Syftet med studien är att skapa en ökad förståelse kring chefsrollen och hur ledarskapet ter sig på det aktivitetsbaserade kontoret. De frågeställningar vi har berör är hur chefsrollen framställs i det aktivitetsbaserade kontoret och kraven som ställs. Kontoret skapar förändringar i sättet att styra på hos ledarskapet, vilket vi benar ut i denna studie. Detta görs i förhållande till följande teman tillgänglighet, synlighet, kommunikation och självledarskap har de undersökts de nya kraven. I studien tillämpas kvalitativ innehållsanalys där intervjuer och textdokument används som insamlingsmetod. Vi har analyserat vårt material med hjälp av Foucaults teori om disciplin, övervakning och rummet och normativa styrning och självledarskapet. Resultatet visar att nya krav ställs på chefernas då de behöver visa vägen för sina anställda eftersom självledarskapet ökar hos de anställda. Dessutom krävs det tillit och mod i ledarskapet till de som leder sig själva. Nya arbetssätt har applicerats i deras roll som rör tillgängligheten, eftersom att alla sitter spritt i kontoret utvecklas nya arbetssätt för att öka tillgängligheten. Chefsrollen effektiviseras i sitt arbete och sparar tid genom att kommunikationen förändras i det aktivitetsbaserade kontoret genom de spontana interaktionerna som kontoret främjar.

Abstract Title: Unveiling the Power of Self-Leadership - A Qualitative Exploration of its Role as a Resource Across Hierarchical Levels and its Influence on Stress Management and Work Engagement.  Authors: Catharina Hämäläinen and Markus Melin Abrahamsson Supervisor: Jean-Charles Languilaire Background: Companies all over the world have been experiencing changes in the industries they are operating. It is previously shown that adapting to change is crucial for an organization to stay competitive and survive long-term. To adapt to change it has been shown by previous research that creating awareness, providing training, and setting favorable conditions for employees is important. Studies have also shown the occurring changes to impact employees' mental health, such as increased stress. A recent event that showed the impact of organizational change on employees' mental health was Covid-19. Studies have also shown the importance of stress management capabilities in changing organizations. One way to handle change and mitigate its negative impact on an organization’s employee, is by working with resources and capabilities. One resource that has been shown in studies to help manage stress and increase work engagement is self-leadership.  Purpose: Explore to which extent the resource self-leadership is organized in the hierarchical positions of members within an organization and how self-leadership can affect the capabilities of stress management and work engagement within these hierarchical positions.  Research question: How is self-leadership as a resource organized within the hierarchical levels of an organization, and how does it affect the capabilities of stress management and work engagement within these hierarchical positions?  Method: This thesis is based on a qualitative approach conducted through a collective case study where six interviews have been conducted, split equally between two organizations. One top manager, one middle manager, and one Non-managerial employee within each organization. The study’s research approach is of inductive nature with some deductive elements, therefore, the study’s research approach as a whole is considered abductive.  Conclusions: The conclusion of this study shows that self-leadership is organized at the top and middle managerial levels but not supported at the non-managerial level. It was also shown that when self-leadership as a resource is organized, it leads to stress management capabilities, however, it did not affect work engagement capabilities. This resulted in the conclusion that since self-leadership is organized at the top and middle managerial level it helps them in managing stress, but the lack of support for non-managerial employees resulted in limited stress management capabilities.

Utvecklingen som präglat samhället har lett till att verksamheter anpassar sina strategier, för att hantera de förändrade arbetsvillkoren.  I och med  att samhället ständigt förändras, förändras också arbetsrutiner samt arbetssätten. Det som  tidigare  inte var vanligt är numera vanligt, chefen kliver åt sidan då det finns andra verktyg som kan ersätta chefen. Studiens syfte är att undersöka anställdas självledarskapsstrategier men även chefens påverka på de anställdas vardagliga arbeten. Därmed uppnår studien en djupare förståelse för självledarskap för att sedan se om dagens arbetsmarknad är redo att applicera teorin till verkligheten utifrån anställdas perspektiv. Två forskningsfrågor presenteras i studien för att kunna nå fullheten av självledarskap samt empowerment. Studien uppfyller sitt syfte genom att följa en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med en abduktiv ansats. Studiens empiri har samlats in genom 12 semistrukturerade intervjuer. Utifrån de djupgående intervjuer med anställda har viktig information kunnat sammanställas för att analyseras och tolkas. Det har även ökat förståelsen för självledarskap utifrån de anställdas perspektiv.    Resultatet som studien har kommit fram till är att anställda följer beteendefokuserade strategier och chefen påverkar anställdas arbete till en viss grad, då en chef behövs för att vara motiverande, bidra med konstruktiv feedback och administrera. Även om några respondenter uttryckte att chefens närvaro inte är viktig, kan det konstateras att chefen behövs för att arbetet ska fungera. Genom studien har även slutsatsen kunnat dras att den svenska arbetsmarknaden bör applicera självledarskap i praktiken för att kunna uppnå bättre resultat och större engagemang hos de anställda. / The thesis of the study is to examine employees´ self-leadership strategies, and the manager's influence on the employees' everyday work. This study achieves a deeper understanding of self-leadership to then see if today's companies in Sweden are ready to apply the theory to reality, throughout the perspective of employees. Two research questions are presented in the study to achieve the understanding of self-leadership and empowerment. The study fulfills its purpose by following a qualitative research method with an abductive approach. The empirical study has been collected through 12 semi-structured interviews.   The result that the study has come to is that employees follow behavior-focused strategies, and managers influence  employees' everyday work  to a certain degree. Through the study, it has also been possible to draw the conclusion that the Swedish companies should apply self-leadership to achieve better results and greater commitment among employees.

Problemformulering: Självledarskap definieras som en individs förmåga att påverka sitt beteende för att uppnå sina mål. Detta koncept har blivit alltmer relevant i takt med att organisationer övergår från traditionella hierarkiska strukturer till mer flexibla och självstyrda arbetssätt. Syftet: Utifrån olika perspektiv (chef & medgrundares-, anställdas- och ledarskapscoachs perspektiv), öka förståelse för hur tillämpningen av självledarskap som ledningsstrategi uppfattas i en organisation. Metod: En kvalitativ forskningsansats användes, där fem semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes för att samla insikter från deltagare i kunskapsintensiva företag i Sverige. Denna metod gav en djup förståelse för individuella upplevelser och uppfattningar relaterade till självledarskap. Slutsats: Studien visar att självledarskap som ledningsstrategi erbjuder både möjligheter och hinder för organisationer. De viktigaste resultaten antyder att självledarskap främjar ökat ansvar och autonomi bland medarbetarna, vilket bidrar till ökad motivation och arbetstillfredsställelse. Samtidigt innebär självledarskap utmaningar som ökade krav på självdisciplin, risken för otydlighet i mål och riktning. Effektiva strategier för självledarskap inkluderar självmålsättning, självbelöning och att förstå arbetsuppgifternas syfte, medan självbestraffning är mindre populära. / Problem Statement: Self-leadership is defined as an individual's ability to influence their behavior and goals. This concept has become increasingly relevant as organizations transition from traditional hierarchical structures to more flexible and self-directed work environments. Purpose: From various perspectives (including those of managers and co-founders, employees, and leadership coaches), this study aims to enhance the understanding of how the applicationof self-leadership as a management strategy is perceived within an organization. Methodology: A qualitative research approach was employed, involving five semi-structured interviews to gather in-depth insights from participants in knowledge-intensive companies in Sweden. This method provided a deep understanding of individual experiences and perceptions related to self-leadership. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that self-leadership as a management strategy offers both opportunities and challenges for organizations. The key findings suggest that self-leadership fosters increased responsibility and autonomy among employees, contributing to enhanced motivation and job satisfaction. However, self-leadership also presents challenges such as increased demands for self-discipline and the risk of ambiguity in goals and direction. Effective self-leadership strategies include self-goal setting, self-reward, and understanding the purpose of tasks, while self-punishment is less favored.

Självledarskap är ett forskningsområde som blev ett omtalat fenomen under mitten av 1980-talet. Det finns dock inte mycket forskning kring hur självledarskap kommer till uttryck inom en specifik organisation. Vi ville, genom en kvalitativ studie, skapa en ökad förståelse för hur självledarskap kommer till uttryck genom organisationskultur på e- handelsföretaget Desenio. Tre självledarskapsstrategier användes för att tolka och skapa en förståelse för självledarskapet i organisationen. Vi utförde en fallstudie som inkluderade tio intervjuer med medarbetare och Vd:n på företaget som fick berätta om sina erfarenheter och föreställningar om självledarskap. För att skapa en förståelse för omgivningen och kulturen utförde vi även observationer på Desenio som ett komplement till de utförda intervjuerna. Vi kunde i vår studie identifiera de tre självledarskapsstrategierna hos samtliga medarbetare. Vad som framgick var dock att ingen av strategierna fullt ut kunde identifieras hos medarbetarna, utan att strategierna till viss del identifierades. Vi kom även fram till att organisationskulturen format självledarskapet då medarbetarnas arbetssätt och beteenden speglas av kulturen och värderingarna på Desenio. / Self-leadership is a concept within leadership research that emerged in the mid-1980s. However, there are only a few studies about self-leadership within a specific organization. Our aim was therefore to develop a greater understanding of how self-leadership is expressed within the e-commerce organization Desenio. We explored how the organizational culture has shaped self-leadership within the organization. We used three cognitive and behavioral self-leadership strategies to develop a greater understanding of how self-leadership is expressed in the organization. We have made a qualitative case study that includes ten interviews with employees and the CEO of the organization, where the individuals expressed their experiences and thoughts about self-leadership. We completed the empirical study with observations of the working environment to get a better understanding of the culture. The implications of the study are that the three self- leadership strategies could be identified in the employees. However, none of the strategies could be identified to a full extent. We also concluded that the organizational culture has shaped self-leadership since the work behavior of the employees could be related to the culture and the values at Desenio.

Leadership is a complex phenomenon and it can be studied from many perspectives. This study emphasizes the importance in the leader audit; review themselves and their leadership, trough interviews and discussions. The leader’s way of looking at leadership gets redefined into theoretical terms and models. In the study the leaderships different definitions appears, like the leader’s impact and characteristics, situation based leadership, personal leadership, leadership’s metaphors and the categories of authority. The metaphors are used to describe leadership in a substantive way that inspires to be aware of the holism and the details. The decoding of the concept of leadership and leaderships behaviours are a large and considerable part of the study.

Covid-19 affected the world's population when the pandemic became a global problem at the start of 2020. The effects of the pandemic placed demands on various countries and their inhabitants. But also on organizations in sundries sectors. Globally, and specifically on the Swedish labor market, the effects of covid-19 have contributed to increased use of technology to enable continued work, elsewhere than physically on site. This has created opportunities but also challenges for managers to motivate subordinates and get them to work towards the organization's set goals. Self-leadership is thus a concept that is important to understand and handle in the current situation, as it can lead to increased motivation and performance of individuals. Previously published research points out how leaders can work to promote self-leadership. e.g. by adapting individuals' characteristics and commitment to the nature of the task. How self-leadership is promoted in the Swedish labor market, under digital conditions in remote work, is however still unclear. We know, from previously published research, that self-leadership, clear goals, motivation, and self-efficacy all have an influence on each other. They further serve as a prerequisite for organizational performance and goal fulfillment. But there is no answer as to how this can be promoted under current digital conditions. Swedish companies are moreover at the forefront when it comes to innovation development and the shift to digital resources, as a result of the pandemic. But there is no explanation for the connection between self-leadership and its new challenges with digital work, nor on the Swedish labor market. The intention of this study is therefore to fill the research gap with a qualitative and empirical study on Swedish medium and large-sized companies, where the effects of covid-19 proved to be extensive. The goal is moreover to answer the question and explain how Swedish medium-sized and large organizations manage self-leadership under presented conditions. This issue includes both leaders and employees, and the study groups have thus both been included in the study to create a holistic understanding of how self-leadership is handled in the above-mentioned contexts. The results, based on five employees, and four leaders in various sectors and organizations,  show that enabling recurring opportunities for social interactions, support and to convey a transparent culture with clear goals is necessary to manage self-leadership in remote environments. Having a thorough opportunity for support in the organization and creating opportunities for social interactions is something that this study has significantly contributed to the research. This is because these phenomena have not previously been presented of any particular importance, nor have they been promoted as necessary for the management of self-leadership in a remote context. In this study, however, it has been shown to be extremely necessary, from the point of view of both managers and employees. This, to enable self-leadership, increase motivation and self-efficacy in the Swedish labor market, which positively can affect individual- and organizational performance and goal fulfillment.

The aim of the study was to investigate and gain an in-depth understanding of the lived experience of Self-Leadership among employees in organizations in Sweden with high degree of Self-Leadership Culture (SLC). To furfill the purpose, a qualitative method was applied in the form of unstructed interviews, whith four participants, which was analysed in an IPA analysis (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis).                The results showed three themes that consisted of Control, Alone isn´t always strong, Stop and reflect. Freedom was an overaching theme that was experienced as very important and highly valuated in Self-Leadership. Other themes were Control, where there being a need to experience self-control, while not wanting to be controlled by others. Alone isn´t always strong is a theme that is associated with the dilemma of wanting to be independent and perceived as a strong individual, while at the same time feeling a need for support and a belonging to others. The last theme was about the ability to stop and reflect, which in this essay means that the participants experienced value in finding and using strategies to enable them to take a break from a stressed work environment, to reflect, to keep motivated, and to plan ahead, which was sometimes perceived as a challenge.  The conclusion showed for example that it could be valuable if more employees were given the oppurtunity to work more freely under responsibilities, as it seems to be a factor in the success of both job satisfaction, performance and overall well-being. External control seemed to inhibit motivation. Another important aspect was the need for support and belonging to others, although this was not aways explicitly stated. Furthermore, the study showed that it would be valuable if employees were also given be the time and tools for reflection, for such things as mindfulness and stress management. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka och få fördjupad förståelse för upplevelsen av självledarskap hos anställda på organisationer i Sverige med hög grad av Self-Leadership Culture (SLC). För att uppfylla syftet, tillämpades en kvalitativ metod i form av fem ostrukturerade intervjuer, vilka analyserades genom en IPA analys (Interpretative Phenomenological analysis). Resultatet visade tre teman som bestod av Kontroll, Ensam är inte alltid stark, Stanna upp. Ett gemensamt och övergripande tema var Frihet, vilket upplevdes vara högt värderat inom självledarskapet. Kontroll innefattar i studien ett behov av att besitta egen kontroll, samtidigt som respondenterna inte ville bli kontrollerade av andra. Ensam är inte alltid stark är förknippat med dilemmat att vilja vara självständig och stark, och samtidigt uppfylla behovet av stöd och samhörighet med andra. Det sista temat handlade om att Stanna upp, vilket innebar att respondenterna behövde strategier för att kunna stanna upp i en stressad tillvaro, reflektera, bibehålla motivationen och planera framåt, vilket kunde upplevas som en utmaning. Slutsatsen visade exempelvis att det vore värdefullt om fler anställda fick möjligheten och tilliten att jobba mer fritt under ansvar, då det var en framgångsfaktor både i jobbtillfredställelse, prestanda och i välbefinnande. Yttre kontrollerande tycktes hämma motivationen. Ytterligare en viktig aspekt var behovet av stöd och tillhörighet till andra, även om inte det inte alltid uttrycks explicit. Vidare visade studien att det vore värdefullt om anställda kunde erbjudas tid och verktyg inom reflektion, såsom mindfulness och stresshantering.

This qualitative study is about project managers’ perceptions of self-leadership and its benefits and challenges for the project managers, the team, and the project result. The study has been implemented by conducting semi-structured interviews with ten project managers from diverse cultural backgrounds, ages, and work sectors with experience of self-leadership. The data obtained has been transcribed, coded, and analysed by using thematic analysis. The main themes that were found were the following: The management of emotions, the power of collective intelligence, alignment between work and life and the final theme of the resilient project manager. The first theme deals with the importance of being self-aware and authentic as a project manager and to focus on emotional intelligence rather than IQ and hard skills. The second theme’s focal point is on the importance of having feedback and support from the team, mentors, or co-workers in learning more about oneself as a project manager. The third theme deals with project managers’ having a balance between their work and their spare time by planning and being organized, with the purpose of not becoming overworked or lose out on valuable time with friends and family. The final theme handles the project manager’s focus on strengths and being persistent until the end of a project. The benefits of self-leadership, according to the respondents in this study, are easier to experience for the project manager him/herself in terms of self-development but benefits can also be seen for the whole team and indirectly for the project goal as with a well-functioning project manager and self-governing team, the project results will improve. One challenge of self-leadership can be to lead oneself with a long-term perspective as priorities and teams change in projects. Also, if a project manager does not have support, it can be difficult for him/her to keep the motivation to self-lead.The results in this study are in alignment with earlier studies such as for instance Neck, Manz & Houghton’s study from 2019.

Syfte: Studien har till syfte att undersöka hur anställdas självledarskap påverkas av arbetsautonomi och stärkande ledarskap samt hur det i sin tur påverkar arbetstillfredsställelse.   Metod: Denna studie utnyttjade en kvantitativ forskningsmetod med en deduktiv ansats. En enkätundersökning användes som datainsamling och resulterade i 137 användbara svar från ett bekvämlighetsurval. Datan analyserades med hjälp av statistikprogrammet JASP, där en deskriptiv-, korrelations- samt nätverksanalys genomfördes.    Resultat och slutsats: Studien visar att självledarskap påverkas positivt av både arbetsautonomi samt stärkande ledarskap som helhet och att dessa två därför kan ses som antecedenter. Dock fann studien att arbetsautonomi och stärkande ledarskap har en större inverkan på arbetstillfredsställelse direkt, än vad de har via självledarskap. Ytterligare en slutsats var att resultatet skiljer sig mellan män och kvinnor. Studien hittade att det inte existerar något samband mellan stärkande ledarskap och självledarskap för kvinnor. Männen uppvisar istället att det finns ett samband mellan stärkande ledarskap och självledarskap.   Examensarbetets bidrag: Detta arbete har hjälpt till att fylla ett forskningsgap om vad det finns för potentiella antecedenter till självledarskap. Dessutom har studien bidragit till att fylla ytterligare ett forskningsgap om hur stärkande ledarskap fungerar som potentiell antecedent till självledarskap.     Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Stora skillnader mellan män och kvinnor hittades i nätverksanalysen, det skulle därför vara intressant att göra en större studie med fler respondenter för att gå in djupare på könsskillnader. Det hade även varit intressant att undersöka hur personers självledarskap inom olika branscher påverkas av antecedenterna som undersökts i denna studie. / Aim: The purpose of the study is to investigate how employees' self-leadership is affected by job autonomy and empowering leadership, and how this in turn affects job satisfaction.   Method: This study utilized a quantitative research method with a deductive approach. A questionnaire survey was used for data collection and resulted in 137 usable responses from a convenience sample. The data was analyzed using the statistical program JASP, where a descriptive, correlation and network analysis was carried out.   Results and conclusion: The study shows that self-leadership is positively affected by both job autonomy and empowering leadership as a whole and that these two can therefore be seen as antecedents. However, the study found that job autonomy and empowering leadership have a greater impact on job satisfaction directly than they have via self-leadership. Another conclusion was that the results differ between men and women. The study found that no relationship exists between empowering leadership and self-leadership for women. Instead, the men show that there is a connection between empowering leadership and self-leadership.   Contribution of the thesis: This work has helped to fill a research gap regarding potential antecedents of self-leadership. In addition, the study has contributed to filling another research gap on how empowering leadership functions as a potential antecedent to self-leadership.   Suggestions for future research: Large differences between men and women were found in the network analysis, it would therefore be interesting to do a larger study with more respondents to go deeper into gender differences. It would also be interesting to investigate how people's self-leadership in different industries is affected by the antecedents investigated in this study.