Last week Senzime’s shares were admitted for trading on Nasdaq Stockholm’s main market and NLS asked its CEO about leadership, being a female CEO and about Senzime’s achievements so far.

Senzime develops and markets CE- and FDA cleared patient monitoring systems driven by algorithms and sensors to closely monitor patients under anesthesia. The company’s system TetraGraph digitally and continuously measures the degree of neuromuscular blockade in the patient.

A global company

Commenting on Senzime being listed on the main market, Pia Renaudin, CEO, says it is a fantastic milestone.

“Senzime is today a global company with its own sales force in US and Germany, we have licensees in Japan and Europe and we have distributors in other important markets. We have delivered hundreds of TetraGraph systems to operating rooms worldwide and new clinical guidelines support our cutting-edge technology that helps eliminate the many millions of anesthesia-related complications that patients experience each year,” she says.

Being a female CEO

Communications consultancy company Paues Åberg has taken a look at the number of female CEOs of companies that has moved from First North to the Main market and found that last year, every forth CEO was a woman and so far this year, around every tenth is a woman. During the last five years, the average is that every tenth CEO is a woman.

Why do you think that female CEOs of companies listed on the Nasdaq main market are clearly an uncommon occurrence? And how could we create the conditions to get more women to take on these leadership roles?

“One of the reasons can be a lack of female role models, not just for women themselves but also for recruiters and decision makers. In my case the recruiter saw that I was more ready for the role than what I thought myself. I would really like to see recruiters and boards always try to put together a more varied pool of candidates. That way they don’t miss the best people because they’re searching too narrowly. It is also important that women dare to take a chance when new opportunities come up, even early on in their careers,” says Pia Renaudin.

“Today, women only make up a quarter of public companies’ senior management. We’ve been moving forward on this over the past ten years, but at the CEO and board levels it’s been stagnant. This is ultimately a matter for owners.”

“Challenges are important and a good way to develop for all forms of leadership. In certain cases, you need to switch sector or industry. Just that in particular has given me a great breadth of experience to tackle new challenges, which benefits me a lot in my current role. Today, women only make up a quarter of public companies’ senior management. We’ve been moving forward on this over the past ten years, but at the CEO and board levels it’s been stagnant. This is ultimately a matter for owners,” she says.

“Impossible is just an opinion”

We asked Pia Renaudin how she would describe her leadership style and she said that her personal aspiration, which is to inspire people to make a difference and a long-lasting impact, drives the way she manages her teams.

“I try to create an environment where we are moving mountains every day and having fun while doing it.”

“I believe that collaboration is a prerequisite for success and that it’s important to show personal responsibility and integrity. The key success factors for our business are to prioritize resources to areas where you can win and grow, focus on the right markets and manage both quick wins and long-term strategic objectives. And, of course, to deliver on commitments to our investors. So, my favorite quote is “Impossible is just an opinion.” I try to create an environment where we are moving mountains every day and having fun while doing it,” says Pia Renaudin.

 

Pia Renaudin

Pia Renaudin. Photo: Senzime

 

What was your thought process prior to accepting the role of CEO at Senzime?

“I immediately thought that Senzime was a very exciting company. Having worked in larger companies for the larger part of my career, I was attracted by the opportunity to lead a smaller organization during a phase of strong growth and expansion,” she says.

“It was actually the recruiter who believed I was more ready than what I thought myself! My hope is that more women dare to accept CEO positions.”

“Had I known how much I would appreciate my incredibly varied tasks, the dynamic of working with a board of directors and of course communicating with owners I wouldn’t have hesitated for a second. It was actually the recruiter who believed I was more ready than what I thought myself! My hope is that more women dare to accept CEO positions,” concludes Pia Renaudin.