Good leaders are a crucial factor in the creation of a successful organization where people create value every day and at the same time can develop their full potential.

“Our leaders must know their co-workers, hold a dialog with them about how they can best develop both themselves and the company, and thus show the way without being in the way. This requires a special sort of leadership where you have to dare to relinquish control”, says Eva Hansdotter, HR Direktör, People and Organizational Excellence.

“The question is not whether we have employees who have the potential to achieve great things, we do – the question is how we can best liberate this potential. Because it requires both reflective leadership and new and innovative ways of working”, says Eva Hansdotter.

The Stena Leadership Program (SLP) and GROW have been important steps in the development of this type of leadership. In the last two years, 140 persons have participated in SLP and 100 in GROW. In the case of SLP, yet another course with 20 participants will be held at the beginning of next year, while GROW is being held on an ongoing basis. All leaders at Stena are also able to build on their expertise with courses and programs in Stena Leaders’ Menu.

“Our investment in leadership continues, but we are now adding yet another pillar – new ways of working in order to seize opportunities in the future”, says Eva Hansdotter.

The new ways of working involve to a large degree collaboration across borders, which is also a theme for this year’s Sphere Forum. Collaboration could, for example, take place in networks, project organisations and expert communities within or outside the company where employees participate in temporary projects and constellations parallel with their normal work.

“Today, we’re very good at developing what we are already doing in order to be even faster and to raise quality – what we call Core Innovation. But in order to create truly transformative innovations, we need to work in other ways and challenge our present way of thinking. This means constantly developing oneself and thinking in new ways, not just in fits and starts, but also continuously in one’s everyday work”, Eva Hansdotter points out.

To be able to inspire, support and develop new ways of working, Eva’s own organisation is undergoing a transformation. “We are introducing a “Digital Transformation Lab” which, under Annika Elfström’s leadership, will function as a virtual networking organisation. That is, we are not increasing any of our own resources; instead, we are working together with persons out in our companies, who will spend part of their time in the lab. At both Stena Line and Stena Bulk and Business Administration, there are already persons ready to connect with the lab.

“In future numbers of SfärNytt, we will be talking more about both this and the different initiatives we are taking to change our way of working – for example, Stena Challenge, Stena Turntable and the Digital Transformation Lab”, says Eva Hansdotter

TOPICAL RIGHT NOW – LEADERSHIP

• Stena Leadership Program (SLP): Seven courses with a total of 140 participants have been held. An eighth course will begin next spring.
• GROW: Five courses with a total of 100 participants have been held. Courses are provided on an on-going basis with three new courses planned for 2017.
• Stena Leaders’ Menu: Courses and seminars for all leaders and specialists at Stena are provided on an on-going basis.

TOPICAL RIGHT NOW – NEW AND DIFFERENT WAYS OF WORKING

• Stena Turntable: Reverse mentorship where young start-up persons function as mentors of senior leaders at Stena. At present, 10 pairs are taking part in the project, which will finish next spring.
• Stena Challenge: A program where participants work for a number of months on a cross-company project, which is of great importance to the group, parallel with their normal work. Four projects are in progress with a further two beginning soon.
• Digital Transformation Lab: A new digital innovation lab is in the pipeline. More about this in the next number of SfärNytt.