Elite Network Building Through Board Positions

"The older man at the short end of the table clears his throat and adjusts his square-rimmed steel glasses. A striped shirt is glimpsed under a simple black sweater. Nothing suggests that Ingvar Kamprad has built one of the most well-known companies in the Western world, Ikea. When the murmuring among the comparatively casually dressed board members—shirts but no ties—subsides, he continues in a serious tone: "On the agenda today are some important matters regarding the establishment in Russia." Stefan Persson listens attentively. He has been elected to the board of Ingka Holding BV, one of the most important companies in the Ikea sphere, located in Holland. Now he gets to sit at the same table as the world-famous Småland native. Later, he talks about it in an interview: “It was a privilege to be on Ikea’s board. Hopefully, I also contributed something. It is obviously a company I admire a lot.”[95](private://read/01jas9tvg84jycb27616w1f9k8/#note-95)"

"There are many meetings now. Stefan Persson has taken the time to commute between several boardrooms outside of H&M for a couple of years. He cannot say no when the Wallenberg family calls and gives him a seat on the board of the appliance company Electrolux, where Jacob Wallenberg, among others, sits. Wallenberg has been a leading industrial family for a long time, and there is a lot to learn from that experience. The family controls a dozen Swedish large corporations the size of H&M, such as Ericsson, Electrolux, and Saab, but without serving as CEOs. Typically, they govern as board members instead."

"The dress she is wearing is powder gray with a gold medallion pattern, features a one-shoulder design, and has a long train. It is a dress that makes headlines in the fashion press where the celebrated guests’ choice of dresses is scrutinized closely. It is the first time the Crown Princess wears a dress from H&M at a Nobel party.[200](private://read/01jas9tvg84jycb27616w1f9k8/#note-200) Supermodels in the 1990s, world celebrities in the 2000s and now Sweden's future head of state - how has Stefan Persson succeeded in getting royalty to wear H&M clothes? As H&M's business successes have grown, so has Stefan Persson’s reputation among the country’s economic and political elite. But he has made a special effort to create good relations with the royal house, both privately and in business."

"whenever I met someone, I would try to do something for them."

"I saw how he would focus first on creating a real relationship and would then constantly look for ways to give, not take."

"He seemed simply to ask himself, “What can I do for them?” Sometimes this was a kind word or a piece of advice; sometimes it was an introduction to someone else; sometimes it was a book that he would send as a gift and as a way of saying that he was thinking of that person."

"I’ve repeatedly observed how he looks to see what he can do for others, not the other way around."