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Executive Managing Director Europe Distribution - Secondary Education
I’m Ann-Kristin, I am from Sweden and am currently located in Stockholm. I started off as an engineer with a computer science background and worked several years with software design before I decided I wanted to learn more about business and went to the US for a Masters of Business Administration. I work at Cummins, where we design and manufacture engines, power systems and components that go into trucks, buses and various industrial equipment. At Cummins, I lead our sales and service business in Europe, with offices in 15 countries and distributors and dealers in the rest of the European region. My team helps customers find products and solutions to run their business, and we also help them maintain and repair their equipment.
Meet the professional
My team is located all across Europe and is responsible for selling engines, power generators and for providing aftermarket support, which means selling spare parts and providing service for our customers around the region. The products we sell are technically complex and those who design, manufacture, sell and service our products have strong technical knowledge and skills – I have over 1,000 people in my organization, everything from engineers to sales people, project managers, warehouse managers and service technicians.
As a leader of this team, I need to have a very good understanding of what our customers are looking for in our products, how to make sure we provide the right product for their application, and how to support them when something needs service or breaks down.
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Skills
Critical Thinking
"Assessing our performance as an organization, identifying issues and opportunities."
Collaboration
"Most of our critical projects and decisions require collaboration across multiple teams and countries."
People Management
"Having the right people in the organization and ensuring the team is working effectively together is critical to success."
Strategic Planning
"We need to be clear on strategic priorities in order to use our resources effectively."
Curiosity
"I'm always interested in people's experiences and what's going on around us, whether it's customers, colleagues or the markets in which we operate – this is a great guide when it comes to people and business management."
Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
"Maturity, openness to input and good judgment when it comes to both people and business is critical when it comes to continue growing and having a successful organization and business."
Advice to take away
There are so many fields of study, jobs and different career paths that it is hard to give specific advice. Some things to think about is what kind of things you enjoy most at school or outside school and how this relates to different kinds of jobs and careers. Even though you may think STEM careers are about science, technology, and math, in this job I mostly work with people, bringing them together to solve problems. Talk to as many people you can find in those fields where you have an interest and learn from them how they got there, what they do day-to-day, what they like and don’t like about their job.
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Disclaimer
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Also supported by Scientix®, an initiative of European Schoolnet.