"My aim has always been for the financial aspect to take up as little room as possible"

He is punctual, well-prepared and has a CV with over two decades of managerial experience. He arrives at the interview in a black suit and light blue shirt, and at first glance Lasse Munk Madsen looks like someone whose dreams feature process optimisation, digitisation and financial management.

For the past 14 years, he has been deputy finance director at Aarhus Tech. He is now taking over as head of the administrative centre at Health, which consists of 200 employees in eight units at HR, Estate Facilities, Finance, IT, Communication, Studies Administration, Graduate School and the Dean’s Office.

The day-to-day job will be fairly recognisable for Lasse Munk Madsen when he begins as administrative centre manager in May. He remains in the educational sector, and both his former place of work - Aarhus Tech on Halmstadgade - and Aarhus University were designed by C.F. Møller and built in the characteristic yellow brick. But mentally, it will be something of a change. There is a big difference between a vocational school offering courses for skilled workers and types of upper secondary school programmes and the Faculty of Health in the University Park.

For this reason Lasse Munk Madsen is also planning a softly-softly approach.

"For me it’s important to understand the context I’m part of, so I won’t be presenting a big programme after a fortnight. I'm looking forward to getting a feel for the place and seeing what’s going on in the organisation, and I'm very much looking forward to getting to know the people here. What do employees want help with, what are they struggling with, how are things usually done and what interests people? That’s what I’m looking forward to finding out."

The purpose of the workplace means a lot 

Lasse Munk Madsen will be head of eight line managers. Together with them, his job is to create the best possible framework for ensuring that Health can educate talented students and deliver high-level research. Among other things, he will ensure a healthy financial situation at the faculty and that the administrative solutions are the best in support of the faculty's academic objectives. One particular focus area is the buildings and their finances, as he will be part of Health's ambitious growth plan for new buildings and the renovation of laboratory buildings.

"Economy is really exciting, but my goal has always been for the financial aspect to take up as little room as possible in an organisation. Very few organisations have finances as their core area, and when it only takes up a little room, this is because it works,” says the 54-year-old Master of Science in Economics and Management (MSc.). 

He has never been a fan of career planning and applied for the job of administrative centre manager for the classical reason — that after 14 years at Aarhus Tech he wanted to try something new.

Instead of career plans, he has milestones. It means a lot to Lasse Munk Madsen that the workplace has a purpose and a culture that he can identify with. 

"I've worked in a listed company. It was good to try, but I don't think I'll go in that direction again. Being in an organisation that has a different purpose than earning money for shareholders appeals to me more and more. It gives a different kind of peace of mind and an opportunity for more long-term solutions when you’re not always having to think about the bottom line at the end of the quarter," he explains.

Not hired to undertake a turn-around

At Aarhus Tech, Lasse Munk Madsen had personnel responsibility for 100 employees. That number is now doubled. His leadership style is characterised by freedom with responsibility and direct communication, as he explains:

"I'm definitely a person who is very results-oriented. You have to be aware of your tasks and results – and here I don’t compromise. But I’m also someone who creates results together with others. In my world, the group comes before the individual. My fundamental philosophy is that the majority of people go to work each day to do a good job, so I try to understand the context they work in and what is at play. I’m in favour of getting the problems in the open and having a discussion about how we can work together to solve them."

He is also driven by challenges.

"I’d rather have dialogue than stodgy, written workflows. Some people like regular operational tasks that are repeated year after year, but I don’t. I prefer change. To create something new or change what we have," he says.

But will he also change a lot at Health?

"My guess is that I won't. It wasn’t one of the central themes in my appointment process. I haven’t been hired to undertake a turn-around or a new organisational culture, so I’d be surprised if I’m tasked with anything revolutionary."

His nerdy side

One of Lasse Munk Madsen's next challenges will be getting to know the Faculty of Health. Here he is not planning to limit himself to the administration.

"I'm always professionally curious. The first director who employed me at TDC believed that his economists should have an understanding of technology. And I've taken this motto with me – you need to know what you're dealing with," he says.

"I'm not going to be doing dental fillings, but I'm looking forward to meeting people in completely different professions and finding out what they're passionate about, how their routines work, and how I can help them do their job better."

This curiosity also means that the book he is reading at the moment is The Modern Data Warehouse in Azure, which is about cloud-based solutions. 

"It's my nerdy side. One of my areas of responsibility at Aarhus Tech was Business Intelligence, and when we hire consultants, it's good to be able to challenge them in their area. I once also had to read a book about transport protocols in fibreoptic cables, because as an economist I had to take part in a project on this."

But there are also other books on the bedside table. Although Lasse Munk Madsen has found his niche in management and economics, he dreams of much more than process optimisation and budgets.

"I read a lot, everything from crime novels to historical books and biographies. I’ve recently read the historical criminal novels behind the TV series Babylon Berlin, but unfortunately the final two books have only been published in German, and my German is a little too rusty."

As administrative centre manager, Lasse Munk Madsen will report to the faculty's dean and the university's director. Would you like to know more about his job? Read the job advertisement for the position here (in Danish).

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What do you do in your leisure time?

I go to a boxing gym at BM Boxing in Viby. It’s a fantastic club because there are young and old, men and women, people with long or short educations, with lots or no tattoos, and we’re all there for the boxing. It's not about hitting each other, we mostly train using the heavy or speed bag. Because I'm not built to run at all, I’ve had to do something else to stay in shape, and I like the physical exhaustion that boxing gives you.

What makes you happy?

When I look out over the city in the sunshine from our rooftop terrace, as I did this morning. Then I think it’s going to be a good day.

What makes you angry?

When people don't respect other people and limits – or when someone steps on people to promote themselves.

Who would you most like to eat dinner with?

Frederik Andersen, the first Danish ice hockey goalkeeper in the NHL. I’ve got a background as an ice hockey goalie, and I trained many times a week until I turned 17 and had to get serious about my upper secondary school education. But how would life have been, if you had the skills and courage to follow that path? That would be very interesting to hear about.

What is your guilty pleasure?

My favourite thing to eat is KEX, a Swedish chocolate bar. It consists of a crispy waffle coated with milk chocolate, and if I can get my hands on one, I always buy it.

What is your favourite place in the world?

Corsica. It's an incredibly beautiful island and a nice place to be. Although Corsica belongs to France, the island is closer to the Italian coast, and I really like the mix of the two cultures. You can be in a small village that’s very French, and then drive for ten kilometres to an Italian village. We’ve been on summer holiday there for many years, so for me it’s a place with many good memories.