The theme of DLCC2026 is Systemic and Integrated Approaches to Leadership Development: Bridging Practice and Research, 15th – 16th June 2026 at Jönköping University, Sweden.

For the first time in its distinguished history The Developing Leadership Capacity Conference (DLCC) is stepping beyond the borders of the United Kingdom — and we couldn’t be more excited. This year marks a bold new chapter as we bring together academics, practitioners, leaders, policy makers, and students in Sweden, at Jönköping University, to debate and explore recent developments in the theory and practice of leadership development.

Conference organizers: Dr Gunilla Avby, Professor Sofia Kjellström with colleagues.

Introduction

DLCC was established in 2009 and is a companion event to the International Studying Leadership Conference which is associated with the Sage journal Leadership. Each year DLCC is hosted by a different University that is passionate about developing leaders and leadership. In previous years it has been hosted by Henley Business School, the University of the West of England, the University of Exeter, the University of Bolton, and last year by Lancaster University. We are very pleased to host DLCC at Jönköping University in 2026. Nestled on the southern shores of Lake Vättern, Jönköping offers a beautiful setting that combines natural scenery with vibrant urban life. Its central location in Sweden, with convenient connections to Stockholm and other major cities, makes it an accessible and inspiring place to gather for DLCC2026.

Conference theme

The theme of DLCC2026 is Systemic and Integrated Approaches to Leadership Development: Bridging Practice and Research. This year’s theme invites scholars and practitioners to critically explore leadership development from a systems perspective, one that recognises leadership as a collective, relational, and context-sensitive capacity shaped by organisational structures, routines, and assumptions. Recent scholars (Avby et al., 2025; Day, 2023; Fabisch et al., 2025: Flinn, 2023; Kjellström et al., 2020) has called for a shift toward systems approaches, yet there remains little consensus on how such models should be enacted in practice (Day & Dännhauser, 2024).

In many organisations, leadership development is frequently treated as an episodic and individualised activity, which is detached from core processes, strategic priorities, and the realities of everyday work. Despite its acknowledged importance, it is often delivered through isolated training or programmes focused on personal competencies (Lacerenza et al. 2017; leroy et al 2022) rather than as a system of interdependent, embedded, and evolving practices (Day & O’Connor, 2017; McCauley et al., 2010). Leadership development is thus not only a matter of personal growth, but also a mechanism for shaping organizational culture, building trust, and enabling collaborative learning (Vogel et al 2021). It happens in daily work, through social interaction, and in alignment with broader organisational and societal goals (Bolden et al., 2023).

We propose a different view: leadership development as a dynamic system—an integrated configuration of elements working together toward the organisation’s purpose (Kjellström et al 2025). This system is designed to evolve with changing internal and external conditions, strengthening leadership capacity at individual, team, and organisational levels. It encompasses approaches that promote leadership development tailored to the organisation’s mission, context, and transformation needs.

By moving beyond fragmented interventions, we invite practitioners to explore how leadership development systems can be intentionally designed to foster sustainable, purpose-driven transformation.

Leadership Development in Everyday Work

Leadership development is often equated with formal training programmes. However, empirical evidence suggests that some of the most impactful leadership development arises from intentional developmental activities embedded within everyday organizational work (van Velsor & McCauley, 2010; Kjellström et al., 2025). Activities such as manager forums, team development, and quality improvement work are frequently undervalued, despite their strategic relevance and strong correlation with organisational performance. How can leadership development be integrated into daily routines and structures? How can organisations recognise the value of everyday activities? What conditions make these practices central rather than peripheral?

 

Exploring Time, Place, and Identity in Leadership Development

Leadership development is always shaped by assumptions about what leadership is, how it should be cultivated, and who leaders are becoming in the process (Probert & Turnbull, 2011; Bolden et al., 2023; Bergmo-Prvulovic et al., 2025; Vongswasdi, 2023). If leadership is seen as an individual trait, development tends to focus on personal competencies and succession planning (Schweiger et al., 2020). If understood as relational and collective (McCauley & Paulus, 2021) it is more likely to be embedded in everyday interactions, team dynamics, and shared learning. Where and when does leadership development truly occur, and how does it shape identity? Is identity formed mainly through formal programs, or through the routines, structures, and relationships of organizational life—and how do leaders continually reconstruct themselves in practice?

 

Boundary-spanning Leadership Development

A systemic approach to leadership development raises critical issues of scale and scope: leadership can be cultivated as an integrated system, within organisations, across teams, and between organisations. Addressing today’s complex challenges, particularly in public services, requires leadership that transcends organisational boundaries and fosters cross-sector collaboration (Bolden 2020). A boundary-spanning system situates leadership within broader organisational and societal frameworks, engaging NGOs, government agencies, and other stakeholders to co-create capacity around shared goals (Bolden et al., 2019). How can you align leadership development within organisations, across teams, and between organisations as one coherent system? What structures and routines are needed?

 

Adaptive capacity of Leadership Development

An expanding body of research highlights the critical role of integrating improvement science and change management into leadership development systems (Bhulani et al., 2021; Day & O’Connor, 2017; Fabisch et al., 2024; Giber et al., 2009). Effective leadership development must prepare leaders not only to respond to change but to proactively lead it, thus, shaping adaptive processes and fostering cultures of continuous learning. How can leaders embed improvement capabilities across leadership systems? In what ways can change agents foster cultures of continuous learning? How can leadership development be designed to strengthen adaptive capacity at multiple levels of the organisation?

DLCC2026 breaks from the traditional conference set-up by centring dialogue, reflection, and collective learning. Instead of relying solely on formal paper presentations, we build thematic sessions from submitted abstracts to explore real-world challenges and innovative leadership development practices.

  • Participatory methods: We use facilitation approaches inspired by Liberating Structures to foster inclusive, dynamic conversations where practitioners and researchers share dilemmas, insights, and experiences.
  • Integrated theory and practice: A red thread throughout the conference is the deliberate integration of conceptual frameworks with lived practice, ensuring ideas translate into action.
  • Invited keynotes: Distinguished speakers will anchor the program with keynote talks that connect research and practice.
  • Presentation-friendly: There is space for PowerPoints and structured presentations within sessions, used to frame discussion rather than dominate it.
  • Session design: Participants are grouped into thematic dialogues based on abstracts, enabling purposeful exchange and co-creation around shared challenges.

The format is immersive, experiential, and highly participatory. Together, we aim to explore how leadership development can be both evidence-informed and practically grounded.

Avby, G., Bergmo-Prvulovic, I., Engström, A., & Kjellström, S. (2025). Coherence, continuity, and comprehensiveness in shaping leadership development systems in Swedish companies. Leadership, 0(0).

Bergmo-Prvulovic, I., Avby, G., Kjellström, S., Engström, A., Schmidt, M. (2025). A path to a deliberate leadership development system: uncovering social representations to facilitate work-integrated learning. Studies in Continuing Education, 1-21.

Bhulani, A., Day, D. V., & Harrison, S. (2021). Leadership development in emerging economies: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 28(4), 402–416.

Bolden, R., Gulati, A., & Edwards, G. (2019). Mobilizing Change in Public Services: Insights from a systems leadership development intervention. International Journal of Public Administration, 42(13-14), 1191–1202.

Bolden, R. (2020). Leadership Development in Crisis? Leadership, 16(3), 312–330.

Bolden, R., Gosling, J., Marturano, A., & Dennison, P. (2023). A New Agenda for Leadership Development. Leadership, 19(2), 145–163.

Day, D. V. (2023). Global Leadership Forecast 2023. DDI Report.

Day, D. V., & Dännhauser, L. (2024). Reconsidering Leadership Development: From Programs to Developmental Systems. Behavioral Sciences, 14(7), 548.

Day, D. V., & O’Connor, P. M. G. (2017). Leadership development: A review of research. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4, 37–68.

Fabisch, A., Kjellström, S., Ockander, M., & Avby, G. (2025). Nine Principles for Enhancing Leadership Development Practices in Organizations. International Journal of Training and Development, 29(3), 388-400.

Fabisch, A., Kjellström, S., Ockander, M., & Avby, G. (2024). Transformations towards an integrated leadership development system—A longitudinal study in a high-performing public organization. Leadership, 20(3), 105-124.

Flinn, K. (2023). Leadership Development in Practice: A Complexity Approach (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Giber, D., Carter, L., & Goldsmith, M. (2009). Best Practices in Leadership Development Handbook. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Kjellström, S., Fabisch, A. & Avby, G. (2025). A systems approach to leadership development: A road map for reflection, design, and improvement. In: Sonia Taneja (Ed.), Proceedings of The Annual Meeting of The Academy of Management: Paper presented at the 85th Annual Meeting of The Academy of Management, 25-29 July 2025, Copenhagen, Denmark. Academy of Management (1).

Kjellström, S., Stålne, K., & Törnblom, O. (2020). Six ways of understanding leadership development: An exploration of increasing complexity. Leadership, 16(4), 434–460.

Lacerenza, C. N., Reyes, D. L., Marlow, S. L., Joseph, D. L., & Salas, E. (2017). Leadership training design, delivery, and implementation: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(12), 1686–1718.

Leroy, H. L., Anisman-Razin, M., Avolio, B. J., Bresman, H., Bunderson, J. S., et al. (2022). Walking our evidence-based talk: The case of leadership development in business schools. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 29(1), 5–32.

McCauley, C. D., Van Velsor, E., & Ruderman, M. N. (2010). The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development (3rd ed.). Jossey-Bass.

McCauley, C. D., & Palus, C. J. (2021). Developing the theory and practice of leadership development: A relational view. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(5), Article 101456.

Probert, J., & Turnbull James, K. (2011). Leadership development: Crisis, opportunities and the leadership concept. Leadership, 7(2), 137-150.

Schweiger, S., Müller, B., & Güttel, W. H. (2020). Barriers to leadership development: Why is it so difficult to abandon the hero? Leadership, 16(4), 411-433.

Vongswasdi, P., Leroy, H., Anisman-Razin, M., Claeys, J., & Van Dierendonck, D. (2023). Beyond developing leaders: Toward a multinarrative understanding of the value of leadership development programs. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 23(1), 8–40.

Vogel, B., Reichard, R. J., Batistič, S., & Černe, M. (2021). A bibliometric review of the leadership development field: How we got here, where we are, and where we are headed. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(5), Article 101381.

Submission window: 1 January – 20 April 2026

Review process: All submissions will be considered by the conference organisers.

Notification of decisions: By 8 May 2026

Capacity and registration: Only 100 seats are available, and participation is by application.

Contact: Gunilla Avby, gunilla.avby@ju.se, Sofia Kjellström, sofia.kjellstrom@ju.se

Travelling by train: take the SJ train to Gothenburg or Nässjö, depending on your route of travel, and then take the local train to Jönköping. To book your train go to www.sj.se/ External link, opens in new window.

Travelling by bus: take the Flixbus or Vybuss to Jönköping Resecentrum. To book your bus go to www.flixbus.se/ External link, opens in new window. or www.vybus4you.se External link, opens in new window.

Travelling by plane: Gothenburg Landvetter Airport is the main airport, with regular bus and trains to Jönköping (e.g. Vybuss goes ten times per day direct from the airport to Jönköping Resecentrum). Linköping City Airport has a regular shuttle plane with KLM, via Schiphol Amsterdam. VyBuss and Flixbus go from Linköping Central Station to Jönköping Resecentrum.