ConsultWare — Jan Christian Rasmussen

Does your leadership
land the way you
intend it to?

Most leadership teams believe they know how they are experienced by the people they lead. Most don't — not fully. The Effectful Leadership Assessment creates that picture.

What is ELA? Get in touch
Gap Intended Perceived Reality
Jan Christian Rasmussen
Executive Advisor · ConsultWare
The core problem

The gap between intended
and experienced leadership.

Leadership challenges rarely come from bad intent. They come from a gap between how leaders think they lead — and how that leadership is actually experienced by the people around them.

Intended Leadership
  • Values and strategy are defined at the top
  • Leaders communicate expectations clearly
  • Culture feels aligned with leadership intent
  • Leaders believe they are visible and present
Experienced Leadership
  • Messages land differently across levels
  • Leaders are experienced as distant or unclear
  • Hidden patterns of friction shape real culture
  • Trust gaps influence daily behaviour and performance
This gap is almost never visible to the people at the top

Left unaddressed, that gap compounds: strategy drifts, priorities fragment, and trust erodes — until the cost has already been paid.

"For me it was leadership support — nothing more, nothing less."
Frederik Kier · Former Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Obesity Strategy, Novo Nordisk
Effectful Leadership Assessment

What ELA consistently surfaces.

These are the patterns that emerge when organisations create space to listen honestly — across every level.

01
Leaders believe they communicate clearly. Employees experience ambiguity.
What the top intends does not always land the way it was meant.
02
The team aligns in the room. Priorities diverge outside it.
Visible agreement in meetings does not mean shared priorities in practice.
03
Strategy is understood at the top. It is rarely used in decisions below.
The gap is in use, not understanding. Strategy stops being applied when pressure arrives.
04
Middle managers are translating, not leading.
When leadership is unclear, the interpretation burden shifts to the layer below.
05
Performance issues appear individual. Most are systemic.
What looks like a single person's failure is often a structural or cultural pattern.
06
Leadership presence varies significantly across the team.
Some leaders are experienced as close and direct. Others as distant or unpredictable.
Two formats, one methodology

The scope of listening determines
the depth of insight.

Both formats follow the same core process. Every interview is anonymised and confidential.

Format 1
Leadership Team
~5 working days · 2–3 weeks
Scope
Leadership team only.
Interviews
All members of the top leadership team — 1:1, 45–50 minutes each. Anonymised and confidential.
Process
Self-assessment, interviews, analysis, alignment session, optional report.
Purpose
Fast alignment, shared understanding, immediate behavioural change.
Format 2
Wider Organisation
10–15 working days · ~1 month
Scope
Leadership team + wider organisation.
Interviews
All top leaders, plus a representative selection of middle managers, employees, and external stakeholders.
Process
All Leadership Team steps, plus broader interviews at every level of the organisation.
Purpose
Full picture of how leadership is experienced at every level — a stronger foundation for sustainable change.
How ELA works

Three phases. All interviews anonymous.

A structured sequence from preparation to aligned action — not observations, not recommendations, but agreed behavioural change with clear ownership and timing.

01
Phase 1
Define & Prepare
  • Define leadership ambition — values, behaviours, culture
  • Collect preparation material (surveys, absence, turnover, org chart)
  • Leadership self-assessment — individual and as a group
02
Phase 2
Listen & Analyse
  • 1:1 leader interviews — 45–50 minutes each
  • Broader interviews across middle managers, employees, stakeholders (Wider Organisation)
  • Analysis and synthesis — patterns, gaps, hidden themes
03
Phase 3
Align & Act
  • Pre-meeting with the top leader to review findings
  • Leadership workshop — present findings, compare with self-assessment, agree actions and ownership
  • Optional written report
"If the leader just sits there and says 'I want the names of everyone who said something negative' — the whole process is dead."
Kim Bundegaard · Former SVP Finance & Compliance, Novo Nordisk
Before and after ELA

Five shifts leaders consistently report.

BeforeAfter ELA
Strategy is discussed at the top.→Strategy shapes decisions at every level.
The leadership team aligns in the room.→Priorities are consistent outside it.
Issues surface when they have already escalated.→Issues are identified and addressed early.
Messages vary across levels and functions.→Leadership communication is coherent and consistent.
Middle managers interpret leadership direction.→Middle managers lead with clarity and confidence.
From senior leaders

What the people who have done it say.

Novo Nordisk has developed and worked with the NNWay Facilitation practice for 30+ years. All quotes reflect senior leaders' first-hand experience of the value of that practice. ELA is built on the same methodology — developed by Jan Christian Rasmussen from his 7+ years as a Senior NNWay Facilitator at Novo Nordisk.

"
The insights were far more meaningful than just a score in a job satisfaction survey.
Camilla SylvestFormer Executive Vice President, Commercial Strategy & Corporate Affairs, Novo Nordisk
"
What I actually got was something from right at the bottom — from the employees themselves. How are we perceived? Present? Distant? I genuinely found that super constructive.
Kenneth StrømdahlFormer Senior Vice President, Devices & Delivery Solutions, Novo Nordisk
"
The process is an extra safety net for the organisation — it creates transparency around non-constructive cultures, and provides the input needed to make the necessary changes.
Preben HaaningFormer Senior Vice President, Product Supply Biopharm, Novo Nordisk
"
I compare it to a car service — it's not because there's something wrong, but you know the nuts and bolts have been tightened. There's a greater likelihood it runs healthily in the long run.
Christine Møller JensenFormer Senior Vice President, Global Quality, Novo Nordisk
"
You have no chance of seeing for yourself where the real problems lie — sometimes things came up that ran far deeper than I could ever have identified on my own.
Jesper BøvingFormer Senior Vice President, CMC Development, Novo Nordisk
"
A practice like this demands complete clarity at the top: a genuine willingness to pursue a particular path, towards a culture that delivers distinct results. Without that commitment, the only outcome is cost, delay and bureaucracy.
Henrik WulffFormer Executive Vice President, Product Supply, Quality & IT, Novo Nordisk

Let's have a conversation.

ELA is most valuable when the timing is right — a new leadership team, a period of change, or a sense that something is not quite working as intended.

If you are uncertain whether ELA is relevant for your organisation right now — that uncertainty is usually the answer.

✉
jcr@ConsultWare.dk
+45 2680 0000
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About Jan Christian