Strategy, leadership and execution at Entreprenørselskabet Nordkysten – a multi-year development partnership

A multi-year development relationship

The relationship dates back to at least 2017 and has covered strategy and leadership development, leadership team development, organisational and business development, culture and values, strategy and execution, 1:1 Executive Business Coaching and film and video production.

The strength of the case lies in the combination and continuity: several interventions that connect and build on one another over time.

Connecting leadership and business

Leadership development and strategy were worked on together. The ambition was to connect the human side of leadership with the commercial and operational side of the business – people, leadership and culture with business, strategy and execution.

In practice, this meant linking leadership behaviour, collaboration within the leadership team, values and culture with strategy, business development, organisational processes, resources and execution.

Recurring strategy and leadership development

A central part of the relationship has been recurring strategy and leadership development with the leadership team – typically as annual 1½-day residential workshops. The workshops started from the company's actual business situation rather than a standard course.

• Collaboration and trust in the leadership team, leadership roles and shared leadership
• Values and culture
• Strategy, business development and organisational priorities
• Resources, processes, execution and follow-up

Developing the leadership team

An important track was developing the leadership team itself – a small, senior group. Themes included stronger internal relationships, trust, shared responsibility, collaboration across business areas, roles, meeting structure and discipline, communication, common direction and less sub-optimisation.

A documented example is the 2019 development process: a shared values day, a subsequent leadership workshop, individual 1:1 conversations, follow-up with the leadership team and a structured annual leadership cycle with two planned leadership gatherings a year.

The leadership team development was tied directly to the business – not a stand-alone team-building exercise.

Values and culture

Nordkysten and Cronquist Consult worked with shared values around credibility, cohesion, responsibility and solution orientation – and with translating those values into concrete, everyday leadership behaviour.

The work is an example of culture development through behavioural anchoring and leadership role-modelling.

From strategy to execution

The work connected leadership behaviour and culture with strategy, business development, priorities, measurable goals, leadership reporting, resources, processes, support systems, next steps, responsibilities and timelines.

A guiding question was, in essence: how does what we want to achieve connect with what we actually do in the leadership team?

Practical development and personal commitments

The approach was built on personal accountability and action learning: individual reflection, cases from participants' own leadership practice, personal development and training areas, buddy reflection, individual commitments and follow-up at later leadership gatherings.

At the 2019 workshop, leaders reflected on what they had done differently or better in the preceding months – as a standing part of the follow-up rather than a measurement.

Multi-year 1:1 Executive Business Coaching with the COO

Alongside the collective work with the leadership team, the relationship has included multi-year 1:1 Executive Business Coaching with the COO – confidential sparring on leadership, business, strategic priorities, decision-making, personal leadership and organisational challenges.

The content of the coaching is confidential.

The combination of collective development (strategy workshops, leadership team, values, leadership dilemmas and execution) and individual development (coaching, reflection and personal commitments) is a key part of what makes the case strategically relevant.

“Mads & Monopolet” – real-life leadership dilemmas

“Mads & Monopolet” – a half-day leadership session with the management team built around real-life management dilemmas. Rather than discussing leadership only in theory, genuine dilemmas from management practice were brought into a structured forum for reflection, perspectives and possible actions.

Its value lies in its practical relevance and its connection to actual leadership situations. The dilemmas themselves are confidential.

Organisational and business development

The work extended beyond interpersonal leadership: future capabilities, support systems, resource coordination, processes, competence and leadership development, and implementation.

The possibility of an in-house academy, e-learning and systematic competence development was explored as part of the organisational development work – not as an academy implemented by Cronquist Consult.

Film and video for NKEL

The relationship also included film and video: instruction and training videos for NKEL, the collaboration between Nordkysten and Eltel. Cronquist Consult's contribution was therefore not limited to workshops and coaching, but also covered communication and training media where relevant.

What the Nordkysten case demonstrates

The case demonstrates Cronquist Consult's experience with long-term client relationships in a construction and infrastructure business: leadership team development, strategy and execution, leadership development, executive business coaching, organisational and business development, culture and values, action learning, real-life leadership dilemmas, implementation and follow-up, and film as support for training and communication.

The case describes documented activities, methods and follow-up. There is no approved client statement, and the case claims no measured or financial effects.