{"id":82596,"date":"2019-01-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/21st-century-leaders-can-no-longer-play-the-boss\/"},"modified":"2019-01-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-01-02T22:00:00","slug":"21st-century-leaders-can-no-longer-play-the-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/21st-century-leaders-can-no-longer-play-the-boss\/","title":{"rendered":"’21st-century leaders can no longer play the boss’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article was originally published in Dutch in 2019 and has been translated and updated in October 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

“We have to respond quickly to technological changes that are following each other at breakneck speed. That applies to every sector, private and public alike. Organisations and governments that fail to act in time will end up on the sidelines and, in the long run, lose their reason to exist,” says futurist and keynote speaker Richard van Hooijdonk. “You can already see the relevant lifespan of companies shrinking rapidly. Turning the tide will take extreme effort, and a new form of leadership is crucial.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Text: Jacques Geluk<\/em><\/p>\n

“In 1990, companies still lasted seventy years on average, according to research from Yale University published in 2016. That was at the end of an era in which change happened more slowly. Bureaucratic management with long decision-making chains and several layers of management was still a safe option back then.” Richard van Hooijdonk<\/a> explains that, a quarter of a century later, that very system of formal organisational structures has become the greatest enemy of organisations. “By early 2015, the lifespan of companies stuck in this ‘bureaucreation’ that fail to embrace technological developments had fallen to less than twelve years. As I see it, in two years’ time that will be six years at most. Unless change cycles speed up dramatically.” (Richard made this prediction in early 2019.) Part of the reason is that century-old corporate structures have a demotivating effect on organisations, which as a result become less productive and less inspired, and are unable to change in time. And so they lose their reason to exist.<\/p>\n

“Organisations of the future<\/a> adapt more quickly. These hyperconnected companies and institutions don’t just hire talented people, they also work together with experts and scientists in a kind of ecosystem. Learning, experimenting and being able to collaborate. That’s what it’s all about. The skills you simply cannot do without in the 21st century are passion, curiosity, creativity and resilience.”<\/p>\n

Leaders of tomorrow<\/h2>\n

New leaders need to inspire, act as the hub of their organisation and, at the same time, be open to their teams, who must be able to operate autonomously so they can take ownership of what they do. Leaders have to unlearn the habit of always telling (or showing) people how things should be done, even when that is hard. Wanting to control everything no longer fits the times. The same goes for problem-focused communication, which takes up a lot of time and therefore limits decisiveness. So what should the leaders of tomorrow be? Richard: “Team players who give the people around them freedom and trust, and who prefer networks and communities to hierarchy. They inspire and coach, and steer their employees in the right direction. Leaders of the future facilitate, explain why they do things and give team members what they need to succeed. After all, it’s not about their ego. The team comes first. Treating employees like robots who do what they’re told without question does nothing for a healthy business.”<\/p>\n

Leaders not only have to behave differently within their organisation and always stay on top of major (technological) changes. Their biggest challenge is to shift the thinking of managers and employees towards a disruptive mindset. “The strength to abandon old values and norms and adopt new ones will determine the success of tomorrow’s organisation,” says Richard, who immediately notes that we are not very good at unlearning what we have learned before. “We like to hold on to the old and we’re not used to rapid change. To change that, the new leaders also need to be able to inspire, to amaze their employees and win their trust. If they succeed, those employees can absorb new knowledge and skills, and the organisation can adapt to a new vision far more quickly.”<\/p>\n

A young person alongside the leader<\/h2>\n

“You know what would be a good idea,” Richard suggests, “if leaders ran their organisations together with someone in their twenties. Young adults already know the future; they grew up in the ‘digital classroom’. Older people know today’s world and have earned their stripes in it. Together, as equals, they form an enormously powerful unit that can draw on two worlds.” It all sounds simple, but it certainly isn’t. Richard: “Switching to a new organisational model suited to the 21st century is often difficult. In many cases, it already goes wrong when the director starts by deciding how the team should manage itself. That nips self-management in the bud straight away. The director has to realise that everyone involved, including him or her, is going through a learning process, and that everyone must be given the opportunity to organise their own work. The employees then need to take that up with motivation. That, too, can sometimes be, as we’d say in modern Dutch, ‘a thing’.” There is another challenge. Organisations and their leaders may well be able to adapt to rapid change, but they need to realise that they will have to keep it up constantly. After all, what the world of tomorrow will really look like is extremely uncertain. According to Richard, uncertainty is the new normal, and the danger is that organisations focus too much on the short term.<\/p>\n

Profit is not the primary goal. “An important task for leaders is to manage that uncertainty by means of future scenarios, in which they need to invest heavily. As a result, profit maximisation may not be the primary objective. Discussions about shareholder value and what it means are also interesting at this stage. Does shareholder value mean lots of money in the bank and a high share price on the stock exchange, or that you will still exist ten years from now and are investing a substantial part of your profits in future business directions today?”<\/p>\n

Leaders as role models<\/h2>\n

Richard: “You could say that today’s leaders need to be both servants and role models for the generation that has only just reached adulthood. These young men and women, and the youngest members of the generation before them, need successful examples (think of Bill Gates, Jack Ma, Steve Jobs and our very own ‘ocean cleaner’ Boyan Slat) and a holistic approach. They are keen to work for an organisation where they know for sure that profits don’t come before people, where a good work-life balance is standard and where there are proper solutions to social problems. In their policies, the new leaders also have to take into account that the current generation is wait-and-see and cynical, and feels no connection with many of today’s leaders, because in the eyes of these young adults they lack motivating qualities. With exceptions, of course.” Richard keeps a close eye on all developments and considers how others think about the changes that have already happened and those still to come. “Most agree that we are at a crossroads. On the one hand, there are companies already applying self-organisation, but as soon as cutbacks are on the table, classic hierarchical leadership stubbornly persists. Some believe that dialogue is the most important tool for many leaders to get some grip in these times, when what is right today may be outdated tomorrow. That way they always know what’s going on and what a good response would be at that moment. A leader must listen to all opinions, especially those of his or her employees, take them seriously and then give direction to what has come out of it. Even if he or she might not agree with it. People need to listen to each other and move forward together.”<\/p>\n

Servant leaders<\/h2>\n

In short, leaders serve their company and its employees, without this undermining the quality of their leadership. There are a number of skills they definitely need. As mentioned, they must be able to listen to and communicate well with their employees, and not be afraid that some members of staff are smarter than they are. In fact, that’s a good thing. Empathy is another valuable quality, meaning leaders must be able to put themselves in their employees’ shoes. You can also expect leaders to have a vision for the future of the company and to be able to analyse it based on events past and present. And they must be willing to take responsibility not only for successes, but also for failures. “Jack Ma, who was leading Alibaba at the time, says this in an article on the website of Penn State University in the United States, and his vision is precisely why many young people see him as the role model they are looking for when deciding what kind of company they want to work for.”<\/p>\n

Richard van Hooijdonk is one of the most sought-after trend watchers and futurists in the Netherlands and an international keynote speaker. By the time this article first appeared, more than 420,000 people had attended his talks. You regularly see Richard on Dutch television and radio (RTL, SBS, BNN\/VARA, AVRO\/TROS and BNR). He also advises multinationals and other ambitious organisations, and is a guest lecturer at several universities. He previously worked as a strategic adviser, marketing director, consultant and member of the executive and management boards of various banks, insurers, publishers and technology companies. His bestselling book ‘De Wereld van Morgen’ (The World of Tomorrow) was published at the end of 2017 by Bertram+de Leeuw Uitgevers. ISBN: 9789461562432.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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