The core values that drive governance include:

FAMILY, the positive nature of the relationships we have with our dealers, colleagues and suppliers

TRUST, is built by providing psychological safety, mutual respect and open communication

COLLABORATION, means listening and evolving together, helping and supporting each other for the sake of a collective goal​

PASSION, for our dealer's success, our brand, our products, our jobs ​and the success of STIHL globally

INNOVATION, enabling employees at every level to use and develop their skills, knowledge, experience and creativity to the fullest possible extent​

Strategically, these values drive governance by prioritising ethical behaviour, consistent leadership conduct, sustainable growth, and strong dealer and employee relationships over short‑term outcomes.

STIHL has a well‑defined leadership framework and leadership capability model, aligned to the global competency framework and adapted to local expectations. The framework clearly outlines expected leadership behaviours across levels, such as leading with integrity, delivering results, developing people, collaborating effectively, and owning outcomes. This demonstrates strong alignment between leadership development and organisational values.

Overall, leadership development is purposeful and values‑aligned, providing a shared language and clear behavioural expectations for leaders. However, potential gaps lie less in design and more in consistent application and reinforcement.

As with many capability frameworks, there is an ongoing challenge to ensure the framework is actively used in daily leadership practice, performance conversations, and decision‑making, rather than being viewed primarily as a reference tool.

The following leadership development goals would strengthen alignment between leadership behaviours and STIHL’s vision and values:

1) Embed the leadership framework in everyday leadership practice

2) Use existing leadership capabilities to more deliberately support leaders in driving innovation and managing change while maintaining trust, collaboration, and engagement.

With a robust leadership framework already in place, the key opportunity lies in continuous reinforcement and practical application to ensure leadership behaviours consistently reflect the organisation’s values at all levels.

The University’s current approach to leadership development seems to support this vision, especially through the People Strategy 2023–2030, which highlights Next Generation Leadership as a priority. This University recognises how important strong leadership is in supporting excellence, inclusion, and staff wellbeing. However, how the strategy is realised given the current resource and social licence challenges is very real. While the overall direction is clear, there is less SMART measures about how leadership behaviours are defined and measured across the organisation. A stronger leadership framework that more clearly connects expected behaviours with the University’s values would help make leadership development more consistent and practical and ensuring this is tied to metrics and accountability measures.

To improve this alignment, the University could focus on three main leadership development goals. First, it could create a clear values-based leadership framework that shows how leaders are expected to demonstrate integrity, inclusion, and student focus in their everyday work. Second, it could place more emphasis on inclusive leadership so that leaders are better equipped to build diverse, supportive, and psychologically safe teams. Third, it could strengthen strategic and change leadership skills so leaders are better prepared to respond to complexity and support the University’s long-term goals. Skill development priorities in the People Strategy would then be tied to this. Together, these steps would help leadership more closely align and reflect the University’s vision and values in practice.