Review on transformation leadership, a Swedish case

Bjursell, C. (2017), Transformative leadership: A Swedish case, In: Daphne Halkias, Joseph C. Santora, Nicholas Harkiolakis, Paul W. Thurman (ed.), Leadership and Change Management: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (pp. 114-119). Routledge

The article I chose to write about refers to a Swedish case of transformative leadership. The reason why I believed that this can be interesting and educational is because leadership is utterly based on good communication and deep, mutual understanding. Given the fact that Sweden has become a multicultural working environment, especially in specific business areas, a Swedish case on leadership can depict a lot about the Swedish working culture and the Swedish working values.

The introduction of the article shows the perception of Swedish leadership culture in contrast with the norms, and it clearly states that a Swedish leadership style might not be effective under war or crisis conditions. That raises my first question when it comes to culture. How can a non-hierarchical and feminine Swedish culture survive when it comes to crisis? Is the culture adaptable to the needs in cases like that? Or does the Swedish culture automatically signals that crisis is avoided?

Apparently, the Swedish working culture is so characteristic worldwide that there is a term created: Swedishness. The values of Swedishness and ergo the perception of Swedish culture are among others gender equality, equal distribution of economic goods and regional development. It is very outstanding that the approval or disapproval in the working environment is expressed with silence.

The discussion oriented Swedish leadership model is something that is worth observing, because it is based on equality and building trust in individuals, giving space and opportunities and letting everyone taking part in the decisions and discussions. This has been proven to motivate and engage people more and make them target for a common result.

Speaking the Swedish language or at least trying to learn the Swedish language is highly appreciated and encouraged in a Swedish working environment and that is something that can be generalised. The fact that Swedish people are very good at speaking English should not be interpreted as a convenience but as a motivation to learn more. The more you understand a language, the deeper the access in the beliefs, norms, practices and values of a nation. The language is the key that grants you the right to a different mindset when approaching a new culture. That is why it is recommended in the article that language is important, and effort must be made to learn.

To conclude, I would like to summarise by saying that the article represents the working environment of a Swedish company, and that can be seen as a small portion of a bigger example, the society. You can understand a lot about the Swedish culture by observing and adapting to the social practices but also the theory that is developed around the Swedish way of working. I strongly recommend by personal experience which has now been confirmed by the article to observe the Swedish working culture and try to learn as much as possible, since it stands as an example amongst many different cultures. My judgement is that the rules of it cannot be followed blindly without first understanding the society and people’s beliefs and values. First comes the understanding, then the communication and last the adaptation of a culturally different working system.