[2030] A lively board meeting with “Zotta,” an AI board member, serving as an advisory voice. On the agenda: the possible acquisition of a competitor. During the opening discussion, Zotta points out a few of the classic failure patterns in takeovers, with a subtle wink. Then she cheerfully reveals how—despite all careful analysis effort—the CFO is being just a little too optimistic in her valuation of the target. Now the conversation sharpens, people speak their heart out. And when Zotta nudges him, the CHRO shares unwelcome insights from the people due diligence. In the debate that follows, the AI brings in clear pushback where necessary and evaluates the quality of the board’s discussion.

It can feel almost impossible to be at ease and peaceful in the extraordinary times we live in. This tension between the speed of external change and the slowness of inner transformation creates a pressure that many leaders I meet quietly carry. This article explores the often-overlooked inner dimension of leadership: the personal transformation required to lead from the inside out.

Diversity and inclusion often appear on the leadership agenda when it’s too late: employees have filed complains about the toxic work culture in their team, team managers are accused of discriminatory remarks, or an incident spiraled out of control and got picked up by the media. Time for damage control. At Jonathan Warner, we work with leaders at all levels - including Boards - and often bring up the topic ourselves. Is your current leadership of the right caliber to give direction to the new generations that quickly take over our workplaces? Is future talent in your company identified based on past performance, or on future potential? Is sufficient cognitive diversity involved when making strategic and operational decisions?

Culture Helix is a tool for leaders of organizations operating in an international environment. Culture is a strong but abstract force that, when handled wisely, turns into cutting-edge skills and practices. The Culture Helix tool offers vital support for managing culture in any process by pinpointing the essential steps, skills, and aspects required.

Arjan Eleveld founded Jonathan Warner in 2003. Over the years, his role has evolved. The company embraced a new direction, formed a community of leadership experts, and significantly expanded its services. Rob IJsseldijk interviewed Arjan about this transformation. Their dialogue explored leadership, change, and the dynamics between leader and team.

In 2020 two partners started a consulting firm. Initially these entrepreneurs took on all leadership responsibilities & tasks themselves, within a small organization of 15 consultants. Fast growth demanded leadership development. Both in an organizational and a qualitative way.

The business line manager at a large electronics firm recognized growing tension between management in the Netherlands, engineering in Shanghai, and manufacturing in the US. This was far from the “global effectiveness” he had envisioned, and he realized that these internal difficulties could soon affect customer deliverables. A 2-day workshop in Shanghai with all parties involved had been arranged, but his concern was that—just like last time—it would consist of polite interactions, filled with PowerPoint presentations that promised better outcomes, without truly addressing the underlying issue: the lack of trust, or more accurately, the distrust between the teams.

Two owners of a medium-sized secondment agency approached us with the question whether we could support them in empowering their team. Their complaint was that they were constantly pushing their team of 10 permanent employees to develop new initiatives and drive ideas into implementation, but the team would repeatedly turn around and ask for their guidance. 

Client X, a multinational corporation, contacted Charlotta Brynger after the employee surveys came back with some unpleasant revealing information—the multinational and multicultural workforce spanning several continents wasn’t happy with how cultural diversity was handled. They felt there was stereotyping, like grouping national identities together, but also a lack of appreciation of different perspectives. Global management and HR decided to address this as they found it alarming, but it also didn’t align with the company culture.

The new president of an international charity organisation decided to delegate more responsibility and authority to the several country-organisations reporting into headquarters, allowing them to be more responsive to the needs of their beneficiaries.