It is now 1 year ago I launched Leadmore ®. Through the year I have supported clients creating progress and performance improvements within the 5 main services areas:

• Value-adding leadership
• Strategy and business models
• Mentor support and coaching
• Strategic B2B sales
• Board work

The experience base has been increased and can benefit others. External inspiration and sparring is often the strongest driver of change and value growth.

Press release November 8, 2012

Kohberg offensive

Kohberg aims to be the customers’ preferred supplier of bread, no matter where they buy or enjoy it. To achieve this, Kohberg merges all in all 4 companies into one strong company and assigns a new CEO who knows the industry in depth and has a proven track record.

Mads Middelboe appointed chairman of the board of Telecare Service A/S

5. July – 2013

Following CataCap’s recent investment in Telecare Service A/S Mr. Mads Middelboe has been appointed chairman of the board of the company.

In Denmark, it is mandatory to establish a board of directors for all limited companies as well as limited liability companies, which for more than three years have had more than 35 employees. Out of Denmark’s approximately 80.000 limited liability companies only 1.000 need to comply, however the actual number having a board is around 12.000 – this indicates that many founders and owners of midsized and smaller companies have acknowledged the value of voluntarily establishing a professional board.

JO Informatik is an example from my own board portfolio – a small Danish software company that designs and develops digital archives and software for digital administration. Three years ago, the founder and CEO Jesper Olsen decided to establish a professional board of directors and since then the value creation has accelerated significantly. Revenue has grown 66% over the last two years, a negative result has turned positive and the company consistently executes on the strategy, which recently has paved the way for an entry into the Norwegian market.

I would like to share some selected highlights from an article on JO Informatik’s experiences:

I have previously focused on the trend of board professionalization and competent teams. Recently, I read a really good book on the subject, which I would like to tip you about. Lars Bo Hansen and Steen Ernland have written "The Active Board", which focuses on how the board can develop the business and create competitiveness. 

The book’s 250 pages are easily read, but it does certainly not make it worse. It is at eye level and catches the reader with concrete punchlines - a book that you do not easily leave on the bookshelf.

No longer only about management - leadership will make the difference 

The book points out new guidelines for the modus operandi of the board. Without slackening control, more focus must not surprisingly be forward-looking, which puts greater demand on the board leadership itself. It is no longer only a question of management with focus on plans, control and doing the right things. Now leadership it is evenly important to ensure execution and that right things are done right. The book provides concrete input for the board composition based on both individual professional skills and collaborative skills relating to the team in question. A steady stream of real life examples are turned into checklists for the board’s own reflections, and not least its self-evaluation.

Results are created by the teams we lead, but many managers experience that it can be hard to make the great plans actually happen. As a corporate leader myself, I have experienced how you can be trapped in the treadmill of KPI-management and new plans, when the first plan hasn’t shown the expected results – thus, why I could not find adequate time to perform my leadership role. Whilst owner-managers typically aren’t burdened by corporate treadmills, they are up to their eyes in daily hands-on tasks and firefighting. In both cases an active board could play a decisive role in unfolding involving and value-adding leadership.

Private equity governance has for years set the route for management professionalization with industrial advisors on their board teams. As any other business, they however also from time to time experience that even the best plans fail due to lack of execution skills for which leadership is key. Thus, a leadership advisor approach may be maturing as a supplement to their classical industry advisor approach – what do you think?

Clear trend on board professionalization and competent teams

Private equity funds have long been at the forefront when it comes to professionalization and composition of board teams based on business challenges and competence needs, rather than classical networking relationships. With a typical exit horizon of 4-7 years and clear ambitions to maximize value creation during the ownership period, it has been natural to introduce new management paradigms from top to bottom of the management systems.

The employees create value through the customers, but skilled owner-managers nevertheless find it difficult to get the good plans to actually take place. They are often buried in daily hands-on chores. Here, an active and professional board with wide leadership experience can provide a competency allowance for redemption of employees' full potential - even at reasonable prices. 

Private equity funds have long been at the forefront when it comes to professionalization and composition of board teams based on business challenges and competence needs, rather than classical networking relationships. 

With a typical exit horizon at 4-7 years and clear ambitions to maximize value creation during the ownership period, it has been natural to introduce new management paradigms from top to bottom of the management systems.

Need for speed and skills

Examples of this are, when private equity funds already during the acquisition process have made extensive fact analysis, so they up front can set the right board and management team to execute the strategic and operational tasks as defined for the ownership period. Or they turn from comparing oneself with the nearest competitors to world class benchmarking, and long democratic decision making processes are replaced by short fact based decision making processes. Last but not least, their ability to handle large amounts of complexity under very tight deadlines.

With the right competencies on the board team, it is also natural and moreover fruitful, that boards engage more closely in management sparring and business development projects - of course with due regard to the principles and recommendations for good corporate governance.

During some years now, there has been significantly increased focus and activity level on board member recruitments, educations and networks. One might almost say that a "board market" has emerged. It is of course positive with the establishment of an "eco-system" for stimulation of value creation in Danish board rooms and thus also the competitiveness of the Danish economy. 

However, I have also noted that the market place naturally has led to a continuous flow of creative business models, where companies build on profit based network activities and board educations. 

Competition is strong with no shortage of cold canvassing with varying quality and different price offers for the same product from the same provider – some even offer education with a guaranteed board seat upon completion. I am not saying that the market lacks quality educations and networks, but transparency is yet low as to quality and price, and thus value for money.

Pressrelease June 29, 2012                                                         

Mads Middelboe new Chairman of the Board at Kohberg Bakery Group 

Mads Middelboe joins as of today Kohberg Bakery Group A/S as Chairman of the Board and supersedes the founder of the KOFF Group Preben Fogtmann. The new chairmanship is part of a gradual generational handover, which during recent years has transferred the KOFF Group to Preben Fogtmann’s two sons Jesper and Per Fogtmann.

Kohberg Bakery Group is the mother company for Kohberg Brød A/S, Kohberg Foodservice A/S og H.C. Andersen Bagergården A/S, and Mads Middelboe enters as chairman for these companies as well. 

Mads Middelboe is 52 years old and has served 8 years as CEO for TDC Mobile Nordic and Group Management Board Member at TDC. Previously, he had a 15 years long fast moving consumer goods career with SCA Hygiene Products AB, where he before joining TDC was responsible for European Customer Management.