By Thomas Hanssen, CEO of CfL. The opinion piece was published in Finans 21. december, 2025
What have we learned over the past five years? We had no preparedness for either the pandemic or its many ripple effects. We underestimated Trump, and few of us foresaw that the global world order—after decades of balance—would turn into disorder.
With a bit of goodwill, we can at least say that we’ve learned how to become better at navigating uncertainty. We cannot predict where crises will emerge, how long they will last, or how deeply they will hit. That’s why, in 2026, themes such as preparedness, resilience, and agility will continue to form the external framework for all leadership.
On the domestic Danish front, things actually look positive. The Danish economy is strong, and our companies have solid capital reserves and have so far weathered trade wars, supply chain disruptions, and energy crises relatively well.
So even though consumer confidence remains low, the Christmas retail season has nevertheless shown that we believe in the future.
I do too—but in a different version than the one we’ve seen over the past many years. I’ll return to that. On my desk lie five central and very immediate agendas for 2026.
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In a world where the boundaries between right and wrong are shifting, leadership is increasingly becoming a matter of morality—not in an abstract sense, but in very concrete terms.
The truth is rarely unequivocally on one side in MeToo cases, in debates about climate change, or in global conflicts. As a result, ethical judgment and the ability to stand by one’s own decisions are becoming an unavoidable part of the leadership role.
Geopolitics and value-based conflicts have long since moved directly into Danish workplaces, and in 2026 it will be impossible to hide behind procedures and policies. Communicating values is no longer enough. The real question is what we stand for.
Several studies indicate that fewer and fewer people want to become leaders. That’s not hard to understand. Middle managers, in particular, are squeezed between unrealistic expectations from both employees and top management, and in public discourse, leaders are often cast in the role of the villain.
In 2026, we must challenge the notion that leaders are simply expected to “tough it out.” If leadership is to remain an attractive career path, it requires a stronger focus on mental health, self-awareness, and the emotional dimensions of the role—along with a clearer expectation that leaders take strategic responsibility and set direction, even when decisions are unpopular.
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The pursuit of “more” has come at a cost—to the planet and to people making it necessary to reset our sense of purpose.
The question is no longer how we grow, but how much, for whom, and why.
I don’t believe in AI First as a long-term strategy. Technology is evolving faster than our organizations can keep up, and the risk is that we delegate too much responsibility to systems we don’t fully understand.
That’s why the partnership between human and artificial intelligence will be crucial. In 2026, leaders must understand and master when—and which—decisions can safely be entrusted to AI, and when human judgment is essential.
This requires strengthening our ability to ask the right questions, practice critical and independent thinking, identify bias, and assess AI-generated outputs—not least within our education systems.
The very fact that psychological safety has become a topic says something troubling about our working lives. Since when did it become an aspiration for work not to be a safe place to be? Yet that’s where we’ve ended up.
In 2026, neither psychological safety nor well-being can be reduced to well-intentioned initiatives or communication about resilience. This is a structural issue tied to how work is organized, the pace of work, and the demands placed on people.
When both leaders and employees are struggling, it’s not an individual problem—it’s a systemic failure. Human First is not a slogan; it’s a reckoning with a working life that has pushed people too far.
DEI is no longer just about gender. While 2026 will bring yet another EU directive aimed at improving gender balance—something we should have achieved long ago—the broader and more important agenda is diversity.
Workplaces must increasingly accommodate cultural differences, ethnicity, life stages, up to five generations in the workforce, and neurodiversity.
The challenge is to do this with the human being at the center. There is no single leadership model that fits everyone, and precisely for that reason, the ability to lead diversity will become one of the most critical leadership competencies going forward.
When I look beyond 2026, I see a reckoning with decades of one-sided growth logic. The pursuit of “more” has come at a cost—to the planet and to people—making it necessary to reset our sense of purpose. The question is no longer how we grow, but how much, for whom, and why.
This shifts community and a more balanced working life to the center—not as soft ideals, but as necessary organizational choices. The workplace will not become a large collective, but it also cannot continue as an efficient machine that consumes people.
New organizational forms are being experimented with, challenging our views on power and meaning. They inspire—but they are not universal solutions.
The same applies to the discussion around return to office. If the ultimate form of flexibility works, then by all means, use it. But don’t underestimate the need for community and for working toward a shared purpose. Physical interaction between people can lead to remarkable results.
That’s why I believe many companies may already choose community in 2026—not out of nostalgia or fear of low productivity, but out of necessity.
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Today, four generations share the workplace—soon to be five—and we need all of them. It’s tempting to elevate generational leadership to a distinct management discipline. The problem is that it’s far, far too simplistic.
We revisit the City of Copenhagen’s work on leadership well-being in an interview with Mette Kjærgaard Svendsen, Senior Consultant at Work Environment Copenhagen.
Job Hugging is about staying in your job — not out of desire, but out of fear of losing it. This raises three key questions for us as leaders, writes CfL’s CEO, Thomas Hanssen.
The extent of remote work should therefore be determined solely by company strategy — and if physical presence is necessary, individual preferences must yield, writes CfL’s CEO Thomas Hanssen.