Herning, Denmark · Open to conversations

Software & People Leader

Building high-performing software teams through trust, clarity, ownership and responsible leadership.

I'm an experienced software and people leader with a strong track record in building distributed teams, developing people and creating stable delivery in complex industrial software environments. My leadership approach combines curiosity, execution, empowerment and integrity — with a clear focus on both people and business value.

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Dan Mortensen
About

Experienced in both code and people

I'm Dan Mortensen — a software and people leader with experience spanning engineering teams, cross-functional leadership and organisational development. Currently working as Section Team Leader at Siemens Energy in Brande, Denmark.

My career has given me a rare combination: deep roots in software development and a genuine passion for building the human systems that make great software possible. I believe the best technical outcomes come from teams with high trust, clear expectations, psychological safety and a culture of continuous improvement.

I'm particularly interested in the intersection of leadership, team dynamics and the deliberate practices that turn a group of individuals into a high-performing unit.

  • Software engineering background — technical credibility with engineering teams
  • People leadership — coaching, feedback culture and team development
  • Organisational change — driving transformation across functions
  • Based in Herning, Denmark — available for conversations across industries
Dan Mortensen
Expertise

Core areas

A career at the intersection of technology and people — with practical experience in both disciplines.

Software Leadership

Technical guidance, architecture conversations and engineering practices. Bridging the gap between business needs and technical solutions.

People Development

Coaching individuals, running 1:1s with purpose, building psychological safety and creating conditions where people do their best work.

Agile & Delivery

Structuring teams and workflows for predictable, high-quality delivery. Focus on throughput, not just activity.

Cross-functional Collaboration

Aligning engineers, product managers, stakeholders and business functions toward shared outcomes.

Change Management

Leading teams through organisational transitions, technology shifts and cultural change with clarity and continuity.

Feedback Culture

Creating environments where feedback flows freely in all directions — as a leadership discipline, not an annual event.

How I lead

Leadership principles

Six principles that shape how I lead in practice — grounded in real experience with people management, distributed software teams, transformation and delivery.

Curious, feedback-driven leadership

My leadership is grounded in curiosity and continuous learning. I actively seek feedback, reflect on my own behaviour and work deliberately to create better conversations, stronger trust and clearer alignment with my teams.

Self-awareness Active listening Blind spots
Building for today and tomorrow

I balance delivery today with capability for tomorrow. My focus is not only to meet current commitments, but to build teams, structures and technical capabilities that remain strong beyond the next delivery milestone.

Stable delivery AI adoption Long-term capability
Acting beyond the local team

I work across organisational boundaries to create alignment, reduce silos and strengthen delivery as one integrated organisation. My leadership focus is on the full value chain — from people and collaboration to customer impact and stable software delivery.

Distributed teams Silo reduction Customer value
Growing people and strengthening teams

I believe strong organisations are built by growing people. I focus on hiring strong profiles, retaining key talent and creating an environment where individuals can develop, take ownership and contribute beyond their formal role.

Talent retention Ownership Individual growth
Creating change through behaviour

I approach change as a practical leadership discipline. I challenge existing ways of working, lead by example and focus on creating multipliers — people and teams who can carry change forward themselves.

Empowerment Multiplier effect Pragmatic change
Responsibility, safety and integrity

I see responsible leadership as a combination of psychological safety, integrity and high professional standards. I aim to create an environment where people can speak up, make informed decisions and deliver with quality and accountability.

Psychological safety Integrity Accountability
Dan Mortensen at a leadership event
How I lead

Leadership philosophy

Four principles I return to, regardless of team size, technology stack or organisational context.

T

Trust

Teams perform when they trust each other and their leader. Trust is built through consistency, follow-through and psychological safety — not authority.

C

Clarity

Ambiguity is a silent killer of performance. I invest heavily in making goals, expectations and decision-making frameworks explicit and visible.

E

Empowerment

People do their best work when they have genuine ownership. I push decisions as close to the work as possible and remove blockers rather than control outcomes.

X

Execution

Culture without delivery is just conversation. I hold the team — and myself — to a high bar for follow-through, quality and continuous improvement.

Team excellence

Building high-performing teams

High performance is not a personality trait — it's a system. Teams that consistently deliver at a high level share identifiable characteristics that can be cultivated deliberately.

My approach draws on models from organisational psychology, agile practice and direct experience leading engineering teams. The goal is always sustainable performance — not sprint-and-crash cycles.

  • Explicit team agreements and working norms
  • Psychological safety as a non-negotiable baseline
  • Regular, structured retrospectives that actually change behaviour
  • Clear ownership with accountability, not micromanagement
  • Investment in individual growth alongside team capability
  • Feedback that is specific, timely and two-directional
RESULTS ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITMENT OPEN CONFLICT TRUST Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions (inverted)
Change leadership

Transformation & change

Sustainable change requires more than a new process or org chart. It requires careful attention to the human side of transition.

The Change Curve Shock Low point Acceptance Integration Time → Morale → Leader focus: support + clarity

My approach to change

  • Communicate the why before the what
  • Acknowledge uncertainty honestly — don't over-promise stability
  • Create early wins that build confidence and momentum
  • Identify informal leaders and bring them along early
  • Monitor team energy, not just delivery metrics
  • Plan explicitly for the transition state, not just the end state

Change initiatives fail most often at the human layer — through poor communication, insufficient support during the trough, and underestimating the effort required to embed new behaviours.

Self-awareness tool

The Johari Window in leadership

The Johari Window — developed by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham — is one of the most practical models for building self-awareness and team trust. I use it as a framework for coaching conversations, feedback sessions and team development.

The goal of great leadership is to continuously expand the Open area — making more of your working style and intentions visible to others, while genuinely seeking to discover blind spots through structured feedback.

  • Conduct regular 360° feedback to surface blind spots
  • Practice deliberate self-disclosure to build trust
  • Create psychological safety so others feel safe to give honest input
  • Use the model in team retrospectives and 1:1 coaching
Known to Others ← Yes · No → Known to Self OPEN Known to self & others BLIND Unknown to self known to others HIDDEN Known to self unknown to others UNKNOWN Unknown to self & others
Experience

Career highlights

A track record spanning software engineering, team leadership and cross-functional management in complex technical environments.

Current position
Section Team Leader
Siemens Energy · Brande, Denmark

Leading a cross-functional technical team within the SE DPS division of Siemens Energy. Responsible for team performance, individual development, delivery quality and stakeholder alignment in a global engineering context.

Prior experience
Software & People Leadership
Various organisations

Extensive background combining software engineering with progressive people leadership responsibilities. Track record of building teams, driving technical improvement and managing change through different organisational contexts.

Want to know more? Connect on LinkedIn for a full career history, or get in touch directly.

Credentials

Certifications & training

Continuous learning across leadership, technology and organisational development.

Agile Leadership
Applied agile practices
People Management
Leadership development
Software Engineering
Technical background
Change Management
Organisational transformation

Full credentials available on LinkedIn.

Reach out

Get in touch

Interested in talking about leadership, team development, software or something else entirely? I'm always happy to have a conversation.

Location
Herning, Region Midtjylland, Denmark

Good topics to discuss

  • Building high-performing engineering teams
  • Leadership development and coaching
  • Organisational change and transformation
  • Feedback culture and psychological safety
  • Software leadership challenges
Dan Mortensen
Dan Mortensen · dan-mortensen.dk · Herning, Denmark LinkedIn ↗

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