Roschier Leadership Seminars conclude with reflections on incompetence and growth
Insights|May 16, 2025
The final session of Roschier’s leadership seminar series explored blind spots, feedback, and the hidden costs of poor leadership – continuing a conversation that also took place in Stockholm earlier this spring.
After more than a year of bold and insightful discussions, the Roschier Leadership Seminar series ended with a session focused on one of the most complex topics in leadership: incompetence. Moderated by Christina Dahlblom, the final Helsinki seminar featured Saara Karhula, Business Director at Henley, and Valtteri Länsimies, Partner at Boyden, in a conversation about the challenges of recognizing and addressing poor leadership. This same theme was explored earlier this spring at a seminar in Stockholm, highlighting its continued relevance across contexts.
Key takeaways from the final session:
- Leadership is relational. Saara Karhula noted that leadership is not defined by role but by interaction – it’s created together, every day.
- Incompetence is often hard to detect. Whether it stems from an inability to listen or a reluctance to act, poor leadership doesn’t always show in the numbers, but its effects are real.
- Feedback drives growth. Both Saara and Valtteri shared moments of eye-opening feedback that helped reshape their approach to leading others.
- Toxic behaviour has hidden costs. The damage caused by incompetent leaders can manifest in silence, disengagement, or long-term sick leave.
- Intentions matter but aren’t enough. Most leaders don’t mean to do harm but without self-awareness, even good intentions can fall short.
- Competence is a process. Drawing on the “Four stages of competence,” the speakers emphasized that strong leadership comes from humility, reflection, and a willingness to learn.
Although the leadership seminars have now concluded, we remain committed to continuing important conversations – about leadership, society, and the topics that shape our shared future.
Next up: House of Many Voices – stay tuned to our channels.
The Roschier Leadership Seminar series started in 2023. Please find the previous articles in the links below.
Caroline Farberger and Annie Lööf on value-based leadership
Peter Wallenberg Jr. and Lovisa Cavalli Wallenberg on leadership over time and generations
Hans Stråberg on ultimate leadership
Ambassador Judith Gough on the art of diplomacy
Ice hockey legend and Olympic gold medalist Mats Sundin on sustainable leadership
Ambassadors Wegger Strømmen, Nicola Clase, and Jakob Nymann-Lindegren on diplomatic leadership
Eija Hakakari and Julia Macharey on outdated leadership
Lena Eliasson and Jessica Häggström continue on outdated leadership
Sami Pauni on inclusive leadership