Summit Case studies
When change calls, start with leadership
Frederiksberg Municipality decided to undertake a major transformation of its IT and Digitalisation operations. The decision came after a failed outsourcing plan; instead, a strategic restructuring was launched to strengthen the area. Summit initially helped establish the central project team and later provided targeted leadership development, both for individuals and the Digitalisation & IT management team. The aim was to build strong, unified leadership capable of driving the transformation and delivering on the ambitions for IT.
What were we facing?
When the process began, staff morale was low after a prolonged period of uncertainty about a possible transfer. Key skills had been lost, development work had stalled, and technical debt had accumulated. The IT function was struggling professionally and needed rebuilding on both human and technical fronts.
The risks were real and urgent: Citizens couldn’t access services, staff were constantly interrupted, and there were security vulnerabilities in user management and network infrastructure. “I would call it a burning platform,” as the Deputy Director in the Municipality describes it.
How did we succeed?
Summit helped the management team get to the heart of the change process and stay focused on leadership practices, not just technical fixes. A key part was welding the many new key people into a cohesive team: building trust, developing a shared language around strengths and weaknesses, and establishing ways of working that enabled the group to deliver together. Alongside this, the team worked in a confidential, facilitated environment with a business psychologist, creating space for difficult conversations and embedding change into daily practice. Building leadership capacity was deliberately prioritised as essential for the organisation to succeed technically.
What did we learn?
The process became a laboratory for change management and personal development. The Deputy Director describes becoming far more conscious of her own leadership role – “holding up a mirror to who I am as a leader” – and gaining practical language and tools for leading change. The ongoing, structured reflection on the real challenges they were facing created a continuous learning environment where the team could test approaches, adjust course, and learn from mistakes in real time.
The value lies especially in the external facilitation: having a skilled business psychologist who asks the hard questions, opens conversations that wouldn’t otherwise happen, and helps the management team pull in the same direction is something “the organisation can really feel throughout.” She also notes that unresolved conflicts in the management team always filter down to staff; that’s precisely why it was crucial to have a process that made the group “really effective at making decisions and finding common ground.”
When change succeeds through leadership
Summit facilitates difficult conversations, aligns the management team, and translates strategy into daily practice, enabling pace, psychological safety, and accountability to work together. If you’d like an experienced perspective on your next steps, we’d be happy to have an exploratory conversation and identify where support would make the most impact.
In the video, you can see former Deputy Director in Frederiksberg Municipality, Line Skytte Hejbøl, put the entire process into words.
