'You need to focus less on being in control': Telenor Asia's Head of People

Telenor Asia's purpose centers on creating "better digital lives" for customers across diverse markets. But for Alexander Bøe, head of people & ops, that vision only succeeds when human leadership creates better digital lives internally: for the employees driving transformation.

This requires a fundamentally different leadership approach as technology accelerates. In Bøe's view, the leaders who will define the future aren't those who attempt to control every decision or stay on top of every change.

They're the ones who build empowered teams, protect opportunities for human collaboration, and understand that trust must be nurtured long before transformation begins.

To understand how human leadership shapes people transformation in an organisation committed to improving digital lives, HRD Asia spoke with Bøe about what truly drives people through change, what HR must protect as artificial intelligence (AI) advances, and why less control is essential when technology moves faster than people.

Trust before transformation

Bøe's experience leading people and culture transformation across different markets revealed a pattern: change acceptance depends less on the change itself and more on the groundwork laid long before announcements happen.

"The starting point was realising how much more acceptance change receives when why change needs to happen is backed by facts, data and continuous communication," he says.

However, even strong logic isn't sufficient if the relationship foundation is weak. "It has also been interesting to see how change is perceived differently. My hypothesis is that this, to a large extent, [is] determined by the ability to credibly convey the need for change and the level of trust between the parties involved," Bøe explains.

The timing of trust-building determines whether transformation succeeds or stalls. "That trust needs to be nurtured regularly, not only when the change is about to happen," he notes.

This challenges organisations that invest in communication only when change arrives. By then, employees interpret even well-reasoned explanations through a lens of suspicion.

Mirroring customer diversity internally

Translating "better digital lives" from external promise to internal reality requires deliberate workforce strategy. For Bøe, this starts with representation and capability.

"To serve a varied base of customers to live better digital lives, we need to reflect it by mirroring the customer diversity in our workforce," he says.

"This better enables us to see possibilities and pain points on behalf of our customers."

Understanding customer needs demands that employees continuously build digital fluency themselves.

"We have, for many years, asked every employee to use 40 working hours per year for personal upskilling and development, much of this within digital and technology," Bøe explains.

This 40-hour annual commitment signals that digital capability isn't confined to technical roles. Everyone participates in building the organisation's capacity to deliver better digital lives.

Protecting what makes work human

As AI and automation reshape how work happens, Bøe identifies what human leadership must preserve to keep transformation genuinely human-centered.

"HR leaders must protect the opportunities for collaboration and co-creation," he says.

"While AI, analytics and automation unleashed fantastic opportunities for efficiency and differentiation, more isolated and independent work will take away the benefits [of] solving problems together and working with others. And what most employees would consider the fun part of their jobs."

The risk isn't that technology replaces humans but that efficiency gains come at the cost of connection. When work becomes too isolated, employees lose both the problem-solving benefits and the intrinsic satisfaction of working with others. Human leadership ensures technology enhances rather than eliminates these collaborative opportunities.

Leading across cultures without tightening up

Operating across diverse markets requires alignment despite different cultural expectations and timelines. Bøe's approach emphasises universal human needs over cultural protocols.

"I think people have more similarities than differences. I believe people everywhere want to be heard, respected, and empowered. People like to work with other smart and respectful people," he says. "Being guided by these basics may be useful rather than focusing on what sets us apart."

His advice for cross-cultural leadership rejects excessive formality. "And lighten up and don't tighten up, even when working with people in different cultures. I believe most people like to have a good time and exchange stories and laughs," Bøe explains.

"You are bound to commit some cultural blunders every now and then, but that is part of learning and moving on."

This perspective treats cultural fluency as something developed through genuine interaction, not perfected through anxiety avoidance. Respect and authentic connection matter more than flawless cultural navigation.

When behaviours face their hardest test

Telenor's four behaviours (Always Explore, Create Together, Keep Promises, Be Respectful) provide organisational guideposts, but transformation reveals which principles endure under pressure.

"Our behaviours have been with us for a long time and [are] institutionalised in many processes, ie, on how we assess leaders, candidates and other touchpoints with our people," Bøe says.

One behaviour proves most difficult to sustain during difficult periods. "I think the Create Together is where we most often see challenges, especially when things are tough," he notes. "Instead of dialing up collaboration and co-creation, it is a natural human reaction to become more inward-looking when things become difficult."

Human leadership means actively counteracting this natural tendency. "Constantly pushing for a diversity of thought in solving our most complex challenges and transformation is key in securing good outcomes," Bøe explains.

Organisations often abandon collaborative approaches precisely when they matter most. Leaders who maintain "Create Together" and take wide point-of-views during transformation, not just during stable periods, distinguish themselves.

Getting back to business basics

When asked about HR's evolving role as organisations balance speed, ethics, and employee wellbeing in the digital era, Bøe's answer focuses on earned influence rather than positional authority.

"You get a seat at the table if you have earned it and the business context requires it," he says.

His assessment of how HR has operated is direct. "I think HR has been fantastically bad in creating generic HR strategies, developing our own lingo, and alienating the people and organisations we serve."

The path forward requires abandoning generic frameworks for contextual problem-solving.

"My hope is going back to basic: understand the business, solve actual business problems, strategise, and use data to drive contextual decisions," Bøe explains.

Human leadership in HR means serving organisational needs rather than building elaborate HR systems disconnected from business realities.

Relevance comes from solving actual problems with insight, not from sophisticated but generic strategies.

Why control slows down transformation

For HR leaders trying to build better digital lives within their organisations, Bøe offers advice that challenges traditional leadership instincts but defines what human leadership means in the digital era.

"You need to focus less on being in control," he says. "There is no way any leader can stay on top, or even understand, all changes and everything going on at the same time as [the] pace of change is picking up."

The accelerating pace of change makes comprehensive oversight not just difficult but counterproductive.

"As a leader, you need to build empowered teams and organisations that you trust and let them do what they are good at," Bøe explains.

"To me, that is key to avoid slowing down the technology train."

This defines human leadership for the digital future: creating conditions where others excel rather than attempting to centrally manage every decision.

Leaders who insist on full control become bottlenecks. But leaders who build trust, empower teams, and step back enable organisations to move at the speed technology demands.