The Future of Leadership: The Essence of Impactful Leaders Today.
- Carlijn Nelissen
- Sep 9
- 4 min read
Burnouts, quiet quitting, the great resignation, and founders leaving their own companies. The way we are working isn’t working. The consciousness of people has evolved, and we expect different work environments where we can develop as a person, and make meaningful impact as a team. Where we can express ourselves, and bring ideas to life. Not just to be one cog in the machine, following orders, to an outcome we don’t believe in. When we aren't solely driven by our ego (fear of not being or having enough), but by purpose, we come alive, teams thrive and business flourishes.
Being a leader instead of a manager.
It's important to distinguish between leadership and management. In the pyramid with its hierarchy, “being the boss” mainly and for a large part of the time (80%) comes down to managing. Jumping in, controlling, and putting out fires. Managing and motivating (“how do I get them to do it?”). Leadership instead, is about providing direction, inspiration to excel and engagement.
Founders often have the idea - unconsciously - that they have to step into the role of “the boss”. The boss oversees everything, supervises, comes up with solutions, and makes the final decisions. There is often something flattering, ego-stroking, that feeling that you are indispensable, that everything revolves around you. We often keep feeding this loop, because it validates feelings of being enough or worthy.
It might feel that you are ‘in control’, ‘on top of things’ and ‘doing a good job’, but on the long term you create a dynamic whereby you care more and more, and the team cares less & less. Apathetic, not taking a risk or initiative, waiting for your cue or instructions.
It doesn’t work. It is demotivating and promotes apathy. It breeds stress, insecurity and feelings of meaninglessness.
The opposite approach we often see with founders who want to do it differently, who strive for equality, and kindness within the team. It often results in a culture with a lot of unclarity, subjectivity, and a toxic “too nice” culture, lacking radical honesty and accountability.
Both approaches are draining over time, for both founders, as well as the team.
It’s not sustainable.
Good news, this is not the only way to ‘lead’.
An alternative is a flat, network-like, self-organising and trust-based environment, where ‘being the boss’ is unnecessary. Anselm Grün, Benedictine monk and author of “Inspirational Leadership” wrote:
“Control can prevent mistakes, but not create life”.
And that is exactly what we need; life force. because everything starts with passionate, enthusiastic people within your team. Alan Watkins, British neuroscientist, also argues in his TED Talks:
“Passion is by far the no. 1 predictor of performance”.
Viewing companies as ecosystems, not as controllable machines:
Ecosystems are dynamic living systems. They are interactive, self-organising and based on trust. There is no central management, no central planning, no top-down control. But just like in a football team, it must be clear what you want to achieve as a team, what you dream of as a team, and agreements about roles and responsibilities and rules about how you play together.
Firstly, the vision, the dream, what you want to achieve, the “raison d'être” of the company, provides direction, inspires, invites commitment and connects. That's where it starts.
Secondly, self-organising means space for people to take responsibility and make decisions. This does not mean that as a Founder/CEO you simply trust and let go, but that you help if necessary by providing guidance, asking good questions and helping people to make better decisions each time. It's a subtle balance.
Thirdly, clear rules are needed and that requires a clear picture of what you stand for as a company and what your objectives are as a company. What your true priorities are, under pressure? This is the basis for making agreements about responsibilities and roles in the work process because autonomy and control entail responsibility; no obligation.
Make timely adjustments - if a team is not already doing so itself - if someone from the team starts playing the “boss” and begins to create a hierarchy. It’s deadly for the commitment of others, as well as limiting the problem-solving capacity and learning loops to evolve self, product and company as a whole.
Fourthly, ensure a psychologically safe working atmosphere by dealing with people with integrity and respect and by first and foremost being open and vulnerable yourself. Our ego often tries to protect ourselves, by pretending, pulling up walls, or blaming others. This blocks connection and the transparency needed for true ownership and personal growth. Mistakes and mistakes are not downplayed or denied, but acknowledged, and learned from. The focus is on solving it.
This requires that you support and facilitate the team to develop skills crucial for a socially safe environment. Such as “Non-violent communication” to resolve conflicts and frictions in a constructive, non-aggressive manner. Or the ability to deal with criticism in a constructive way.
In this way, you build a setting, an organisational architecture that invites people to be committed, and take responsibility. An environment where they feel free and dare to work creatively and inventively, feel like co-entrepreneurs, and are proud of their work and their company.
That is where the added value of the leader in this environment lies. Embedding the principles and creating the right conditions for an inspiring workplace and - crucial for credibility - acting as a role model; setting the tone. Not a tone of control, but of connection.
Fr. In his book “Reinventing Organizations”, Laloux sees a beautiful paradox between traditional organizations and these ‘new’ organizations.
While the first group focuses mainly on financial objectives, turnover, costs and returns, the second group focuses mainly on people. And they are particularly successful in business over time. More and more cases prove that focusing on people will also be more beneficial for your profit. Leadership is no longer solely from the head, but also more from the heart.
That different role is impossible without a different “Way of being”; but we would like to discuss that in one of the upcoming newsletters.
Does this leadership paradigm resonate with you?
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