New requirements for the psychosocial work environment: Why dialogue matters more than ever
Eirin Eriksen Horvei
October 14, 2026
Self-leadership has become more relevant at a time marked by a lot of working from home and an ever-higher level of competence among employees. This form of leadership is particularly relevant because many people now have to solve their tasks on their own to a greater extent than before.
The effect of self-leadership on the working environment appears to be that employees experience a greater sense of mastery, increased productivity and well-being, higher quality of work and success in their careers. At the other end, a number of negative factors such as stress, anxiety and absence from work are reduced.
Self-leadership is the ability to lead yourself by influencing your own thoughts, feelings and actions in order to reach your own goals. This form of leadership is based on theories of motivation, cognitive psychology and goal-setting theory. It differs from other forms of leadership by focusing on self-control, accountability and empowerment of employees.
This fits well in today's modern working life, where autonomy and self-determination over one's own working day are highly valued. To a greater extent than before, employees are left to their own devices and must therefore be able to lead themselves.
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The leader's task is to support the employee through encouragement, praise and relevant feedback. Dialogue then becomes especially important as a leadership tool. The prerequisite is good, open and curious communication, where the parties regard each other as equals and seek better solutions together. This dialogue should provide insight into and understanding of the situation and a basis for the way forward. Fortunately, there is a wealth of good digital communication platforms.
Leaders must master this form of leadership themselves in order to be good role models for their employees. It also requires the leader to have a great deal of self-insight, be able to build trust, be optimistic, energise others, make balanced decisions and help others develop their strengths and self-awareness. With such a long wish list, it sounds as though the leader has to be superhuman, and that is perhaps why teaching others to lead themselves is called “superleadership”.
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Here, the leader must also be clear in setting goals and expectations for the situation at hand. The idea is not for the leader to set all the individual goals, but to make it possible for employees to do so themselves. The leader does not control how the work is carried out, but ensures close follow-up, with the employee gradually taking over the follow-up themselves. A prerequisite is that the leader is good at giving clear feedback along the way.
Over time, a self-led employee should become less dependent on the leader's motivation and rewards, and be able to motivate and reward themselves. Constructive criticism from the leader is replaced by the employee quality-assuring and correcting their own work. Eventually, problem-solving takes place without the leader's involvement.
A great starting point for getting started with self-leadership is the employee appraisal , which is well established as a confidential arena. Here, the leader and employee have the opportunity to build the relationship needed for it to work. The leader also has the opportunity to bring the organisation's strategy, goals and purpose down to the individual level. There is no point in sending employees out on broad assignments without them knowing what is beneficial for the organisation and what is not. The organisation and the leader must have a clear strategy and objectives that provide the framework for the employee's self-leadership. Even independent people who naturally lead themselves need to be seen. That is why the employee appraisal is important.
