nordic seasons
sometimes but Singapore’s sunny weather more
than makes up for it.
Leading Women at Volvo
Elisabeth started work at Volvo in the mid-90s
and the apparent lack of women co-workers
didn’t faze her. Two of her three siblings are boys.
So Elisabeth was already comfortable in a primarily male set-up.
Volvo provided her with a nurturing environment that propelled her professional growth.
“There is great respect for the individual at Volvo”, she states. She also credits her mentors at
Volvo who supported her every time she felt discouraged or disillusioned.
The mere mention of ‘women in the workplace’ and Elisabeth’s eyes light up. She’s extremely passionate about the subject and her
enthusiasm is evident.
As one of the senior-most woman officers in
the company, she is regularly invited to speak at
various internal and external forums on gender issues prevalent in the corporate world. She is also
one of the initiators of the FAB (Females in Asia
at their Best) network at Volvo and dedicates a
lot of her time towards coaching future female
managers.
Lessons learnt from Elisabeth’s own experience along with the advice she has received over
the years from well-wishers, puts her in the perfect
position to mentor young women professionals.
Firstly, she says “Don’t play the victim card.
Take ownership of your career.”
She also advises against women behaving
like men to stay competitive in the workplace.
“Women come with their unique perspective
and it is highly beneficial to the work environment
to have diversified opinions”, she adds.
She continues saying “Women should stay
positive and believe that things will get better.
Nobody likes a whiner.” She emphasizes on the
importance of having a sense of humour especially when things don’t go as planned.
The person
Elisabeth is proud mother to 3 boys aged 12, 9
and 7. Between her work and family responsibilities, she is constantly battling for some down
time. She is very thankful to her husband Mikael
(entrepreneur and founder of Mikritho Business
Solutions) who in Singapore, works from home
most of the time. “Mikael’s presence at home is
invaluable. It enables me to concentrate on my
work, when I am there.” she gushes.
Her move to Singapore created some interesting changes in her lifestyle. “Everyone here is
so health conscious and fit. It has inspired us to
eat better and focus on our health.”
Before she knew it, Singapore’s running bug
had bitten Elisabeth and she was training for her
very first run. She completed the 10K at the
Great Eastern Women’s Run 2013 and is very
proud of her accomplishment. “I usually hit a wall
around 5K. The other runners from the Volvo
team egged me on and that helped me compete
the race” she adds.
The times ahead
Elisabeth is looking forward to being in Asia for
the next few years. Having been away from home
for so long, she is fully aware that re-assimilating
into life back in Sweden is not going to be easy.
But that’s something she doesn’t need to worry
about for some time.
For the moment, she is leading the launch of
Volvo’s new product range in Asia. And like a true
professional, she hurries along to prepare for it.
February 2014 • ScandAsia.China 13