Here is a short interview with Mattias Bengtsson, one of the mentees of Christian Högberg. Mattias is a Senior Manager in Service Management at Tieto in Sweden.
What is the best thing with having access to an Improvement Mentor?
It is to have someone to bounce ideas with and to shift through the priorities. Always when working with improvement there are conflicting priorities. With the mentoring support from Christian one can overcome this.
What value has Christian’s improvement mentorship given…
…you personally?
The value that Christian provides through his mentorship is to support me in my personal insight journey. With his experience and ability to provide point-of-views and questions he helps me in my personal growth.
…your organization?
The effect on my organisation is on improving my leadership with my team, colleagues and the rest of the organisation in providing the necessary clarity to overcome issues at hand. Christian’s strength is to help broadening my perspectives on problems and in effect find better ways to communicate the direction we need to take. The way he works also help in setting priorities in practical matters, which in effect benefits the organisation.
Can you tell us about a moment when it was of great value to have an Improvement Mentor?
It’s hard to say that any specific situation or event has provided additional value add. As I am out after a holistic growth in my leadership, personally and for my organization, it is more to have access to a sounding board in this journey. There has off course been several situations where Christian has helped in creating a focus, this has been when priorities has been stacking up. At this time it definitely has helped to get an outside view of the problems and get input on how get clarity. Christian’s toolkit of prioritization methods and experience in driving improvements has helped a lot. At the end, it is always down to me to set the priorities but with Christian’s support we have found ways to present and communicate these.
What proficiencies do you appreciate in Christian´s role as your Improvement Mentor?
The fact that he has stepped on mines and worked in the trenches of improving business and operations he knows what works when. Also his bottom-less fountain of tools, methods and approaches always is refreshing to access. He has a very didactic way to find ways to apply them and make them meaningful.
An Improvement Mentor is an objective partner that supports and guides you through your improvement journey towards your goals. You mentor also trains you on different methods and tools that makes your improvement journey effective and valuable for all stakeholders. Please contact me if you are interested and want more information. Contact details can be found at the bottom of the page.