Rethinking Leadership and Expertise: Building Career Paths Beyond Management
As organizations evolve, so does the role of leadership.
Over the past decade, leadership has shifted from authority and decision-making to enabling performance, setting direction and leading through others. At the same time, the need for deep expertise has never been greater.
This raises a fundamental question for HR and L&D: How do we design organizations where both leaders and specialists can thrive – without positioning leadership as the only path to growth?
Join this webinar where we dive into a concrete case from Novonesis, who are currently rethinking their approach to learning and leadership development by building structured expert career paths – focusing on Core Experts and Lead Experts.
Following a major organizational transformation, Novonesis has used the opportunity to redefine how expertise and leadership coexist. Rather than promoting experts into management roles by default, they are developing expertise as a strategic capability in its own right. You will gain insight into both the design process and the early rollout – including lessons learned along the way.
You will get insight into how they:
- Define and operationalize different expert roles
- Develop experts who create impact – both individually and through others
- Work with informal leadership and influence without formal authority
- Design and scale global training programs tailored to expert roles
From mapping roles to global rollout
After mapping expert roles and running pilots across regions, Novonesis is now rolling out global programs for both Core Experts and Lead Experts.
In this session, they will share:
- How they developed the concept – including pilots across regions, feedback loops and train-the-trainer approaches
- How they identified and defined different expert roles
- What the programs look like in practice – including content, flow and participant experience
- What has worked so far – and what they are still refining
This webinar offers a practical and honest look into how L&D can support a shift from merely leadership-centric to also expertise-driven organizations.
Join the session to hear how Novonesis is turning this shift into practice – and what it takes to move beyond leadership as the default career path and build a more balanced, future-fit approach to both leadership and expertise.
Kasper Bas Svendsen, Head of Global Learning, Leadership & Talent at Novonesis
Kasper is an experienced HR learning and leadership development executive with more than 20 years of experience across global organizations, consultancy, and the military. As Head of Global Learning, Leadership & Talent at Novonesis, he is responsible for global frameworks and initiatives within leadership development, learning, talent management, engagement, culture, and DEI.
Prior to Novonesis, he held senior leadership and learning roles at Chr. Hansen, Novozymes, Nordea, Novo Nordisk, and within consultancy, driving global leadership development, talent strategies, and large-scale organizational change initiatives. He also serves as a guest lecturer at Copenhagen Business School and is a Reserve Intelligence Officer in the Danish Armed Forces.
Known for his strong people leadership, coaching, and facilitation skills, he is passionate about developing leaders and organizations that create lasting business and people impact.
Rune Pedersen, Head of Leadership Development, Novonesis
Rune is a senior leadership development professional with more than 20 years of experience within consultancy, biotech, and global HR. As Head of Leadership Development at Novonesis, he leads strategic initiatives focused on leadership development, leadership team development, leader onboarding, expert training, and organizational effectiveness.
Throughout his career, Rune has designed and delivered global leadership and learning programs with strong business impact. Prior to joining Novonesis, he held senior HR and Learning & Development roles at Chr. Hansen, driving leadership development initiatives, digital learning transformation, and senior team development programs.
Rune is recognized for his pragmatic and business-oriented approach, combining strong project management, facilitation, and coaching capabilities across cultures and organizational levels.
Marie Arnbak-Hartzberg, Global Specialist Development Partner, Novonesis
Marie is a leadership and organizational development specialist with extensive experience in learning, coaching, and employee wellbeing. As Global Specialist Development Partner at Novonesis, she develops and facilitates specialist and leadership training programs focused on professional growth and collaboration. Marie holds a PhD in Organizational Psychology from Copenhagen Business School, where her research explored the emotional dimensions of work-related stress and organizational wellbeing. Alongside her corporate roles, she has worked as an independent consultant supporting companies through coaching, facilitation, and team development. With a background from Novonesis, Novo Nordisk, and consultancy, Marie combines expertise in leadership, learning, and organizational psychology with a practical and people-centered approach to development and change.