Leadership readiness at Umbraco: an in-house academy and leadership in practice

The challenge

Umbraco needed to equip both current and future leaders. The company works internationally and in English, and the development had to suit an organisation that is growing and keeps the customer close to the product.

The assignment

We designed an ambitious programme with several modules over time, in which the leaders trained leadership in practice — also in English — and in which the company's own academy was established as the framework, so that development could continue after the programme.

How the programme was built

• Modules spread over time, so new behaviour could be tried out in everyday work in between.
• Leadership in practice, delivered in English.
• An outdoor-based residential.
• Personal leadership as a thread running through the programme.
• A customer-oriented Customer Deep Dive grounded in Umbraco's own customer culture.
• Several modules delivered online, where that made most sense for the organisation.

Methods and learning arenas

The programme followed the LeaderShop model, which has also been used at e-conomic (today Visma e-conomic A/S) and Jobindex, among others. Methodologically we worked with action learning, changing learning arenas and practical assignments with real content — not purely theoretical modules.

Implementation in everyday work

Between modules the leaders received 1:1 coaching, worked with buddy sparring and completed written assignments. The aim was for what the group trained together to be tested in each leader's own department.

What we take with us

A leadership programme in an international organisation has to work in the company's own working language and its own culture. When the academy framework belongs to the company, development stops being a project and becomes a way of working.

We do not publish figures for the programme's impact, as there is no documented measurement we can refer to.