Text and photo: Nelly Sander, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

When Claus Elmholdt co-founded LEAD, he hardly expected to spend evenings in the back seat of a patrol car in Aarhus. Yet that is precisely what happened when LEAD was commissioned to develop a new management framework for the Danish police.

“We were only four employees at the time, and it was our first major contract. I found myself in the patrol car, the control centre, at Økokrim (Danish economic and environmental crime unit) and in the courtroom. This gave us a precise insight into the realities of police work before we developed the management framework,” says Claus Elmholdt, Academic Director of LEAD and part-time Associate Professor at AAU.

Bringing research to life

It all began in 2013 in a lunchroom at AAU, where Claus Elmholdt and two psychologist colleagues discussed how research could be applied more directly in practice.

“We sat and talked about our research, and all three of us were eager to see our research-based knowledge create value in the world, rather than simply ending up in books and academic articles,” says Claus Elmholdt, who was developing one of Aalborg University’s master’s programmes in Leadership and Organisational Psychology, which he still teaches.

The two colleagues were working on PhD projects about the Leadership Pipeline in the public sector – in short, a theory that leadership should be exercised differently depending on whether one is leading ordinary employees, middle managers or top executives. This proved to address a significant need in municipalities and the state, where management structures had been challenged following the municipal reform.

Two gazelles and three personalities

LEAD grew at lightning speed and today has around 50 permanent employees and a further 15 associated consultants. The company has been named a Gazelle for two consecutive years and now provides services such as management development, organisational design and strategic analysis. Its clients – whom they prefer to call partners – include agencies within Danish ministries, the UN World Food Programme, and many other public and private organisations.

According to Claus Elmholdt, part of the company’s success can be attributed to the fact that the three founders were very different.

“Kristian was responsible for the wild ideas and creativity. I was the pragmatist, ensuring professional grounding. Thor brought business acumen and experience in building a company. Together, this gave us real strength,” he says.

AAU as a growth engine

Although there were no support programmes for entrepreneurs at AAU in 2013, as there are today, the three founders found that the university already fostered a culture that recognised collaboration with practice.

“I believe Aalborg University excels at building bridges and supporting growth. It was a world apart from the environments I have encountered at other Danish universities, where practical application was almost looked down upon, and theory and research were valued, while practitioners were seen as somewhat second-rate. In my view, Aalborg University comes close to being the Danish equivalent of Stanford University,” he says.

The connection to AAU remains strong. Claus Elmholdt continues as a part-time Associate Professor, and LEAD regularly has industrial PhD students enrolled at the university.