Have you ever wondered what it is like to risk it all for an idea, a belief, a notion? I have… it is great!

Leadership is that! Daring to take a big swing at something you believe in though you do not know if it is going to go your way.

I have taken swings at many a things over the years… Somethings I succeeded with and others I didn’t. However, I was allowed to try, thank God. And I won more than I lost! I managed to stay true to myself and I did not have to change who I am to fit into some norm…

Let me give you a few examples:

I tried to reverse the taxation of Cosmetics in Sri Lanka when this changed over night in 2004. I and my team sent a letter to the Minister of Finance to appeal this exorbitant taxation, with the claim that this tax would reduce the number of employees we could put to work as our gross margin went down. I expected little to happen to our appeal. However, after a week the Ministry for Finance called me and asked me if I would be so kind as to meet the Minister for Finance to discuss this issue. I was gobsmacked, and could not say anything other than yes… I went there with my team and argued our case… The Minister said: Fredrik; what do you expect me to do? We need money? People in Sri Lanka are starving, do you have a better idea? I did not… Hard to argue with. The point I am trying to make is that we took it as far as we could. We dared and we tried… On this occasion we were unsuccessful but we took a big swing at it. That in itself is worth its merit!

In Vietnam we suffered greatly when the Vietnamese government in 2006 overnight changed the product registration process for importation of Cosmetics products. From one day to the other it became, literally, impossible to import products to Vietnam. We struggled, all other companies were as bad off as we were. I met the General Director of Customs and asked for a grace period during which we would be allowed to import products. The General Director exteneded a helping hand… He gave all foreign Companies a grace period of 2 weeks…. I was glad but I asked myself and my team; How da hell do we get $ 2,000,000 worth of products into Vietnam in 2 weeks…. especially as these products were going to be imported from Europe. The answer was to fly them in. Costly indeed. We hired a cargo 747 and flew in all the products we needed for the  next six months. Great success…. We were the only Company that managed to respond in time. We dared and we tried and we took a big swing at it – this time we were successful!

In India in 2008 we were suffering from internal challenges in the shape of poor service, politics and back stabbing. We decided to face the challenges head on. In meeting after meeting I explained that politics and bureaucracy did not belong in our Company. That did not help. I went further and I told our retail consultants that if they did not shape up they could shape out… I made people who had tremendous animosity towards each other sit in the same room until they had sorted their problems out. Man, these meetings were horrendous and lengthy. We faced the harsh reality in which were in and we dealt with it. We took risks, we dared and we took a big swing at making it better… And we did! Today the animosity is gone and people struggle to support each other… That took some working on though…..

I am a firm believer in:

• Taking a big swing at it and trying new things – Having guts… You win some and you will ultimately loose some… That’s just the way it is.
• Allowing mistakes – Never discourage anyone for trying and failing. I discourage inactivity
• Great People will accomplish great results – Hence, great remuneration is required!
• Everything is possible! You need to lead the revolution of change.
• In order to get better you need to first be bad. Therefore, you try and try and try again… You can do it!