“It should be a collaboration”: How Siv leads and works with decarbon-isation
After thirteen years at Ramboll, Siv reflects on the role that a collaborative work environment and impactful projects have played in keeping her professionally fulfilled. As a manager today, Siv empowers her colleagues to do what they love and supports them as they deliver decarbonisation solutions for a sustainable future.
“Good leadership should feel like a collaboration between me and my employees.”
Siv Sigvardsen is an energy engineer and leader at Ramboll. After many years at the company growing her career and helping others do the same, Siv considers how to most effectively lead teams and what is required to bring decarbonisation projects to life. But first, why did Siv move from industry to Ramboll to begin with?
“As consultants, you’re not as reliant on any one company or sector. If there’s a slowdown somewhere there’s growth somewhere else.”
Siv Sigvardsen studied to become an energy engineer and launched her career working in power plants. After working in industry for many years, she began longing for a role where continuous learning was needed and new approaches were wanted. At Ramboll, she found the diversity of projects and tasks that she was looking for.
“There is always something interesting and new to work with,” Siv explains. “I’ve done a lot of work in waste-to-energy and now carbon capture and storage and I like that we have such broad reach in our projects. You can help a lot of companies as a consultant and you can create a lot of real world impact in your field.”
“It is most important to have a career that makes you happy – not just one that looks good on paper.”
As a leader, Siv plays an important role in creating and developing teams. One of her personal joys is helping employees identify what is most motivating for them and then enabling them to focus on those things.
“I try to learn about my team members,” she explains. “I ask them what they are feeling motivated by, what their ambitions are, and what kinds of tasks and projects they find interesting. Most people aren’t motivated by the same thing for their entire career so you need to ask and think about it often.”
“I also really believe that success is subjective and does not look the same for everyone. Success does not mean you have to become a high-ranking leader; some people want that but others want to continue working closely with their expertise. It is most important to have a career that makes you happy – not just one that looks good on paper.”
When it comes to her managing style, Siv thinks of herself first and foremost as a coach. That collaborative approach guides her work with experienced and early career professionals alike.
“I trust that our colleagues can manage their schedules and do their work in the way that works best for them. Of course, they need to meet goals and deliver on their tasks but within those bounds there is a lot of free choice.”
“It’s also important to cultivate an environment where you can have an open dialogue and people feel free to share their ideas and opinions. To me, there are no stupid ideas. Let’s get them all on the table and see what we can use or what makes sense.”
“And that definitely ties into how I view people who are early in their careers. I love getting to introduce them to the professional side of the field and helping them build their practical expertise in parallel with their learning at university.”
“They have a lot of valuable inputs,” Siv continues. “And help us see new ways to use existing tools. It’s a really reciprocal learning experience for us and them.”
“Caring about the work we do is a big part of our work culture”.
“My colleagues bring a positive attitude to work. Maybe that sounds like something you should just be able to expect in a workplace but it’s not always the case,” Siv explains.
“My colleagues like the work they do. They’re good at what they do. They care about what they do. And that attitude of caring about the work we do is a big part of our work culture. It makes it a nice place to work because you can trust that your colleagues will do their best, will support you however they can, will help the team deliver.”
“That dedication is also what creates what I would call our high performing team culture. It’s not elbows out. Everybody contributes and helps get the work done – and that includes the work of thinking differently and elevating our best practice.”
When it comes to experts, Ramboll has many. And while Siv knows that expertise comes with time and experience, it is also often the result of genuine interest in a topic.
“You don’t become an expert overnight. Becoming an expert happens when you are really interested in what you do. Your interest inspires you to dig deeper, refine your skills, and find new applications for your knowledge.”
“The variety of expertise we have here makes me feel excited to do the work we do,” she says. “No matter the question, I have a colleague who can answer it. It means when you’re sitting with a client you can say, ‘Let me find out for you’ and you’re almost always able to find someone at Ramboll who knows about the subject and is willing to help you.”
“Sometimes what we do is behind the scenes. But our projects help reduce CO2 emissions. That inspires me.”
Siv explains that because decarbonisation solutions are still quite new, considerable effort goes into educating clients and the public.
“Within the field of decarbonisation, we do a lot of work around communicating decarbonisation solutions to clients. Carbon capture and storage is still not well understood so part of our job is to help clients understand how decarbonisation solutions work, what their options are, and how the different options will affect their business and emissions. We produce studies where we analyse and show what different decarbonisation solutions will do, for example.”
“And as with many things, there is no one solution that fits all,” Siv explains. “Factors like the environment around the project site, the heating and cooling options in the area, the climate of the project site – it all comes into play.”
“Decarbonising our way of life is one of the most fundamental challenges that humans need to solve in the coming decades. To reach the goals being set by governments around the world we need to collaborate across discipline and industry. I like being part of that work.”
“I’m helping implement solutions that are actively helping us address the climate crisis”.
Siv’s passion for decarbonisation keeps her motivated.
“We need to do whatever we can. And we have decarbonisation strategies today that work and that are helping us reduce the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.”
“Of course, technologies will continue to be developed,” she continues, “and that is a great thing. But I’m proud of the fact that today, I’m helping implement solutions that are actively helping us address the climate crisis.”
Want to know more?
Siv Sigvardsen
Team Leader
M: +45 51 61 83 92