- The financial crisis has got some top managers on their toes, while others are stuck in concrete. Too many CEOs lack the courage to think ambitiously enough and invite the entire organization to a breakthrough, believes Jesper Elling from Quantum Leap Consulting Associates (QL)

- In fact, Danish leaders are among them the world's potential best, as the Danish management thinking with its great balance between results and people and its "No-Nonsense" is close to the ideal model. It simply requires that the managers dare to step out of their comfort zone, make high demands on the organization and at the same time show genuine interest in what the individual employee gets out of being passionate about the vision, he says.

Since 1995, Jesper Elling has coached top managers and guided breakthroughs in organizations in 22 countries in Europe, and tasks in the Middle East and Asia are already on the calendar. The fee is higher than with most consultants, but the value is to be documented. At the initiative of Jesper Elling, at the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, three groups have launched action plans, which this year alone are likely to yield a total profit of DKK 750 million. The largest of the groups has a turnover of DKK 180 billion. DKK and has over 35,000 employees.

The experience coupled with modern psychology and studies of the most significant successes of the financial crisis years form the background for the concepts in QL.

Start between the ears

- People are screwed up in such a way that all actions are controlled by emotions which in turn are controlled by thoughts and beliefs, and therefore the breakthrough must start between the ears of the top manager, explains Jesper Elling.

- When one of my clients in the Netherlands, who wishes to remain anonymous, set himself the goal of increasing turnover from half to one and a half billion kroner in three years without extra costs, the top manager had to be completely sure before he invited the management team and later the entire organization on the joint journey, he explains.

The Quantum Leap model, developed by Jesper Elling, is a spiral staircase that can lead to results on a whole new level. The model starts with the top executive, and the prerequisite for success is that each step is firmly grounded before taking the next step upwards.

The basic philosophy is that when management leads, everything becomes possible. The goal must be at least 25 percent growth in revenue or earnings without using more resources. With such a goal, it is impossible to get close to the result just by adjusting your habits a little. It is necessary to mobilize the entire organization to find new ways of growth, and to avoid the risk of loss it is crucial that everyone works to avoid cost growth.

The inner leadership

- Personal breakthrough requires sparring, and since many board chairmen fail to challenge the director constructively, others are needed to see the blind spots, Jesper Elling believes.

- I am hard on them and they love the counterplay, but I also give back and support. All directors in a breakthrough process are coached once or twice a week until the ambitious goals are formulated extremely clearly and make sense, he says.

Self-management is a core discipline because the manager must constantly be aware of whether each action – small or large – brings the organization closer to the goal.

Peak performance over a long period of time requires a healthy diet, exercise and rest. Most people know this, but Jesper Elling believes that many overlook the value of reflection.

- Two hours a week divided into at least 20 minutes a day is a minimum, which is why I have meditated with top directors from Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and Austria etc., says Jesper Elling.

- It is not religion, but they accept that there is no room for new ideas in a full head, and many issues become more manageable when you take the time to think deeply about them, he states.

When the director after approx. three months is ready, it's time for the executive board. Before the meeting, where the vision of a breakthrough must be presented for the first time, Elling advises holding a dress rehearsal of the speech and thinking carefully about how the framework should be.

Get the organization involved

Since the management of the previously mentioned Dutch company was well prepared, the employees were presented with the vision of tripling the turnover in three years without more colleagues. It happened with balloons, champagne and beautiful waitresses. All employees were invited inside the festive notion that the goal had already been reached, and on the day the management group had a conversation with each individual employee about what they personally saw as the gain from helping to strive for the vision. In this way, the breakthrough idea was generally received with enthusiasm.

- It is about creating optimal frustration, which means that everyone in the organization is hungry for learning, explains Jesper Elling.

- The art of breakthrough leadership can be seen as two outstretched hands that magnetically hold a ball floating between them. The upper one is blue and expresses the ambitious vision, the lower one is red and illustrates the coaching management style. If you remove one of them, it makes no sense, and if they are too far apart, the magnetism diminishes and the ball falls, he explains.

Great possibilities

According to Jesper Elling, Danish management is a good middle ground between German and American style, which in principle is optimal for making a quantum leap.

- All companies have the potential for a breakthrough, and I have seen it succeed several times, says Jesper Elling.

He points to Coloplast, which with Michael Pram Rasmussen as chairman of the board and Lars Rasmussen as managing director went from a profit margin of 11 percent in 2009 to 23 percent in 2010.

In the same way, with Group CEO Christian Clausen at the helm, Nordea has developed after the financial crisis to be worth four times more than Danske Bank.

TDC Fastnet completed a transformation in four months. 2200 products became 16, and after the launch on January 26, 2009, the new triple product with telephone, TV and Internet sold so well that the organization could barely keep up.

Jesper Elling was involved in the development of Coloplast and TDC, and explains the quantum leaps by quoting the late Austrian philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein:

"The limits of my language are the limits of my world".

- The breakthrough must come from within, and if the energy is released in a well-defined "path" and with a clear goal, it produces an explosive effect like a New Year's bomb in a mailbox, he states.

Last updated 21 September 2022