Leadership in the digital age

Leadership is subject to fundamental changes
Successful organizations distinguish themselves through their ability to continuously adapt. They succeed primarily because they are adept at identifying and responding to developments in a timely manner. They are as alert as meerkats in the savannah: constantly scanning, alert to both threats and opportunities. They constantly reinvent themselves. For such organizations, innovation is not a project, but an ongoing process that must be deeply embedded in the corporate culture.
In these agile organizations, leaders play a very different role than in the hierarchical organizations of the past. In the days of Jack Welch, everything revolved around efficiency, profitability, and predictable growth. But in a rapidly changing world, that is no longer enough. Modern leaders must be able to both exploit and explore, keeping the existing business profitable and efficient while creating space for innovation – a balancing act that makes leadership more complex than ever.

As in prehistoric times
What was once considered a virtue – knowing everything, maintaining control hierarchical management – now acts as a brake. Today’s leaders must be able to deal with uncertainty, be open to feedback, and be willing to learn. They recognize that control stifles creativity, while trust increases adaptability. And therefore they offer ample opportunity for what I call ‘distributed leadership’: the lead lies with the person with the most expertise, not necessarily with the highest ranking. Often, this is even an employee who is relatively low in the organization, who has broad insight into everyday issues and possesses specialized knowledge. In other words, it is not who has the position, but who knows best. This was already the case in the days of hunters and gatherers. In prehistoric times, the modern-sounding concept of distributed leadership was very much the norm.

Leader of leaders
Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo, aptly described this shift: ‘When I joined this company, our CEO knew the most about everything, now that is impossible. My role changed from omniscient leader to leader of leaders.’ That role remains essential because organizations need central coordination to deal with uncertainty, to find a balance between running the existing business efficiently and innovating for the future, and to ensure cohesion between autonomous teams. Even Google discovered with Project Oxygen – a project to determine what makes good managers ‘good’ which was initially launched to prove that managers do not matter – that completely eliminating managers did not work.
The leader of leaders is similar to a conductor. He does not play all the instruments, but ensures that each section leader excels and that all parts work together in harmony to realize the overarching vision. He works with managers, employees, external experts, and customers to arrive at a vision, especially for complex problems that transcend teams and departments. It is crucial, however, that the leader is not ignorant. To ask the right questions, he or she does not need to be an expert, but does need a basic understanding of the subject matter. Nooyi herself therefore also took courses in artificial intelligence and big data. Not to become an expert, but to be able to ask the right questions.
In short, leadership has shifted from controlling to connecting, from knowing for sure to remaining curious. Some crucial qualities of modern leaders are the ability to learn, self-knowledge, resilience, courage, and the ability to connect. Curiosity is the lifeblood, those who are not curious do not learn. And those who do not learn fall behind. In this respect, the modern leader is a perpetual student: someone who always knows enough to ask the right questions and invites others to contribute their ideas.

The gap between knowing and doing
Almost everyone acknowledges that the command and control model has had its day. Yet, putting it into practice remains difficult. New leadership thinking rings loud and clear in strategic plans, but daily reality is still too often dominated by control and hierarchy. While many CEOs believe that responsibilities should be shifted lower down in the organization, this is by no means always the case. Not only managers, but also some employees are reluctant. They often grew up in the old paradigm and are afraid to take responsibility or, conversely, to let go. This requires a significant cultural shift, especially in organizations with a traditionally strict hierarchical structure. It is easier to talk about innovation than to actually let go of existing structures.
The risks of this outdated leadership style are significant, however. Companies that cling to old models lose their agility. A culture that punishes mistakes and rewards predictability stifles creativity. On top of that comes the erosion of trust. Leaders who do not listen or act infallible create fear and distance. Teams no longer dare to take initiative. In a world of constant transparency, this can lead to reputational damage within hours.
At the same time, it becomes more difficult to attract talent. Younger generations are looking for meaning, autonomy, and development, not a leader who dictates and controls. Experience also shows that a leader's behavior permeates the rest of the company, creating the risk that employees will copy the leader’s behavior. A facilitating leader, for example, develops facilitating employees, while a controlling leader creates controlling employees. When leaders fail to invest in their teams or place the wrong people in crucial positions, motivation and quality disappear from the company.

Gradual Improvement
Fortunately, there are clear signs of progress, although it is more of an evolution than a revolution. In my practice, I notice that the focus in leadership selection is gradually shifting from knowledge and experience to character. It is all about the cocktail of ability (competencies), willingness (motivation), and being (personal characteristics). Executive recruiters and organizational supervisors are increasingly looking at learning capacity, adaptability, self-knowledge, and the ability to deal with uncertainty. Of course, resumes and work experience also play a role, but we are increasingly realizing that these do not say everything about a leader's future success.
The direction is clear: modern, personal leadership is shifting from commanding to connecting and facilitating. It is less about being able to provide all the answers and more about asking the right questions. Those who dare to learn, listen, and trust others embody the future of leadership, not as a king or queen with crown and sword, but as navigators who stay the course through the storm, with the crew as the driving force.

Essay by Ralf Knegtmans, managing partner at De Vroedt & Thierry executive search & leadership consultancy (part of Boer & Croon). Published in Management Scope 01 2026.