Sustainable Leadership: How to help leaders in a VUCA-world with David Ducheyne

About me

• Chief People Officer Securex

• 24 years of Experience in Business and HR

• Started as management trainer at Alcatel

• Worked for Alcatel, University Gent, Henkel, CNH, Securex

• Key Note Speaker

• Eager Blogger @ hrchitects.net

• Organizational Psychologist

Why this book?

WTHRU?

Hypo-crite? (hypo-creed)

p. 153?

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Another 1!

Amazon.com

• 14987 publications on leadership.

• 219 new ones in the past 30 days.

• 149 new ones in the coming weeks.

Picture taken on June 7th 2016

And still…

The leader who does not dare to

give feedback. The Leader who wants to check

everything.

The leader who does not tolerate

contradiction.

Most Parents do not get any training.

Most leaders do.

Learning = Making Mistakes

Are We / You Worried?

Jobs disappear.

100 We become 100.

D Everything changes. Faster.

More disruptive.

Conversation with my Mom in 1976.

Son, you will have a difficult

Life.

Why, mom?

• High Youth Unemployment

• Energy Supply

• Cold War

• Middle East Conflict

Where is my Playmobil Box?

VUCA Leadership has never been so difficult.

Leidership has never been so crucial.

The world has become

Leadership defined

(Musical) Eexperience / Value

Leadership defined

• A process of motion towards value creation through people

• Who trust your leadership

• at this moment

• Because you are at the service of them and a higher purpose

Sustainable Leadership

Create Value

For the Future

• the context

• The others / team

• yourself

How can we make it

meaningful?

Questions Many Leaders Ask.

• How can I hang on?

• How can I make it more meaningful?

• How can I lead in a world that is so unpredictable?

• How can I do better?

• How can I be an example to others if I don’t know where we are heading?

• Am I worth it? Am I worthy?

• Am I good enough?

• What makes a good leader today?

Quality of Leadership About People who did (not) inspire you.

The Lists of Leaders

• Make a list of all the leaders you’ve had so far.

• Rank them in 3 groups.

• The top (the ones who have inspired you the most)

• The bottom (those who were least significant to you)

• The rest in the middle.

Top

M

idd

le

Bo

tto

m

Chronological List

Your List of Leaders

Leadership in a Narrative Perspective

It’s rarely about competencies.

Sustainable Leadership

is based on

character, humanity.

The Questions

• What do people think about you as a leader?

• Where are you on their list? Do you dare to ask?

• What have you learned from leaders who are at the top?

• What have you learned from leaders who are at the bottom?

• How do you use these insights to become a better leader (or better at leadership)?

• How do you want people to feel because of / thanks to your leadership?

Character

Empathy

Kindness

Fairness

Reciprocity

Character makes us unique

human

Character gives certainty in a VUCA-world.

Therefore it’s the best basis for Leadership.

It’s psychological capital with a great impact on context

And it is impacted by the context.

”It’s about staying human

no matter what.

Is that all?

Isn’t it about competition, winning, … ?

The Problem

• 86% sees a leadership crisis

• 28% sees abuse of power

• 50% of leaders derail

• In 62% of cases, people do not want to work for the same boss again

• …

Character Erosion

How Do You Feel There is Erosion of Character?

How?

• Expectations we have towards Leaders -

Myths

• The Context brings us to some kinds of

behaviors • A Strength becomes a Weakness

© Ofman

Talking about Charisma…

• Having an Opinion

• Being persuasive, comunicative, …

Charisma is good to get somewhere.

Not to stay there.

Extraverted?

Ambitious?

Decision-happy?

Meticulous?

A strength becomes a weakness. You become a charicature.

You lose a part of your humanity.

You perish.

It’s the context … What do we ask from Leaders?

Power – Money

Pressure

Dehumanised …

Downgrading ...

Toxic Workplaces.

Careers and Character

Fighting against Character Erosion

How? Character Hygiene

Rule 1

Base

Leadership on

Character.

(More than on function,

competencties, power,

position, … ).

Empathy

Reciprocity

Fairness

Kindness

Regel 2

Integrate the 3

stakeholders.

(do not become the

puppet of one of them)

Rulel 3

Decide what to

let go off, what

to hold on to.

(remain dynamic)

Let go off

Hold on to

Maturity C

ontr

ol

Regel 4

Focus on …

(how can you make a

difference for someone

else?)

Values Progress Exceptions

Rule 5

Make yourself as

scarce as

possible.

(leadership is not about the

leader)

5 simple rules that enable Leaders to fight

erosion.

And enable them to build a sustainable

context.

“Character Hygiene”

Meaningfulness

Trust

Growth

Engagement

Self Care

Fighting Erosion

Sustainable Leadership

So What? Wat kan ik hiermee aanvangen?

VUCA Going back to the Essence of Leadership.

Coaching? Empathy

Reciprocity

Fairness

Kindness

Meaning

fulness

Trust

Grow

th

Engage

ment

Self

Care

Let go

off

Hold

on to

Maturity

Contr

o

l

“If there is humanity in

business, there is business in humanity.

Letter to my mom

David Ducheyne

Chief People Officer

Securex

Thank you.