Christiansen & Essenbæk: leadership development at two levels

The challenge

In a contracting business, leaders are often appointed because they are highly skilled at the work. They then have to create results through other people, under time pressure and with changing teams.

Leadership development was needed at two levels at the same time: foremen and frontline supervisors close to operations, and salaried managers with broader responsibility for processes, business and customers.

The assignment

• Foundational Leadership for hourly-paid foremen and frontline supervisors making the transition from technical leadership to people leadership.
• Advanced Leadership for salaried managers and middle managers connecting leadership with business, customers and execution.
• A practical learning process built around participants’ own assignments rather than generic cases.

How we worked

Both tracks used action learning. Participants worked on their own assignments between modules and brought their experience back into the programme.

• Action learning based on participants’ own work.
• Buddy work between modules.
• Feedback as a recurring part of the programme.
• Practical assignments between modules.
• 1:1 coaching.

Methods and tools — Foundational Leadership

The track for foremen and frontline supervisors focused on the transition from technical leadership to people leadership.

• Leadership in practice and JTI as a shared language.
• Personal leadership, communication and personal impact.
• High Performance Team Leadership.
• Strategic execution under pressure and process leadership.
• Presentation and teaching skills.

Methods and tools — Advanced Leadership

The historical Advanced Leadership track was a two-year, 12-module programme for salaried managers and middle managers. The structure belongs to this specific client engagement and is not a fixed product sold today.

• Personal leadership, communication and process leadership.
• Business Model Canvas.
• Sales and change leadership.
• Teaching skills and High Performance Team Leadership.
• Strategic execution under pressure.
• Customer workshops and customer-oriented work.

Results and caveat

The documented result is the content and practical learning process delivered across the two leadership levels. Developing frontline and middle managers in the same organisation created a shared leadership language across levels, supporting the translation of management decisions into work on site.

Cronquist Consult has not conducted an independent impact assessment and does not attribute the company’s business results to the development work alone.

The company’s separate programme for crew representatives — VITEK, on-the-job training and the working environment — is documented in a separate Danish specialist case.