A leadership journey for the members of Swedish Performing Arts
What distinguishes a good leader? And how can you develop your own leadership talents? Approximately 20 leaders from the Swedish Performing Arts organization got the chance to explore this issue in a customized leadership program along with SSE Executive Education. Here, they tell us about their experiences.
“I think that this kind of training contributes to an increased awareness in the participants about their own leadership qualities. Our members face great challenges, not least financial ones. So we wanted to make sure that they have the right leadership skills needed to manage change, because we’ll be seeing this more and more,” says Maria Liljedahl from Swedish Performing Arts, a trade and employer organization representing more than 100 organizations in the Swedish performing arts.
Members participated in an 11-day program that focused on leadership and leadership development. The program content consists of four modules that center on self leadership, discussion and communication, team leadership, and change management.
Ulf Berglund, marketing director at the Swedish theater Folkteatern, sums up his experience of the program:
– I’ve gained a more expansive view of myself, and this means that I’ve been able to work with a larger group in a more efficient way. I also see an increased amount of initiative-taking and results. And we have more fun, too, he says.
Anna-Lena Wigren, producer and project manager at the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, also expresses her satisfaction with participating in the program, which mainly focused on presentations, workshops and continuous follow-up.
– The leadership program has helped me identify which driving forces I have and why I react in a certain way. This is a good thing to know when you’re leading people in their work, she says.
Many of the exercises that the students practiced during the program are intended to be used in the daily work of any organization.
– I’m thinking, for example, about what’s called reflecting teams. You have a problem that you air out with three other people, according to a special methodology. We’ve done this several times, and it has always been phenomenal, says Håkan Ekman, producer for the Norrbotten Chamber Orchestra.
– It really doesn’t matter how good a strategy you have if you don’t have leaders who can put that strategy in motion. Much of it is about getting people onboard and leading the people you manage, but also influencing people in other parts of the organization and beyond, says Carl Lindeborg, program director at SSE Executive Education.
