Work with leadership development for direction and results

Oct 27, 2025
4 min read

Working with leadership development is crucial in a time where self-leadership, pace of change and complexity characterize working life. The article explores how clarity, direction and behavior in everyday life create real impact and why it is not enough to be a manager on paper. Through three concrete behaviors and insights from Swedish teams, you will get tools to develop leadership that both strengthens the business and builds trust.

What makes people want to follow you?

In a time where self-leadership, the pace of change and complexity are increasing, it is crucial to work with leadership development to create direction, security and results. But what does it really mean to develop your leadership and which behaviors make the biggest difference in everyday life? We explore what makes others want to follow you. Manager or guide? Is it the title that decides or is it the behavior in everyday life?

When direction is missing

Working with leadership development is not just about pace – it’s about clarity. “We need to pick up the pace.” That’s one of the most common phrases in change processes. It’s often followed by more meetings, new targets, and yet another initiative with color-coded graphs in PowerPoint. But what if pace isn’t the problem? What if the direction is unclear?

There are teams that run fast but not in the same direction. And managers who communicate frequently but rarely clearly. In that vacuum, fatigue, stress and ultimately: stagnation arise.

At the same time, this is nothing new. Even in ancient military thinking, a distinction was made between an officer and a leader. The former gave orders. The latter made people follow.

Why is leadership development work lacking, even though we know better?

Research shows that working with leadership development and clear leadership is one of the strongest drivers behind engagement, performance and collaboration. Yet one in three employees has difficulty describing what their manager actually expects of them in their daily lives (Gallup).

In sales, we see the same pattern: 74% of salespeople state that they rarely receive concrete feedback from their manager (Mindit, 2025).

It's rarely a matter of lack of ambition, but rather of lack of clarity. We fill in the blanks ourselves when they're not communicated. And we adapt to what we believe applies, not what was actually said.

The difference between a team driven by direction and a team driven by reaction is not the strategy. It's the everyday behavior and that's where you need to start working on leadership development.

Three behaviors that build path-breaking leadership

In working with hundreds of Swedish sales and management teams, we at Mindit have seen three behaviors that time and again distinguish managers who not only lead, but influence. These are central when working with leadership development.

1. They clarify what is most important right now

Working with leadership development requires prioritization. Everyone talks about goals. Few talk about priorities. A guide helps his team sift: what is crucial this week, this month and what can wait? It reduces stress, increases focus and keeps the team moving in the same direction.

Example: A sales manager we worked with started every Monday by highlighting the “focus of the week” in the team. The result? Better dialogue, higher activity levels and after three months: 19% more sales.

2. They ask questions, not just demands

When working with leadership development, it is crucial to create accountability. Setting demands is easy. Instilling accountability is harder. The best leaders guide through questions that open up: What do you need to succeed? What do you think the customer is really worried about? How could we make this easier?

It builds psychological safety and ownership, two cornerstones of high-performing teams (Amy Edmondson, Harvard).

Example: An industrial company introduced two simple interview questions in every individual performance review. In six months, the team's NMI (Satisfied Employee Index) increased by 22%.

3. They track behaviors – not just results

Working with leadership development is about creating learning. “You’re selling too little” is a statement. “What behavior do we need to change?” is the beginning of a solution. Leaders who follow up on what is actually done, not just what is achieved, create learning, not just pressure.

Example: A service company introduced weekly reconciliations where each employee had to reflect: “What behavior made the most difference this week?” It lifted both culture and sales with over 25% more customer meetings.

Work with leadership development for direction, not just activity

In a working life of constant change, increased pace and more self-leadership, it is not enough to be a boss on paper. You have to become the person people want to follow because you make them feel safe, clear and capable. That is the essence of working with leadership development.

Organizations with clear and coaching leadership not only perform better, they last longer. Research shows that teams with clear and coaching leadership have 23% higher productivity, 59% lower employee turnover and 3 times more likely to meet financial goals (Gallup, Zenger Folkman, Mindit)

At Mindit, we train leaders and sales teams in these very skills every week – not with ready-made templates, but with training close to reality. Because that's where direction must begin, in what is said, done and followed up. Working with leadership development must be concrete.

So the next time someone says “we need to pick up the pace,” ask the question: Do we really know where we are going?

Work with leadership development that makes a difference

Working with leadership development and clear leadership increases performance and loyalty:

23% higher productivity in teams with coaching leaders (Gallup)
59% lower employee turnover in organizations with a clear feedback culture (Zenger Folkman)
3x more likely to achieve financial goals in teams led with both clarity and trust (Mindit, 2024)

Common challenges in Swedish leadership:

1 in 3 employees say they don't know what is expected of them in their everyday lives (Gallup)
74% of salespeople lack continuous feedback from their manager (Mindit)
47% of managers prioritize operational tasks over leadership every week (Mindit interviews, 2023–2024)