In a globalized and rapidly changing world of increasing complexity and uncertainty, organizations need to have the ability to attract, develop and retain competent leaders, which makes competence and leadership development a priority area.

Seminar 4 March

We share our key insights from four years of research and practical development. You will get inspiring examples from different businesses with concrete principles and tools that can directly strengthen leadership in your organization.

Conference 15th – 16th June

Welcome to the two-day DLCC 2026 – Developing Leadership Capacity Conference, where leadership development is in focus based on international research and practitioners from Sweden and abroad. The participants' own challenges are in focus and the program includes lectures and in-depth work sessions.

Introduction

In the project researchers have been in partnership with about ten Swedish organizations and conducted national telephone interview with more than 1,300 private and public organizations. Through this collaborative work we have created new knowledge of how leadership development is organized, perceived and put into practice. Through the project, we have deepened our understanding that leadership development requires systematics and integration. It is about working consciously and long-term with different ways of working that are linked to the organization's purpose, while at the same time reflecting on the assumptions and ideas that affect the design. A leadership development system encompasses the working methods that promote the development of leadership adapted to the purpose, context and changing needs of the business.

In-depth case studies

Lessons learned from close collaboration with these organisations show that leadership development must be tailored to organisational conditions and individual needs. The activities and methods used must be continuously tested, strengthened or phased out depending on relevance. Better to stick to a well-thought-out method than to constantly change. We have developed a set of success principles, questions and tools to work more systematically with leadership development. Our hope is that they will serve as a compass for a more curious and reflective way of working and open the way towards sustainable and successful leadership development.

National survey on leadership development

In the autumn of 2024, we conducted a national survey with just over 1300 businesses. The aim was to find out how Swedish organizations organize their leadership development. The survey was conducted via telephone interviews and is about mapping the most important activities and what is being done to improve leadership. The national survey shows that the most regularly used are management meetings, development talks and improvement work. In-depth analyses show that the organizations with the strongest financial results value five business-related methods primarily; management meetings, group reflections, development discussions, improvement work and temporary assignments.

For more information, read the publication: Handbok för systematisk ledarskapsutveckling External link, opens in new window.

Commissioned Education: Designing Operational Leadership Development: From Activities to Systems

We are currently developing a short and practice-based contract training for organizations that want to strengthen their work on developing leadership as a system, not as individual activities. The training provides participants with:

  • An understanding of what a leadership development system is and why it creates value to see it as a whole integrated into the business.
  • Concrete methods and tools for designing, evaluating and improving business-related leadership development.
  • Opportunity to work with your own organization's needs and create a first version of a systemic development approach.

If you are interested, please contact Sofia Kjellström for more information.

Current activities and results

For more information

Information LDS-project > pdf, 380.8 kB, opens in new window.

Sofia Kjellström
Gunilla Avby