Meet Kathrine Overgaard Warberg
Table of Contents
Which team and when did you graduate?
Team 12 in 2008
What have you been doing since you graduated as a Kaospilot?
I have been on adventure, worked hard, started a family and specializing in circular economy.
I’ve co-founded a consultancy company ACTIONTANK, worked at a prominent design consultancy firm, lived in Japan to train Kyudo (Japanese archery), co-found Byhøst (CityHarvest) an organization guiding to the wild edibles in the city.
Currently I work as Head of Program for Circular Copenhagen for the City of Copenhagen; a 6-year program with extremely ambitious goals for circular economy, a politically high-profile initiative, close to a billion in budget, 28 defined projects and approximately 45 people working directly on the program.
Community spirit is what it all comes down to.
What is important for you in your job?
I’ve realized that the work I do, must improve the way we use the resources of the planet one way or another. Because this is what gives me purpose on a higher level, and I don’t see long-term perspectives in organizations that don’t.
The challenge must be ambitious, and I thrive with stretch-goals – that sweet spot where you are challenged in a way that requires you to do things differently, not only work harder.
The people around me is what really matters in my job. People who are highly skilled is motivational for me to work with. They keep surprising you.
Last – and maybe most importantly – people I can laugh with. Both in meetings, over coffee and Friday afternoon after work. Community spirit is what it all comes down to.
To work closely with people radically different from me, broadens my perspective in a way that is essential to my leadership today.
What major learnings would you point out from your experience that have shaped you as a leader?
A shift from the entrepreneurial and creative design field, to the public sector – a culture very different from what I knew. put me on a steep learning curve.
When your peers are different from you, it becomes clear what you bring to the table. I find that a homogenous work culture doesn’t challenge one’s blind spot.
To work closely with people radically different from me, broadens my perspective in a way that is essential to my leadership today.
What is your biggest source for inspiration right now?
I study Strategy Execution at Harvard Business School online alongside my work. It is highly inspirational to be with top thinkers and have the time to dive deep into a new field again. With the experience I now have, compared to 15 years ago, new perspectives and understandings emerges rapidly.
How do you mobilize the needed courage? What consequences are you willing to face?
What would would be an example of a learning or an experience from your time at Kaospilot that has been important to you?
At the moment my reflections revolve around how a leader must make difficult choices. This reminds me of a leadership exercise on my second year by Ketan Lakhani; He asked us to write down the names of 5 important people in our life on different pieces of paper. Step by step he asked us to take one piece of paper away – remove one name at the time. This was very challenging and the atmosphere in the classroom when there were only two names left and you had to choose one, was a mixture of desperate laughing and agony.
His point was: if you can’t even do this – a simple exercise – how will you manage the tough decisions you will face as a leader?
This stuck with me. How do you mobilize the needed courage? What consequences are you willing to face?
What is a piece of advice that you would like to give future Kaospilot graduates?
Be a lifelong learner and make sure to shift culture now and then.