[two_third] ‘Leadership in the New Now’: the article by the Boston Consulting Group reflects what we’ve been suspecting for a while now: there will be no going back to the way we were. The Coronavirus had made an impact on our work and the way we work. Before going any further, we want to emphasize how serious this crisis is, and how much we value the health of our families and loved ones.   To stay focused on the positive, we will look at how this new way of working is characterized by transparency, autonomy, flexibility, and an output-oriented mindset. What will this mean for leadership style, for dialogue and communication both within their company and engaging in society? In this blogpost, Marion Kremer and Justine Italianer from Kremer & Company share their insights and perspectives of inspiring ways to work. [/two_third]       “An inspiring eye-opener and steep learning curve for leaders and people”   Marion: “Indeed, the...

Information is as reliable and valuable as its source. As presented in Gloria Origgi’s essay, it’s time to “say goodbye to the information age: it’s all about reputation now.” To rely on the news, we must trust the source of our information. But how to build and ensure a reliable reputation?   Reputations cannot be built on only promises of knowledge, sustainability, or their services. Trust is the foundation of a solid and consistent reputation and can be managed by constantly meeting and exceeding stakeholder expectations on all aspects of performance and behavior. Also when opinions and values are developing over time, because society is changing all the time. What is hot or accepted today can be unacceptable soon. This requires both agility and a clear purpose for the organization itself. You don’t know how to adapt if you don’t know where you are going.   To actively manage your reputation, it is essential...

We see it all around us now. Whether it is in the new book of Dutch author, Jeroen Smit, about the struggle of former Unilever CEO Paul Polman to get his company and its products more aligned with the current wishes of society. Or the Dutch institutional investors issuing a first of a green paper on their views of companies reporting on non-financial, sustainability issues. More and more often, ‘society’ expects organizations to act in accordance with the current rules of ethical, environmental and social behaviour. It is hard to predict what directions these demands of society will go into, but one thing we do know: they will evolve over time. Setting goals on these themes is quite difficult: ‘society’ has a broad definition, so it is hard to define whose expectations you want to meet, the next generation workforce won’t join your organization if they can’t make an impact and climate...