Making the best decisions available amidst change seems to be ‘baked in’ to Logitrans owner-CEO Gitte Kirkegaard’s leadership DNA. After all, the origins of her family-owned and run company trace back to the start of WWII. Since then, the company has continued to evolve successfully through the challenges faced by the industry such as the Global Financial Crisis, and under Gitte’s leadership, the COVID-19 pandemic and then the greater uncertainty of recent years.

According to Gitte, ambitious goals are integral to driving an organisation forward, but true advantage comes from grounding these goals in both emerging market opportunities and the unique talents and strengths of your people.

She talks to Forkliftaction about some of the key pivot points for the company and reflects on what it takes to lead over time and with intention. 

RC: With a degree in export engineering and an MBA, it seems you had an early interest in global trade and production. Was this shaped by watching the growth of the family business, or did it spring from more personal ambitions?

GK: It was probably a combination of both. I grew up in a family business, which means that, in a way, I had a kind of management training around the kitchen table without really being aware of it at the time. 

That said, I chose my education because I was genuinely interested in the subjects involved in becoming an export engineer. I have always been particularly interested in the commercial and financial side of business, but I also found it exciting to combine that with something technical, which is very much part of the environment I grew up in.

When it comes to my MBA, I became increasingly interested in leadership during my first years in the workplace, and I quickly realised that it was something I had a natural flair for. I thought it would be interesting to support that interest with more theory.

At the same time, leading a modern company like Logitrans requires more and more. I wanted to make sure I had the tools I needed to do my job well.

RC: You have a board leadership qualification from the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) and you sit on nine professional boards. In 2022, the Logitrans board was honoured as SMV Board of the Year. What are some of the hallmarks of a healthy board and what qualities from your experience on other boards have you tried to bring to Logitrans?

GK: In my view, a strong and healthy board needs several different things:

First of all, it should consist of the right combination of members – both in terms of personalities and professional competencies. You also need to be able to work well together as a board, and there must be a high degree of trust between the members. 

This is particularly important in an owner-managed company such as ours, where the management team are also owners. Being a board member in such a company can be a very particular role because, in reality, you are responsible for a CEO or management team who also owns the business. This makes personal relationships an important part of good board work.

Competencies are equally important. You need people who understand your business and where you want to take it. You need people on the board you can discuss things openly with, as well as people who bring competencies that may not necessarily exist within your executive team or management group.

And diversity, including gender diversity, is also an important factor. Quite simply, you get more nuanced decisions when different genders and people with different backgrounds are represented around the table.

Finally, a board is only as good as the input you give it. If you really want to get value from your board, you need to equip the members properly. You need to give them the information they need to help make the right decisions.

RC: Following the Global Financial Crisis, Logitrans extended its production to China, before establishing your own production premises in Ningbo in 2011. What new opportunities did this open for the business, and what important lessons did you learn from establishing production in another county?

GK: Production in China did not really open up new business opportunities as such. It was a necessity to survive the financial crisis and to maintain – or regain – our market share. Had we not started production in China, we would not have been competitive.

One of the things we have learned is that, if you want production in another country to succeed, you need to be very present yourself – physically.

You cannot simply travel to China, establish a production facility and then go home and leave everything to the employees you have there. You need to be there regularly, and you need to know your value chain and the people you work with.

Here too, relationships are crucial to long-term success.

RC: Soft skills in leaders can be dismissed as ‘nice to haves’, but scratching below the surface, they can presumably have tangible operational benefits. You’ve shared about your morning walk around the factory and office in Farup to greet employees. What can you pick up from this ritual that you’d never get from a report or meeting?

GK: The atmosphere in the organisation. I cannot get that from a report.

It gives me the personal connection. I get to know the employees, and I get a sense of whether things are very busy or perhaps a little quieter. I can see where help might be needed.

Being close to the employees also makes it easier for them to approach me. It allows me to help preserve the DNA of our company and to guide people and help get things resolved.

RC: You and your sister Dorte were recognised for your leadership throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic. What lessons about uncertainty and resilience did you take from that period that still guide you when facing today’s challenges?

GK: Uncertainty has been a fact of life since the day Logitrans, or Nisap, as it was called when it was founded. My grandparents established the company at the beginning of the Second World War. Since then, we have been through quite a few crises and periods of uncertainty, and by now it feels as though uncertainty is more or less always present to some degree.

We have always been taught that uncertain times are often when you really create change. During COVID, as well as during other crises, we have tried to make the best of the situation.

We have focused on the actions we could take ourselves and developed the business from that mindset: Where are our strengths, and how can we use them in this particular situation?

RC: Looking back on your time as CEO at Logitrans, and the success you’ve had both personally and professionally, how do you view the interplay between having big, bold ambitions and staying open to opportunities as they unfold, shifting the needle incrementally?

GK: I think I was born with a lot of drive, big ambitions and a relatively high willingness to embrace change.

I believe ambitious goals make an organisation move forward. I also believe you need to look at the strengths you have within your organisation and match them with the opportunities in the market. That allows you to make use of a potential that is unique to your company and your organisation.

When the world changes, or something external comes along and disrupts things, I think it is important to hold on to your overall direction and strategy, while at the same time adjusting the route you take to get there.

The way forward has to reflect the world we are living in, and the conditions that change, as you put your strategy into practice.

RC: As we see more role modelling of women in leadership positions, the idea of women supporting other women seems to be gaining traction. From your experience, what can this support look like, and what role does allowing your true self to be seen play in giving others confidence to step up?

GK: Over the years, I have been asked quite a few times to act as a role model for women in leadership, and I am very proud of that. I try to use it in a positive way and hopefully inspire other women to become leaders and board members as well.

I think part of it is simply about telling your own story. How can you put together a working week that allows you to be both a leader and a mother, for example.

For me, my children have always been my first priority. I believe you can only really be a whole person if you also have time for your family and your friends.

Of course, there have been periods during my working life at Logitrans when there was only time for work and family, and friends and other interests had to wait. But for the vast majority of my career, both family and friends have been a high priority. I actually believe that is important if you want to perform well at work.

That is also something I grew up with. My father was never the kind of person who stayed at the office until 8 p.m. He always showed us that family matters and that having a life outside work matters.

If we want more women in leadership, I believe creating room for that is very important. You are not necessarily a better leader simply because you work more hours.

And I believe that, as business owners and leaders, we have a responsibility to create an environment and working conditions that make it possible for both women and men to have leadership positions and still have time for family and life outside work.