How do we navigate situations where our professional ambitions, personal values and responsibilities towards others pull us in different directions? This question was at the centre of a dilemma session at Copenhagen Business School, where three guests joined students from the course Shame, Stress and Leadership to explore dilemmas from working life.
What happens when a manager’s desire to be caring and fair conflicts with financial responsibilities? How do you maintain your professional identity when returning from maternity leave to a demanding workplace? And how do you set boundaries at work when being constantly available has become part of what it means to be a dedicated employee?
These were the three dilemmas discussed by Bolette Christensen, Lasse Skjønning Andersen and Albert Harson during a session at CBS on 23 October 2026.
The dilemmas were collected by students through interviews with managers and employees and subsequently developed into cases for classroom discussion.
The three guests brought different experiences to the conversation. Bolette Christensen has extensive experience in executive leadership and board work. Lasse Skjønning Andersen is an entrepreneur and founder of GRØD, while actor Albert Harson contributed perspectives from a profession characterised by high performance expectations and dependence on the judgement of others.
Different perspectives on difficult decisions
The conversation revealed how differently the same dilemma can be approached.
Albert Harson reflected on how it is possible to take on a role without pretending to be someone else. He also pointed out that part of being a leader is learning to accept that not everyone will like you.
Bolette Christensen added another consideration: Before taking on a leadership position, it is worth asking yourself whether you are prepared to deal with the many dilemmas and difficult decisions that come with the responsibility.
Lasse Skjønning Andersen described honesty as his “lightsaber”, while acknowledging that being honest is not always easy.
During the discussion about the young consultant struggling to set boundaries in a culture of long working hours, Lasse also reminded us of the value of spending time with the people closest to us.
Together, these perspectives opened up questions about leadership, professional identity and the ideals we hold ourselves to. They also illustrated how difficult it can be to act when different commitments and expectations seem equally important.
Developing judgement through encounters with others
The dilemma session is part of CBS WellbeingLab’s work to develop teaching formats that allow students to explore the human dimensions of leadership and working life.
Many situations we encounter in professional life involve competing expectations, responsibilities and values. Drawing inspiration from Keith Grint’s concept of wicked problems, students explore how the way we understand a situation shapes the possibilities for action that we can recognise.
By engaging with other people’s experiences and perspectives, students have an opportunity to question their own assumptions and develop their capacity for critical judgement.
At CBS WellbeingLab, our research explores judgement and agency (handlekraft) as relational capabilities that develop through our relationships with others. Critical judgement involves the capacity to examine and reconsider our own assessments considering different perspectives. Agency also concerns our capacity to take responsibility and engage with the task at hand, even when we face uncertainty and competing demands.
The dilemma session is one of the teaching formats through which we seek to support the development of these capabilities. By listening to how others interpret and respond to difficult situations, students can become aware of considerations they may not previously have recognised, expanding their understanding of what it might mean to act responsibly.
The conversation is available as a podcast
The dilemma session was recorded and will be made available as a podcast, allowing the conversation to be used in other educational settings at CBS and shared with audiences beyond the university.
This was the third time the format has been used in the course Shame, Stress and Leadership, and students’ feedback has been very positive.
Listen to the podcast here to hear how the three guests approached the dilemmas from their different perspectives