Leadership in Change

If we become aware of the technological progress that has taken place over the last 50 years, driven in particular by information technology, among other things, and then ask ourselves how little leadership has changed in this time, we realize what an enormous need for action there is. In fact, we still find many companies whose leadership culture has not evolved in recent decades, characterized by rigid, hierarchical structures, slow decision-making processes, battles between functional silos, and distrust of employees in the form of too much control. And all this in a time of advancing digitalization and a battle for young talent that no longer wants to be bullied, but instead craves creative freedom. At the same time, however, there are increasingly loud voices, such as those of Frederic Laloux in his bestselling book “Reinventing Organizations” (Laloux, Reinventing organizations. Nelson Parker, 2013), calling for a new understanding of leadership, and these voices are finding more and more resonance. They are already appearing very often in start-up companies, with the consequence that they are overtaking the large and often still very hierarchically structured companies in their speed – the fast eat the slow, so to speak. It is increasingly recognized that a completely new type of leadership personality is needed for sustainable success. The time of the lonely decision maker or the patriarchal leading “silverback” at the top of the company is coming to an end. We need human leaders with a positive view of people, who trust their employees and give them freedom, because even in a thousand years, people will still be the most important thing in every company.