3
“Primus Inter Pares”: Leadership and Culture in Sweden
Ingalill Holmberg & Staffan Åkerblom
Centre for Advanced Studies in Leadership, Stockholm School of Economics
Swedish leadership is vague and imprecise … in giving an order a Swede will typically say “See what you can do about it!” What does this mean? It is obviously connected with the extensive delegation of authority. Managers who say “See what you can do about it!” are demonstrating trust in their co-workers. It is also a question of exercising control through a common understanding of the problem, rather than through giving direct orders. This must be regarded as one of the strengths ...
Get Culture and Leadership Across the World now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
