Roland is a growth leader who knows that success, growth and profitability are created with the help of strong commitment and burning passion of the employees and leaders. He was involved in building the successful Wise Group, and today he works as CEO of Origo Group.

After helping to build Wise Group, you moved on to take on a new challenge as CEO in a completely different type of business. What surprised you the most in this new context?
After so long in one and the same group, I had a good overview of most of the company in terms of operations, business models, services, employees, etc. Suddenly I stood there in a completely new context and industry without either history or further deep knowledge of the business. Something that struck me was how long it takes to deeply understand the new company's services, business models, pricing. I was under the illusion that it would all happen quite quickly, as long as I put my mind to it. But even now, after almost a year and a half, I don't have a full grasp. So it's a matter of getting a handle on things and having a lot of trust in all my colleagues and relying on the fact that they know most things better than I do and being okay with that.
We are a merger of five companies and we are working hard to make it one company with a common view of culture, leadership, sales, delivery, etc. I knew that the changes required to get there would take time, but all change takes so much longer than I both thought and hoped. Not least as an inveterate time optimist, I think everything should go faster.
Another clear thing that has struck me is what huge differences there can be between two corporate cultures. Even though both companies are Swedish service companies with mostly academics, it is striking, interesting and fun that there can be such differences.

Many leaders have the ambition to make an industry shift and take the step to new challenging areas. What advice do you have for them?
First, it's about deciding in advance that this is what you want to do and being consistent when the questions about new exciting jobs in the same industry come. Then it is about being clear about it already in the first contact with, for example, recruitment companies. Also, be clear about the reasons why and what you think your previous experience can contribute to the new industry. Be aware that finding a new job in a new industry is likely to take a little longer than moving within the same industry, so you will need patience. Once you are in your new industry, you need to be really humble and realize that you no longer have the control you used to have and that you need to put a lot of trust in everyone around you. And make an effort to read up, familiarize yourself and get to know the company, the industry and the people. The good thing about coming from a different industry is that you have a lot of new things to bring to your new context, plus your own development will take a big leap in a way it probably wouldn't if you had stayed in your old industry.

How do you build a healthy company culture?
As five companies that have joined forces, we have a mix of a number of different cultures, so in our case it's about starting to build a common culture. We need to create a culture where everyone, regardless of background, looks at certain things in much the same way. Initially, it's about taking the issue of culture seriously and showing as CEO that it's an issue I'm passionate about. It's about showing that I myself am a values-driven leader in what I both say and do, i.e. leading by example. As a leader, you are always "on stage" because many people study what you say and do. We have started a solid work and have created an Ambassador group with representatives from each former company and each office. The group has developed values and behaviors linked to these values. Now we are working to get it into the hearts, stomachs, arms and legs of all colleagues in the company in various ways. It takes continuous work to create a strong and clear culture, and we have only just started, so it will be a while before it takes hold properly.