• Paul Friedberg

    ...sky is the limit

    A goal in life gives you more than a reason to get up in the morning; an incentive to keep you going all day long. They tend to tap the deepest resources and draw the best out of ones' life. There are very few people in this world who stay focused on their goals from the start, their firm decision and never-say-die attitude make them do unbelievable things. We had the honor to meet such a man who has today made it to the top with the belief that nothing is unachievable in this world.

    Mr. Paul Friedberg grew in one of the first suburbs on the eastern part of Oslo. Mr. Friedberg's father is a Second World War veteran who turned jeweler after the war. He was employed by the largest jeweler in the Oslo city. His mother is a retired nurse. His elder brother, Mr. Robert is a Naval Architect by profession currently working as Managing Director and Partner in Island Offshore A/S in Norway.

    Mr. Friedberg was born in a very tough and competitive environment. He was focused on his goals right from the very start, with a hunger for education he wanted to do something big in life. In his childhood days, he had an inclination towards Mechanical and Marine industry ever since the time he had his first boat at the age of 12 and his first motorcycle at the age of 15. As a student, he made a small business buying, restoring and selling cars from the car auctions in Edinburgh. Mr. Friedberg completed his Bachelor of Science Honours Degree from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland -1980 and PED (Professional Executive Development) from IMD in Lausanne/Switzerland in 1992.

  • Paul Friedberg

    The offshore and marine industry in Norway in the 70s/80s with large and impressive marine projects inspired Mr. Friedberg to work in this industry. The journey to the current position was not easy for Mr. Friedberg, we got quite interested as he mentioned to us his professional journey "I started my career working offshore in the North Sea on the largest platforms in the world for Mobil Exploration from 1981 to 1983 after serving the National Service in the Norwegian Navy. In 1983, I joined for Kværner Rosenberg A/S, Stavanger, Norway and held various positions in that company from design office, business development, project management until becoming Senior Vice President - Sales / Business Development from 1991 to 1995. In this position, I was responsible for filling the order books for the largest Group of Offshore Yard in Norway with a yearly turnover of approx US$ 500 million."

    From 1995 to 1996, Mr. Friedberg was the Managing Director at Kværner Hetland A/S, Bryne, Norway, a company within the Mechanical Sector of Kværner, before moving into the marine business. In 1996, he became Technical Director at Kværner Govan Shipbuilding in Scotland with the objective to make the yard more competitive and profitable within commercial shipbuilding. "In year 2000, Kværner sold the yard to BAE SYSTEM and I moved over to become Program Director for BAE SYSTEM Marine, a Marine Group of Yards under the BAE SYSTEM umbrella employing approx 10,000 workers over three sites in Scotland and England. I was on the Marine Board of Directors and also responsible for the day to day operation of the Govan Yard in Glasgow/ Scotland." In 2002, he joined Goltens as Managing Director forMiddle East and India and Vice President for the Far East Region. In 2005, he became the President for Goltens Worldwide Services, a position that he is holding today. He is responsible for the 21 worldwide Goltens locations.

    "Always try to "Make a Difference" at ones' workplace irrespective of the position; as every effort counts" is what Mr. Friedberg believes in. "Continuous improvement is a must for an industry to evolve and it is everyone's responsibility to contribute to this." Things are never easy; one has to confront obstacles and hindrances to take one step towards a greatest accomplishment which one can cherish through life. Mr. Friedberg shared with us one such greatest accomplishment of his

  • Paul Friedberg

    life. "I had to increase the efficiency of the design / drawing office in Kvaerner Govan Ship New Building Yard in Glasgow/Scotland by converting from manual 2D design / drawing techniques directly to 3D CAD. The project was a grand success. The project was a grand success. What we achieved was our target of becoming a world class shipbuilder by successful reduction in redundant manpower, restructuring and introduction of a changed "office culture". An increased productivity in the design office by 30% through a successful evaluation and logical linked engineering schedule and reduced indirect costs in the design office."

    Mr. Friedberg mentioned that the restructuring and introduction of modern State-of-the-Art design tools resulted in vast improvement in attitude and motivation in a renowned conservative British Shipbuilding culture. "The obstacles were major both in terms of skill level and tradition and both were overcome by creating small teams that became part of the process of choosing both the designtool and the processes involved."

    Marine industry is a field which requires an eye for detail and we enquired from him regarding his perspective about the things which one should never do in this business. Mr. Friedberg gave us golden rules which he feels are the major points that one should look out for "Not informing your organization and management about the business performance while making them responsible for the company's future is a mistake, assume that problems will automatically be resolved by the appropriate personnel dealing with it. With the right corporate governance in place, one would assume that the organization can handle any issues. Unfortunately that is not the case since it is human nature to shy away from problems and finally forgetting the use of rule of a balance reward & punishment."

    After knowing his thoughts on what ones should not do in this business, we got quite interested to know his views on the steps one should take to be successful in life. Mr. Friedberg through his years of experience and exposure in the marine field revealed the mantras for success. "It is important to be sensitive to the working environment and become a good listener. Be pragmatic and not afraid of making extraordinary decisions as well as unpopular decisions. Learn how to

  • Paul Friedberg

    build a management team which consists of personnel with different skills from different industries and cultures, in order to achieve varied inputs for good decision making."

    Someone once said - It's not what's happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather it's your decisions about what you focus on, what things mean to you, and what you are going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny. Decisions taken at one point of time in life makes a lot of difference it can make someone or break someone and it is always a challenge to take the right decisions in life. We asked Mr. Friedberg about his view on making important decisions alone to which he replied, "I agree in this decision, but it is not always black and white. One should seek opinion and if there is a consensus then it is always easier to make a decision. In this way, one also creates ownership to the decision in the organization. However, if there is a wide range of opinions, as a leader, one needs to take a final decision."

    As we moved towards the end of this interesting conversation, we enquired about his hobbies. Mr. Friedberg added that he likes to drive motorbike, play golf when he has time, read, and watch a good film. Taking him into the future we asked Mr. Friedberg to envision himself at the age of 80 we never thought we are to get this fascinating reply "Hopefully look and feel 15 years younger than I really am and do work on my vintage car."

    We asked Mr. Friedberg for his advice to the youngsters who would like to follow his path “Have good self discipline and concentrate in adopting good work ethics during your education and the first years of your working life." is what he said, "Never think that reaching the top is unachievable for you."

    We asked Mr. Friedberg for his advice to the youngsters who would like to follow his path "have good self discipline and concentrate in adopting good work ethics during your education and the first years of your working life." is what he said, "Never think that reaching the top is unachievable for you."

  • Paul Friedberg

    We never wanted this interesting conversation to an end. We ourselves were motivated by his encouraging words and experiences. We wish him a sturdy growth in his life. May his dream to look and feel younger even at the age of 80 come true!!

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