Oxford conversations on ownership: Camilla Hagen Sørli

Mary Johnstone-Louis (MJL): Camilla, welcome to the Oxford Conversations on Ownership. I wanted to kick off by asking you about an area where you've put a lot of your personal expertise and support, which is the SHE Community. So what is SHE Community and why is it important to you?

Camilla Hagen Sørli (CHS): SHE Community is an organisation that was founded to move forward the agenda of diversity and inclusion, to close the global gender diversity gap. The effect of COVID 19 has increased the years it will take, from 99.5 years to 135.6 years, according to the World Economic Forum. We believe this is way too high, and we're attacking this issue from many angles. One of the most important is to promote more women in leadership; we do know that investing in women is a key solution to positive development. I’m also the mother of two daughters; I want for them to be able to follow their dreams, reach their goals and have the same opportunities as their brothers.

MJL: You're an owner of Canica AS; what are the headlines that our listeners should know about Canica AS and its major businesses?

CHS: Canica AS is a family investment company based in Oslo, Norway, and also in Switzerland. We are mainly in fast-moving consumer goods, retail, e-commerce, and real estate, in addition to a financial portfolio mostly exposed to health, solving many of the large health problems that we see today. I'm the second generation; my father was the founder, and we are all present together in the company.

MJL: Tell us more a little bit about your role; what does it mean for you in terms of your day-to-day? What's your role at the moment?

CHS: I'm one of the owners and second-generation, working for most of my career inside of the company. For the last year, I’ve had an operating role in our largest asset, which is providing me with the opportunity to understand the company from the inside, to connect and build important insights and connections with employees, and to understand the context from an angle that I believe is crucial for us to become as good owners as we can be. I do have board commitments and a very strong passion as an owner to drive the agenda of keeping us relevant in the future. I do believe that ownership equals responsibility but it's also an opportunity to drive positive impact. Companies are vehicles for change, and how we govern our ownership does matter. It matters in the aspect of taking care of existing workplaces, but also, in a rapidly changing world, creating new ones.

MJL: We hear so much about long-term thinking, long-term ownership; what does that mean to you?

CHS: It allows us to take more risk and to invest in the critical solutions needed for the company to succeed tomorrow. It provides us with perspective. On the other hand, we sometimes can be too long-term and lack a sense of urgency and entrepreneurial spirit. I think it's both pros and cons and in combination, it's a successful formula to apply the long-term vision but with an entrepreneurial mindset and a kind of eagerness to be a little bit impatient.

MJL: What kinds of time horizons are responsible owners talking about?

CHS: I believe the true visionary leaders manage to make choices that keep them relevant in a long-term perspective even though the choices are not that popular at that moment. But listed companies, you know, you have to meet your monthly targets so the really critical factor is how to incentivise management to think long-term.

MJL: Why is it important for business schools to begin to do more with the topic of ownership?

CHS: Business schools have to adapt for the future. 70 percent of global GDP comes from family-owned businesses. So ownership is really here to stay, and I believe that the way that owners pursue their responsibility, power, and ownership governance has changed. They are more active than before and need to be educated. It's critical for owners to understand how to drive the companies forward in the best possible way, both for the company themselves, but also for the world and this society in general.

MJL: Going back to SHE Community, are you optimistic about the future of women in family businesses?

CHS: I have to say yes because I'm engaged in the agenda. My sister and I grew up in the family business, and for us, it's been completely natural to become women leaders; but in other family businesses, in the whole business sector, it has been mostly male dominant. Lots of research shows that diverse teams, management groups, boards, and also, ownership groups, perform better than non-diverse teams. Diversity fuels innovation and will make us steadier for the years ahead. I think our biggest asset in being leaders and owners is humility, understanding our humility, and challenging the status quo.