Evidano is an AI-powered qualitative data analysis platform that helps researchers analyze interviews, open-ended surveys, and documents. According to the PLOS One article, the study "Developing person-centred leadership practices" (Klinga et al., 2026) reports that a six-month educational programme influenced leaders’ self-leadership, team-leadership, and workforce development. The primary keyword for this post is person-centred leadership programme evaluation and this post translates the PLOS One findings into practical guidance for qualitative researchers and learning designers using AI-enabled analysis.
Key Takeaways
Yes: according to the PLOS One study, participation in a six-month programme was experienced by participants to support development in self-leadership, team leadership, and workforce development when organisational preconditions were met; see PLOS One.
- In 2022 the programme admitted 80 leaders, according to the PLOS One article published on July 22, 2026.
- Thirteen leaders were interviewed for this evaluation between 27/01/2023 and 16/03/2023, with interviews averaging 52 minutes, as reported in PLOS One.
- The programme ran six modules over six months and used a flipped classroom plus workplace assignments, according to the PLOS One study.
- Participants described three development tracks ("Live as you learn, " "Strive for equal relations, " and "Enable co-creation") that map to self, team, and workforce levels in the PLOS One analysis.
What happened: person-centred leadership programme evaluation
Answer: the PLOS One study evaluated leader experiences after a six-month person-centred leadership programme and found self-reported changes across three leadership levels.
According to the PLOS One article (Klinga et al., 2026), the programme was developed by the University of Gothenburg Centre for Person-Centred Care and the Swedish Association of Health Professionals and combined digital, in-person, and workplace-based learning.
According to the PLOS One study, 80 leaders enrolled in 2022 and a purposive subsample of 13 leaders completed individual interviews between 27/01/2023 and 16/03/2023 to capture post-programme experiences.
According to the PLOS One article, analysis used conventional content analysis and interpreted results along three tracks (self-leadership, team-leadership, and workforce development) leading to the overarching theme "Developing person-centred leadership practices."
A direct participant quotation reported in PLOS One illustrates change in reflective practice: "You get the chance to pause and reflect in a way that you don’t usually do" (Interview 10).
Findings snapshot
| Date / Event | Metric | Value (from PLOS One) | Implication (brief) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Programme admissions | 80 leaders admitted | Large cohort for a leadership programme, enabling workplace assignment reach according to PLOS One |
| 27/01/2023–16/03/2023 | Interviews for evaluation | 13 leaders interviewed, mean 52 min | Qualitative depth but small sample, PLOS One notes transferability limits |
| Programme length | Duration | Six months, six modules | Sustained exposure combining theory and workplace practice supported reflection, per PLOS One |
| Published 22 July 2026 | Publication | PLOS One peer-reviewed article | Open access reporting of methods and quotes for transparency |
Implications for qualitative researchers and learning designers
Answer: the PLOS One evaluation shows that embedding learning in workplace practice and collecting rich interview data produces actionable insights on leadership change.
According to the PLOS One article, workplace assignments and peer reflection were central mechanisms; qualitative researchers should therefore prioritize longitudinal, context-embedded data collection when evaluating leadership programmes.
According to the PLOS One study, participants highlighted the need for organisational preconditions such as manager support and time for coaching, which learning designers should measure as mediators during programme rollout.
According to PLOS One, participant language change (adopting shared terms for PCC) emerged as an early signal of cultural shift; qualitative researchers should track language and discourse change over time as a measurable outcome.
How Evidano helps with person-centred leadership programme evaluation
Problem: small qualitative samples produce lots of text, slow synthesis
Solution: Evidano is an AI-powered qualitative data analysis platform that helps researchers analyze interviews, open-ended surveys, and documents.
Evidano accelerates synthesis by ingesting interview transcripts (including the 13 interview transcripts type used in the PLOS One study) and producing thematic and frequency analyses, which lets teams move from coding to interpretation faster.
See the Evidano features page for tools that support transcript ingestion, coding hierarchies, and visualizations.
Problem: tracking change across self, team, and workforce levels is complex
Solution: Evidano supports cross-segment analyses and hierarchical codes so researchers can compare themes at the individual, team, and organisational levels as in the PLOS One three-track approach.
Evidano’s co-occurrence network and hierarchical code visualizations make it easier to show how "Live as you learn, " "Strive for equal relations, " and "Enable co-creation" relate in the dataset.
Problem: verifying sensitive qualitative data in regulated settings
Solution: Evidano encrypts data and does not use customer data to train third-party models, which supports ethical handling of interview data like that restricted by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority in the PLOS One study.
For more on data protections see Evidano data security.
FAQ: person-centred leadership programme evaluation
What did the PLOS One study find about leadership change after the programme?
Answer: the PLOS One study found that participants experienced development in self-leadership, team-leadership, and workforce development when organisational preconditions were present.
According to PLOS One, those three development tracks were summarized under the visions "Live as you learn, " "Strive for equal relations, " and "Enable co-creation, " and were supported by reflective exercises, workplace assignments, and peer dialogue.
How many people were interviewed and when were the interviews conducted?
Answer: thirteen leaders were interviewed for the evaluation between 27/01/2023 and 16/03/2023, according to the PLOS One article.
According to PLOS One, interviews lasted 40–65 minutes with a mean of 52 minutes, providing in-depth qualitative material for conventional content analysis.
Can AI tools reproduce the PLOS One analysis approach?
Answer: AI-assisted thematic analysis can replicate the broad steps of the PLOS One approach (code generation, category clustering, and interpretative framing) while leaving interpretive validity checks to researchers.
According to best-practice reporting and the PLOS One method, human-led reflexivity and negotiated consensus are essential; AI should assist coding speed and pattern detection rather than replace analytic judgment.
What are measurable signals of early culture change after leadership training?
Answer: measurable early signals include adoption of shared language, frequency of reflective activities, and instances of shared decision-making recorded in transcripts and workplace documents.
According to PLOS One, participants reported more frequent use of person-centred language and more reciprocal meetings, which qualitative coding can quantify across timepoints.
Conclusion & Next Steps
Recap: according to the PLOS One study (Klinga et al., 2026), a six-month person-centred leadership programme produced self-reported changes in self-leadership, team leadership, and workforce development when organisational preconditions were present.
Next step for researchers: combine workplace-based assignments with longitudinal qualitative sampling and use AI-assisted tools to accelerate coding, compare segments, and visualize co-creation dynamics.
If you want to scale an evaluation like the PLOS One study and shorten synthesis time, try an AI-enabled workflow with Evidano to ingest transcripts, run thematic and cross-segment analyses, and produce visual evidence for stakeholders.
Get started: Try Evidano for free.