A popular distinction within Swedish working life is to differentiate leadership from other managerial tasks, often based on the perception that a manager's most important role is to be a leader who inspires, motivates, and develops the employees they oversee. At the same time, managers are also expected to ensure budget compliance, achieve often ambitious production and quality targets, and ensure that various decisions are implemented and guidelines are followed.
In many situations, different role expectations surrounding leadership and management can conflict with one another, and this project examines how managers relate to and handle these conflicting demands.
The study is conducted through interviews and observations of managers at various levels in larger Swedish industrial companies, where efforts have been made over a long period to strengthen the managers' leadership roles.
Funded by the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation for Economic Research, the study aims to demonstrate how managers navigate fundamental dilemmas in managerial work and to highlight pathways that managers can develop to create a more balanced managerial practice when needed.