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Compassionate leadership has become a trending concept across the organisational landscape, but for many teams, the lived experience doesn’t quite match the aspiration. Leaders may believe they are being supportive, approachable, or understanding, but their people might be experiencing something very different.

At its core, compassionate leadership is about noticing what others are experiencing, understanding their needs, and taking thoughtful action. It blends emotional intelligence with accountability, and it enables teams to feel safe, connected, and motivated. When compassion is missing, the impact is often subtle at first, showing up in morale, collaboration, engagement, and performance.

So how can you tell whether compassion genuinely sits at the heart of your leadership culture? Here are five signs that often go unnoticed, yet reveal a great deal about what’s really happening in your team.

1. People are “fine”… but not flourishing

If surface-level check-ins have become the norm, it may be a sign that psychological safety is limited. When team members don’t feel able to express concerns, admit when they’re struggling, or share what might help them perform better, the default response becomes “fine”.

Leaders might interpret this as a lack of problems – but in reality, it can reflect a culture where people don’t believe their wellbeing will be genuinely prioritised. Compassionate leadership encourages curiosity, deeper listening, and follow-through that shows people they matter.

2. Conversations focus on performance, not people

Targets, deadlines, KPIs, and responsibilities are essential – but focusing exclusively on performance can unintentionally reduce people to outputs rather than individuals with needs, motivations, and pressures.

When performance conversations rarely explore what’s enabling or hindering someone’s success, leaders miss valuable insight. A compassionate culture balances outcomes with the conditions that support them: workload, clarity, relationships, confidence, and wellbeing. This balance is often a key differentiator between teams that deliver short-term results and those that thrive long-term.

3. Leaders step in to solve problems, but not to understand them

Many leaders are hardwired to help by fixing. While problem-solving is important, it can overshadow the deeper work of understanding people’s emotional experiences and the systemic issues behind challenges.

Without compassion, support can feel transactional – “Tell me the issue so I can offer a solution”. But compassionate leadership asks: What’s really going on here? What does this person need? How can I create conditions where they feel supported to find their own way forward?

Teams feel more empowered and more connected when they are understood, not simply assisted.

4. Mistakes trigger fear rather than learning

A lack of compassion can be most visible when things go wrong. If mistakes lead to blame, defensiveness, or hush-hush conversations, people quickly learn to hide potential risks or avoid innovation altogether.

Compassionate leadership doesn’t remove accountability, but it reframes mistakes as opportunities to learn. It invites open conversations about what happened, what was challenging, and what support might enable different outcomes next time. This fosters resilience and creates a culture where creativity and experimentation are safe.

5. Compassion is talked about, but not modelled consistently

Values statements and leadership frameworks may emphasise empathy, collaboration, and respect – but these only matter when they show up in everyday behaviour.

The most telling sign of a compassionate culture is what leaders do under pressure. Do they pause long enough to listen? Do they acknowledge the impact of decisions? Do they show transparency, humility, or vulnerability? When leaders consistently role-model compassionate behaviour, it becomes embedded across the team. When they don’t, even unintentionally, the culture feels misaligned and trust diminishes.

Are you ready to take an honest look at your leadership culture?

Compassionate leadership isn’t just about being kind. It can be a strategic advantage. It shapes the quality of decision-making, the strength of relationships, and the resilience of teams navigating constant change.

But cultivating compassion starts with awareness. By understanding how your team is really experiencing your leadership culture, you can make informed choices about where to focus next.

Take the Compassionate Leadership Assessment now to see how your team culture is really doing, and where to focus next, and feel free to contact us to discuss further.

Empathy has rightly become one of the most valued qualities in modern leadership. In a world shaped by change, pressure, and uncertainty, leaders who can understand and respond to the human experience create workplaces that feel safer, more connected, and more sustainable. At the same time, many organisations are still driven by the need for results, pace, and delivery.

The real challenge for leaders today is not choosing between empathy or accountability. It is knowing how to hold both, consistently and well. This is the defining capability of mature, human leadership. 

When One Without the Other Starts to Falter

Empathy without clarity can lead to blurred expectations. Leaders may soften difficult feedback, delay key decisions, or absorb too much emotional load themselves. Over time, this can create uncertainty, uneven performance, and quiet exhaustion.

Accountability without empathy can feel efficient on the surface but costly underneath. Work still gets done, yet trust thins, people withdraw, and important issues remain unspoken. Performance may be delivered in the short term, but engagement and creativity fade.

Both approaches are usually driven by good intention. Neither is enough on its own. Strong leadership is not found at either extreme.

Where Strong Leadership Really Lives

Effective leadership lives in the space between empathy and accountability. It is the ability to care deeply while also holding clear standards. To listen with openness and still name what needs to be addressed. To support the person without weakening the work.

Leaders who operate with this relational maturity can:

This is not about personality. It is a set of learnable leadership capabilities. It is also what transforms empathy from an intention into meaningful impact.

Human Leadership in Practice

When empathy and accountability are integrated, conversations change. Leaders ask different questions. They listen with genuine presence, and they also make expectations explicit. They explore what support is needed and what still must be delivered. They stay curious rather than avoidant. They remain clear rather than harsh.

This balance is not always comfortable, but it is what builds trust that lasts. It allows people to feel both supported and stretched. It is what enables teams to perform without burning out.

This is the shift that our Leadership 3.0 concept is designed to support.

How Leadership 3.0 Builds This Balance

Leadership 3.0 helps leaders understand how they naturally show up across three interconnected dimensions:

Personal
How grounded and self-aware a leader is, especially under pressure. This includes emotional regulation, clarity of intention, and how they respond when stakes are high.

Interpersonal
How effectively a leader navigates relationships in real moments. This is where boundaries, feedback, trust, challenge, and compassion meet in practice.

Connected
How a leader creates psychological safety, fosters belonging, and builds strong relational networks across the wider system.

Rather than judging style, the Diagnostic reveals patterns. It shows where leaders may lean too far toward softness or firmness, and where strengthening relational capability will have the greatest impact on both confidence and performance.

Take the free diagnostic here
Explore our leadership assessment services here

Human Leadership Is About Integration, Not Extremes

Empathy is powerful. Accountability is essential. But neither creates impact on its own. Human leadership at its most mature is the capacity to integrate both with steadiness and intention.

When leaders learn to combine care with clarity, they create environments where people feel valued, trusted, and motivated to perform at their best. This is not soft leadership. It is leadership that is fit for the real demands of today’s organisations.

As a first step take our Leadership 3.0 Diagnostic to assess your organisation.

For more information, please contact us.

What is it?
Vertical Development isn’t about teaching leaders a new skill. It’s about transforming how leaders think, impacting their (inter)actions.

Simply put:
Horizontal Development = More information, skills, competencies
Vertical Development = More complex and sophisticated ways of thinking.

Some experts compare the different stages of Vertical Leadership to a human being growing up. From a need driven baby to an impulsive toddler, then a child that starts mastering many skills, through adolescence to adulthood. Each stage represents a new level of development. The first is not better than
the second, but an adult can often handle more complex challenges than a young child. As adults, we have the capacity and the responsibility to continuously develop ourselves further. Moving from being defined by others to defining your own life. Or your organization.

Why does it matter?
Leaders today grapple with the challenge of constant change, requiring them to adapt strategies swiftly and effectively. They also face significant ambiguity, having to make decisions with incomplete information, balancing risks and uncertainties. Mastering professional skills alone is not enough in this environment. In contrast, asking questions, making observations, and reflecting before taking action or offering advice are crucial skills for navigating uncertain and complex situations. This approach yields numerous benefits, including improved decision-making, greater resilience, stronger relationships, increased creativity and innovation, greater social impact, and better organizational performance.

An organization trying to navigate these complexities should hence ask itself whether their people are a good fit for the task, depending on the current stage of their Vertical Development.

How to get started?
Implementing Vertical Development requires a deliberate and ongoing effort to cultivate self-awareness, personal growth, and promote a more holistic and socially responsible approach to leadership.
Leaders don’t grow because they like to; they grow because they have to. Vertical growth begins when you face a challenge that is so difficult for you to solve, that you almost have to grow to survive it. Some life events, such as a serious illness or a change of country, force you to reevaluate and see the world in a new way. Workshops can be designed to create that same developmental heat, but at a level that leaders can tolerate. They also need to experience colliding perspectives, and take time to integrate the learnings from both the heat experience and the different views to arrive at an elevated level of sense-making.

In summary, three elements are key:

The complex task about implementation of vertical leadership is that it doesn’t have firm goals and time frames, and implementation depends on the organization. It is a long term, strategic investment, and requires giving space and allowing for transformational thinking to happen.

However, leaders need to experience all three dimensions (heat experience, colliding perspectives, sense-making) in roughly equal terms.

Reflecting on their careers, leaders often cite intense heat experiences as times of greatest growth. Those who have learned to love the heat have the tremendous advantage of embracing and seeking out challenges as learning opportunities. They have become self-motivated learners. This is invaluable for any organization.

To create the right framework, emphasize the importance of self-awareness, presence, and connection, and offer insights into how individuals can cultivate greater wisdom and compassion.

Additionally, ensure you partner with experienced practitioners who truly embody vertical leadership in their interactions. Can you trust them right away? Are they inquisitive and attentive listeners? Are they credible and collaborative? Designing the right program isn’t just a cognitive exercise — it should exemplify applied Vertical Leadership.

Curious to hear more? Connect with us. 

FREE GUIDE – Cultivating Work Enjoyment and Psychological Safety

Connectivity, Leadership, and Psychological Empowerment

Welcome to our comprehensive insight document—a must-read for forward-thinking leaders navigating today’s dynamic work landscape. In an ever-evolving organisational paradigm, prioritising work enjoyment and ensuring psychological safety is paramount. Immerse yourself in practical strategies, gain key insights, and explore transformative leadership approaches by downloading your complimentary copy now. Ignite your leadership focus, bridge generational gaps, and empower your team toward a culture of well-being and fulfilment.

Why Prioritise Work Enjoyment and Psychological Safety? In a world where change is constant and the work landscape continues to evolve, nurturing work enjoyment and psychological safety is integral to organisational resilience. The ability to adapt, engage, and thrive in the workplace goes beyond mere productivity; it’s about creating an environment where individuals feel a sense of belonging, trust, and empowerment.

Key topics covered in this guide:

Join the ranks of progressive leaders committed to creating positive and impactful work environments. Download your free copy today and set the stage for a workplace where everyone thrives. Access this valuable resource and embark on a journey of personal and team development, rediscovering workplace joy in 2024. To continue the dialogue or seek further support in 2024, feel free to get in touch with us here.

 

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“… I think for me when you’ve got a team, first of all, you have to have a very, very clear purpose to the team. Why does this team exist? What was it achieving? How does it serve the bigger purpose of the company”

In this episode, Tom Van Dyck is in conversation with Rob Shaw, Leading in Operations Programme Manager at BP.  They discuss adapting to the changing business and social environment, the trust equation, challenges and paradoxes of safety – from physical safety in the workplace to psychological safety, to tight-knit teams – and how it all can lead to winning an award.

On building culture of care:

“..I think the key to that is coaching a culture of care where people feel really, really cared for, that they are valued for who they are, that they recognize that their leader cares for them and that the rest of the team care for each other …”

On trust and self-orientation:

 “So, it’s trust is equal to credibility, plus reliability plus intimacy, all over self-orientation, which means sort of the biggest factor in building trust or destroying trust is really about self-orientation.”

 “…when you’re building psychological safety, it’s really clear to the person or the team, that you’re building that psychological safety with that it’s all about them.”

Listening to the quietest voice:

“…that people are doing the right thing that people are feeling like they can ask questions, or one of the things we talk about a lot in BP is listening to the quietest voice in the room.”

 “So that person that may not be naturally vocal, not naturally going to speak up, pulling them into the conversation or how having a one-to-one conversation with them and hearing what’s on their mind. Because often it’s those people that have either got really good ideas, or spotted things that other people haven’t,”

Help but don’t solve – chain of trust

 “As you’ve got that chain of trust and you start to hear problems and people talking about problems, and you’ve demonstrated you’re listening to them, you’ve got to help them solve their problems.“

 “It’s important that you help them solve the problems rather than necessarily you go away and solve the problems for them “

“In the civilian sector, you’re always at war with your competition, you’re always struggling to survive”, … a conversation with Vincent Martinelli

In this episode of The Leadership Sessions, Tom Van Dyck, Senior Partner at TPC Leadership talks to Vincent Martinelli, Chief Operating Officer at Boston Fusion Corporation previously, Colonel in the US Army. They discuss the importance of respect, how commander’s intent enables military leaders to empower the individuals that are closest to the action, and the challenge that the corporate world faces of always being at war with the competition.

On your personal take on leadership:

On the differences between corporate and military worlds:

On mission command and commander’s intent

On international collaboration

Interview with Andrea Cardillo, Managing Partner TPCL Italy

When we consider vertical leadership development (see here here blog 01 of series) from an HR perspective, it is quite different to horizontal leadership development. We’re talking about developing people’s ways of being instead of their skill base. So rather than ask what talents we need to develop in our organisation, we should first ask: what culture does this organisation need? 

The evolution of an organisation’s culture (blog 02 of series) is supported by the meaning-making capacities of the individuals within it. These capacities usually fall within seven progressive action logics (blog 03 of series) or paradigms that shape how leaders think, feel and behave: the Opportunist, Diplomat, Expert, Achiever, Individualist, Strategist and Alchemist (Harthill Leadership Development Framework).

The more mature our meaning-making capacities, the more flexible our organisation becomes. 

But developing leaders towards the later developmental stages is not a simple task, for this relies on transforming people’s paradigms. Instead, it is better to ask: which action logics will support the culture our organisation needs? Then we can address the ways in which our organisation reinforces or inadvertently subverts these paradigms.

The role of HR in vertical development

Robert Kegan, a Harvard professor and recognised authority in the field of adult development studies, considered the different environments in which adults operate within our society. As a developmentalist, he effectively asked, “If we examined modern organisations as intentionally developmental contexts, what curriculum would we notice they are teaching?”

Coining the term “deliberately developmental organisations”, Kegan described those who consciously engage in helping individuals to expand their meaning-making capacities. Such organisations asked which action logics their environment supported or disabled. Then they intervened by integrating a community of practice, reflective practice, coaching, supervision, action inquiry and action learning.

Kegan also introduced the idea of the holding environment, which could assist individuals in moving from one stage of vertical development to another. “Just as labour pains are a part of bringing new life into the world, the process of human development, of seeing and overcoming one’s previous limitations, can involve pain” (from An Everyone Environment). But the holding environment could provide a safe place to transition. 

So HR can create space for leaders to develop in two ways, first by consciously helping people to expand the meaning-making capacities to support the culture. And second, by creating space for individuals to safely transform from one paradigm to another.

How action logic works on a system level

Each type of action logic creates its own kind of gravity in an organisation, influencing team dynamics and playing off one another to create friction in some areas, innovation in others, and chaos elsewhere. 

One of our clients is a public sector organisation governed by highly regulated processes. Most of the leaders there are ‘invited’ by the system (and by management culture) to operate primarily from the Expert action logic, focusing on accuracy and efficiency. 

This means that technical and professional competency are highly valued in this organisation, and that individual professional reputation is an asset to be treasured. While this brings great benefits in terms of conscientious application of policies and processes, it also creates a risk-averse culture where innovation and change, and the uncertainty they bring, create huge amounts of stress and disengagement. 

Meanwhile, senior leaders in this same organisation seem to be operating more clearly from an Achiever paradigm. Senior leaders and directors demonstrate an incredible energy to deliver on challenging goals, no matter what, while operating in a business environment that becomes more and more complex and uncertain every day. 

These leaders seem at ease when given a direction and target by the GM, while feeling free to get on with it in their own way. But sadly this does not always happen, due to the highly regulated and politically influenced environment where they operate.

Interestingly, this is not only because middle managers and professionals demonstrate less flexibility and more difficulty in operating with change and uncertainty. It’s also because the HR structures and performance management processes do not support a healthy level of risk-taking, nor do they hold managers accountable for staff engagement, work-life balance and soft-skills development. 

To stay with Kegan’s metaphor, the organisation seems to require an Achiever-like culture to deliver on its ambitious goals, but teaches mainly an Expert (or even Diplomat) curriculum through its structures and processes.  

How visionaries can make matters harder

The GM of the organization does not have it easy either. Operating primarily with an Individualist Action Logic, they tackle ambiguity, complexity and paradoxes without always trying to resolve them, asking senior managers to find their own way to navigate these waters. 

In an environment that grows more complex and uncertain every day, the GM’s ambiguity and fluidity about goals, roles and expectations puts increasing stress on both senior and middle managers, who are trying to hit their targets. The disconnect between the GM’s leadership and the demands of the organisation fed disengagement and low morale.

In such a context, although the GM  was bringing a highly fluid and visionary thinking to the table, the environment was crying out for increased simplicity and clarity, together with increased empowerment and efficiency.

In short, the GM’s Individualist capabilities were throwing three-dimensional lighting onto a two-dimensional image. The demands of the environment, the GM’s mindset, the HR structure and the wider organisational culture were not matching anymore. They needed intervention.

What HR interventions will work?

When we consider developing vertical leadership across an organisation, we have to take the broad view. There will be cases where individual interventions can assist, but it is the interplay that happens on the systems level that will either enable or disable most mature meaning-making capacities. 

So we have to start by asking what culture is needed to support the business strategy. This will help us to make appropriate interventions that will nudge those of diverse action logics in the most helpful direction. 

For instance, we worked with a tech client who’s strategy focused on developing agility and adaptability to match the needs of an unpredictable environment. However, the performance management system the business used was still based on a traditional model from a large corporation, one that operated within the framework of a classic predict-and-control strategy.

The performance management system did not use tech, it required lots of paperwork and had just one touchpoint each year. It did not correspond to the fast-paced, flexible culture the tech firm needed. Instead, it taught them to value meaning and progress in a slow, even slightly rigid way. 

Once we know the kind of meaning-making we want to support, we can put into place management structures, training programmes and other developmental initiatives to help people and culture develop in this direction. 

We can consider, for example, whether our performance management system only measures technical expertise and individual-based goals. Or if we recruit people on the basis of their CV rather than on an assessment of their potential – knowing this may reinforce an Expert culture. 

If this is not what the business needs, then structures need to change in order for the culture – and the individuals within it – to evolve. In other words, we need to write a more advanced organisational curriculum.  

It’s always possible to consider what kind of meaning-making we are rewarding and punishing, reinforcing and discouraging – and to assess if we are creating a suitable holding environment for later action logics where we need them. 

HR professionals, managers and directors have an important leading role to play in supporting the evolution of business and culture. Their vantage point enables them to identify how strategy, structures and culture interplay to generate unique organisational dynamics. And when it comes to business transformation, the environment they help create can be the most powerful asset on the road to success.

For more insight into vertical leadership development, be sure not to miss the (re)evolutionary secrets every business leaders needs to know (blog 01 of series) or our broader perspective on how organisational culture has evolved (blog 02 of series).

@ copyright TPCL (2021)

By Andrea Cardillo, Managing Partner TPCL Italy

Every good leader knows that there’s room for improvement. There are new skills to learn, new information to assimilate, new methods to master. But too often we get stuck in horizontal development, adding ever more tools and ideas in our leadership toolbox without radically changing the way we think about leadership.

While it is totally acceptable to develop our own knowledge and skills – in fact, it’s an essential part of a leadership role – this should always be complemented by vertical development focus and practices. This is a more fundamental, internal and transformational development journey aiming to engage, at a deep level, the leader’s mindset, attitude and understanding of their world. 

Vertical development doesn’t only add more jewels into the treasure chest, it makes the treasure chest bigger and capable of holding that much more.

Becoming a more “grown-up” leader

Vertical development is a personal evolution that is similar to the way a child develops, with various stages that must be transcended and integrated.

In the 1930s, Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget described cognitive development as having four key stages. First, from birth until they are two years old, a child is going through the sensorimotor stage, ultimately learning about object permanence – the knowledge that things exist even if they can’t be seen.

Preoperational (age 2-7), concrete operational (7-11) and formal operational (adolescence to adulthood) follow, with the child developing symbolic thought, operational thought and eventually the ability to understand abstract concepts.

Note that this isn’t about the child learning to feed themselves or to walk or to write their own name. It’s more about their ability to think, understand, perceive, rationalise and make sense of the world around them.

In the same way, vertical leadership development isn’t about gaining skills. It’s about increasing your capacity to understand yourself and others and to think strategically in an increasingly complex world. It is, at a very fundamental level, about “growing up” as a leader.

Models of vertical leadership development

Just as Piaget was able to distil the cognitive development children go through into four key stages, so a variety of experts have created a number of models to help us understand vertical leadership development.

Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan identified specific stages in moral development, Clare W. Graves and Don Beck in culture and values development, Bill Torbert in the way leaders make meaning of themselves, integrate diverse perspectives and process ambiguity and complexity. 

The Leadership Development Framework, developed by David Rooke, helps leaders to map and make sense of the implicit ‘logics’ and assumptions that might underpin our actions and decision-making in increasingly complex business scenarios.

Another useful model for understanding leadership development in context is Frederic Laloux’s exploration of how organisations have evolved throughout history. He describes this in his book Reinventing Organisations (2014), which draws on previous work by the likes of Clare Graves, Robert Keigen and Ken Wilber.

For more info about these models keep an eye on the next post on the models of vertical leadership.

Common assumptions and how to avoid them

At this point, it’s important to point out that vertical leadership development isn’t about ascending through the ‘levels’ or pigeon-holing ourselves into one ‘category’. It is about expanding our capacity by exploring and integrating different action logics, which naturally operate within us. And it’s about appreciating and including the most useful and context-appropriate elements of each as we transcend them.

Most of us will find that we move up and down the list in different contexts. For example, in times of stress, people who have accessed the later stage action logics may well revert to the problem-solving Expert or results-driven Achiever.

It’s also important to remember that while there are benefits of the later stage action logics, the earlier ones are not without use. If you were ever in a street fight, for example, it would be prudent to ignore the Strategist visionary thinking in favour of the self-protective instincts of the Opportunist.

That said, there can be great advantages to integrating later-stage action logics, especially in complex, changing environments where strategic thinking is essential. At these more advanced stages of development, a leader is more capable of integrating the points of view of different stakeholders, of listening more deeply to their implicit and explicit needs, of understanding more fully how the structures and the systems around them are influencing these. As a result, they are more likely to challenge the status quo, innovate and find new solutions.

So if we assume that you want or need to inquire into and further develop through your action logics, how do you go about it? 

How to grow and develop vertically as a leader

In its simplest form, vertical development is about enhancing your capacity to experience and understand yourself and others and to think systemically and strategically in an increasingly complex world. As such, it is outworked within an individual, interpersonal and institutional context.

The challenge for an individual is to understand the space you currently occupy and envision what it would look like to think, feel and act out of the box. One-to-one coaching can help facilitate this kind of personal development work in order to gain insights about yourself as a leader.

When it comes to how we relate to others, 360 feedback, action learning and team coaching may all be powerful tools for identifying and navigating interpersonal dynamics. Learning to shift our perspective to that of someone different to ourselves is an important skill for any leader who wants to get the most out of the teams he or she works with.

At a wider level, senior leadership teams can undertake wider consulting interventions to apply vertical leadership development principles across the organisation. This might take the form of the creation of a community of practice, for example, or the facilitation of disruptive thinking when dealing with business issues.

Being a successful leader is about more than adding new skills and knowledge to your toolkit. Instead, it is about developing greater capabilities for understanding yourself, others and the wider, complex environments in which you lead. Doing so allows you to move beyond incremental development and achieve a transformational quantum leap in the way you lead yourself and others as you transform your business.

This is the first in a series of five articles covering Vertical Leadership. To find out more, please get in touch.

@copyright TPCL

To celebrate TPCL’s 20th anniversary, we are chatting with colleagues from around the world. In this blog post, we hear more about how TPCL was started in Brussels and Paris. A term that has been Google searched, defined, argued and extensively written about through the ages, leadership has increasingly meant a letting go of the reins (to some extent). The old leadership paradigm of the ‘boss who knows it all’ and those hierarchical constructs of yesteryear are challenged even more today.

In a recent chat, two TPCL partners, Tom Van Dyck and Frédéric Lhospied, talked at length about leadership, communication and culture. While both work out of Belgium, Fred brought the richness of his French heritage and background to the discussion, shedding light on leadership within the French context.
Both leverage the idea that there are a few models of leadership out there but it is clear that far more needs to be done within the local context in order for leadership ideas to gain greater impact and relevance. Tom highlighted a systemic shift in how leadership is perceived today. Perhaps it has something to do with the digitalisation of many aspects of our lives and the fact that access to information has opened up. It has not gone unnoticed that people have become more vocal. They are self-directed about the information they need and how best to obtain and make sense of it. Therefore, in the light of the pandemic, it becomes ever more critical for leaders to ensure that employees (who need the ‘what’ and ‘when’ behind their projects) are also inspired, called to dream big and be motivated by a sense of purpose. All of which indicates a refuting of the idea that the person in charge knows the most. “There’s a lot more, bottom-up, challenging of the structures in power and hierarchy, and for good reason. I personally believe that the old constructs worked well than at a time when there were plants and production workers but not anymore,“ Tom clarified.

Culture and diplomacy
Leadership does not sit in a vacuum. When other elements are added to the mix – culture, language, individual preferences and communication styles – there are bound to be complexities and subtleties in how leadership is perceived and enacted. This calls to mind an interesting story on diplomacy that Tom shared during the call. Although perhaps considered a smaller nation, Tom who hails from Belgium, is keenly aware of the melting pot impact of historical European influences. Within a particularly Belgian context, he shared how modesty and humility (which could be easily translated into diplomacy) could, from a negative context, be seen as liberal with the truth. “This is something I’ve noticed often enough here”, Tom explained, “and I don’t mean “lying” but being very skilled at knowing what to disclose and when. Whereas when I speak with people from different nationalities, they come across as more outspoken, even direct, at times. With Belgians, it’s more about trying to make things work”.

He shared an example of a leadership program that he ran for a client which comprised a three-step programme. Step one involved working with the senior leadership team. Step two involved the middle management and finally, step three brought it back to the senior leadership where key learning and feedback from step two would be fed back into the coaching exercise. Enthusiasm for this plan from the beginning ensured that the plan was locked in. But strangely enough, things began to shift subtly midway through step two. Tom began to encounter resistance. “Maybe we shouldn’t call it coaching because it’s delicate.” “These leaders don’t really need coaching, they are above it”. “Maybe we should call it feedback or management consulting conversations or something else”. So this is an example of how diplomacy is put into effect simply to get things done. As Tom explained, “It seems totally acceptable to bend the truth a little. It’s not lying. It’s making things more digestible in a way so that things can move forward”.

The French context

Fred brought a different perspective to the discussion, as he shared his journey establishing the French office. He was clear about the distinction between how leadership was a far more mature concept in the Anglo-Saxon world as compared to Latin countries including France. He asserted the need for unique models of leadership at a national level. The French are a proud people, as is expected of many nations. They talk about the French way, there’s national pride and culture. But as in many other countries, there is still very much a top-down approach to leadership. In fact, in France, discussions around leadership
tend to focus on managing people. Like in many other countries, the generational shifts in perception, attitude and mindset are noticeable. Fred shared how he can see younger talent pushing for meaning in everything they do today.
“Let me share this story”, Fred elaborated. “10 years ago, there was an intern working for LVMH. They wanted to retain the intern and so, he had an appointment with one of the directors. The young intern went into the office of this senior executive and said, “ I would like to know my contributions towards LVMH. I would like to know what I’m going to bring”. Fred said that he put it across nicely, there was no arrogance but instead, a very real question and this occurred 10 years ago.

Leadership in a pandemic

Perhaps these issues come to light clearly and become even more compelling in the pandemic environment we face. We feel this need for leadership. We understand that leadership is about doing the right thing and not doing things right. This is especially so now as we face overwhelm – in the work we do, with the deluge of information we need to digest, with the sheer weight of the decisions we are called to make daily.
This is real and present for us. Everywhere and every day. As Fred shared, “It’s a topic for every level in the organisation but especially so, at middle management where they face so much pressure. And with the culture in France being so hierarchical, these middle managers are missing out on much-needed training and support.
They are under intense pressure and they simply haven’t been trained enough to cope with this.”
You could hear the intensity in the words uttered. These cannot be just words. There has to be something stronger, a bigger meaning to what we do and a higher purpose that we are called towards. Is this leadership?
This is what pulls the younger generation today. This is what they have come to realise and what drives them. Digital transformation across almost every aspect of our lives and access to information is only creating more urgency around this. “I’ve observed that, with COVID-19, this has only been accelerating,” Fred commented.
“There’s a big shift in many markets, at least in Europe and there is a definite need for French leadership. We’ve tried to copy and paste what has been in the Anglo-Saxon world into France. It doesn’t work, let’s be honest. And there’s a reaction because we are French.
We are proud of who we are. There are necessary differences between how the UK and France embrace leadership principles, of course. We need to find a way to make it concrete and tangible.”
Tom built on Fred’s points but what was particularly interesting for Tom was the shift in how they both relate to their clients.

Having been in business for the last two decades, there has been a maturing of the TPCL as an organisation. But those shifts have also brought about internal changes in how they relate to clients. Tom elaborated, “I’m not sure if it’s cyclical but let’s say it’s evolved. Thinking back to how I first interacted with clients eight years ago, I think I was a lot more accepting of their paradigms about leadership, structure, culture and more. But nowadays, we are having different conversations. I see that we’re in a lot more conversations with our clients but also we’ve been building on our own experience and letting them imagine, letting them discover their own leadership of the future. And then we will support them in getting to where they want to go. In short, we’ve become a lot more leading (rather than following ) in our leadership conversations with our clients. That’s what has emerged now listening to Fred speak.”
Perhaps even more so, there is increased pressure for pulling together high performing virtual teams.

How can leaders bridge the gap between leading and inspiring such teams?
Both Fred and Tom agreed that COVID-19 has created massive shifts at the workplace. Some sectors such as automotive and travel, for example, have been devastated with unimaginable disruption. Regardless, for many, it has been an eye-opening experience to reconsider remote work and now embrace hybrid work.
For many multinational and blue-chip organisations, it may have been considered and then put aside, regarded as impossible or not desired. But to then discover that these environments can indeed work out has created surprise. It has also brought relief and a sense of direction in navigating these unusual and uncertain times.

Virtual work in France and Belgium
Tom shared that, many expect, in a post-COVID-19 environment, for offices to shift. Offices will not disappear or be done away with but may likely be downsized. Further, the purpose of the office would shift more towards supporting meetings and learning and development
needs. Alongside increased freedoms that come with remote work, there would be increased levels of personal accountability expected.
Interestingly enough, both Tom and Fred can speak to these points about remote work. Although they saw clients experience a huge shift having to manage remote work and the virtual experience, remote work has been the nature of TPC Leadership for a long time, for both.

As Fred shared, “Remote and virtual create a magnifying glass effect, bringing to the forefront and making what is small, even bigger. It can be a wonderful way to view this experience we face. An opportunity to improve, to become a better leader, to connect to a purpose bigger than ourselves. I think that’s the opportunity of our current situation”.

The distinction between remote and virtual
With the conversation shifting to online meetings, remote work and virtual teams, Tom made a point that some of us may not have realised before: teams are never really virtual. “Yesterday, I was in a car and speaking to my nine-year-old daughter. We were talking about what I had been doing work-wise last Friday and I told her about a meeting that I attended physically. This was actually outside the Belgian borders which today may seem quite sensational,” Tom shared. Tom was surprised at his daughter’s suggestion.
She said,” Why did you go there? Why didn’t you just take it online?”
This was cause for reflection for Tom because the fact is that we do need meetings from time to time. There’s something to be said for the face to face interaction, the body language and being able to look people in the eye.
This is a thing that perhaps we might have taken for granted in the past. Clearly, as we move to a new normal in our lives, it is critical to understand that it is only the interaction between people that occurs online or can be remote.
As Tom put it, “… but remote is not virtual in that sense. We are talking and we are having a very real conversation that just happens to be taking place online. So I think we need to be careful not to reduce or diminish it through our choice of words because the term ‘virtual’ came about largely due to the world of artificial intelligence and gaming (which, in some ways, is not real. It’s a second life or a parallel universe)”.
Our focus in today’s world is not on the purely remote or the virtual team. It’s a hybrid world that we need to prepare for which viewing through a purely virtual lens does not help. After all, teams still need to deliver results.

Diversity may be necessary but so is the need for a shared vision
It was good that in the final part of the interview, both were able to share their story about how these offices were established and how they came together.
Meeting with Tom over a long-planned lunch meeting seven years ago, Fred discovered shared interests and common ground. One thing led to another and 18 months later, the French office was born with Fred at the helm.
They speak with mutual deference and yet, enough camaraderie and warmth to indicate a long friendship. Often collaborating on key consulting projects, Tom pointed out that clients who are meeting both of them for the first time see both as distinct from each other. “But we’ve only made our differences work for the greater good. We have different ways of operating, of thinking. We practise what we preach and it’s been a pleasure to discover that we bring a lot more together. You know, we can seek diversity but all the talk about this makes no difference if there is no common ground. And we’ve honed this well. We understand deeply the shared vision about the work we do,” Tom shared.

As Tom put it, “Diversity may be a given but inclusion is a choice”.
The brutal truth is that being a great leader is so much harder than it looks. But it need not be this way. If you would like to learn more about how we can help you strengthen your team, please reach out. Together, we can make things happen. Together, we can make a difference.

Tom Van Dyck, who has been with TPC Leadership since 2013 is the Managing Partner TPCL for Belgium. It was his time managing teams for close to 10 years in large multinational corporations that sparked his interest in coaching. He brings 15+ years of industry experience, as a top-tier MBA and strategy consultant.

Frédéric Lhospied joined TPC Leadership in 2015 and is the Managing Partner TPCL for France. Experienced in leading different types of teams, Frédéric has multi-faceted roles as consultant, coach and headhunter. Collaborating at the international level primarily with private sector organisations, he works with C-level executives, directors and managers from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds.

@copyright TPCL (2021)

Understanding the behaviours and insights that stand the test of time
By Deva Param, TPCL SEA (South East Asia)

I’m reminded of Adam Smith (the famous Scottish economist who wrote The Wealth of Nations) because in October 2019, I was invited by my alma mater, Heriot Watt University, for a speaker series at their newly-renovated Panmure House. There was an impressive lineup of speakers, alumni, students and guests at this magnificent facility which the university had recently purchased. It so happened that Panmure House was also the abode of Adam Smith who lived there between 1778 and 1790. His landmark book was the vehicle through which he shared his well-known concept of The Invisible Hand.

Economic theories and leadership drive

Over the years, many have praised Smith for his findings and The Invisible Hand (and the economic concept that marries the unintended social benefit and public good brought about by individuals who act in their own self-interest). But what dawned on me is that, while we can dwell on the economic theories, much of this would only work if there exists strong leadership in both the private and public sectors.

Why is this the case?
1. A combination of economic theories and leadership drive is very much needed for the economy to develop and for the wealth of nations to be realised.
2. There are similarities in the leadership initiatives implemented in both the public and private sectors that can be leveraged. But what might some of these similarities look like? Would it call for a certain drive? What might be needed to deal with sustainable implementation of various policies and initiatives?

Much like basic economies, organizational life contains many influencing forces that largely reflect human nature. These forces help people to identify their equilibrium on two simple principles i.e. the motivation to perform and the opportunity to perform.

The motivation to perform
Let’s look at the motivation to perform. As a leader, if you offer an individual financial reward, praise and incentives for certain behaviours, you direct their investment of time and talent towards your goals.

If you, however, fail to provide this clarity and your organization is void of sufficient structural support, it would be left to other forces to determine how an individual invests their time and effort.

The opportunity to perform
A good work environment does not necessarily mean that it’s an easy and comfortable workplace which breeds complacency and leads to a culture of mediocrity. When a performance-based culture is embraced, performance levels necessarily increase. Individuals who are passionate about contributing their talent can then obtain the support they need and work in an inspiring environment. Failing which, most high potential talent would move to greener pastures. They would do this to get the opportunity to perform at a
higher level in order to meet their aspirations. In most public sectors, the concept of lifelong employment exists. This is why the public
sector is called upon to review their policies. They need to pay special attention to policies that relate to performance and the notion of providing ‘employment for life’ regardless of the level of performance of its people.

Circling back to the theory of The Invisible Hand, it calls for leadership that is imbued with intent and design. More importantly, it requires leaders to take charge and constantly redefine their roles. This, in turn, requires execution and delegation down to the lowest possible levels within an organization.
We see that leaders are still very much at the front-line, delegating only about 20 percent of their decisions. It appears that it requires far more trust for leaders to move that empowerment percentage upwards.
That said, there are other aspects of leadership that pass the test of time. Balancing the People / Quality / Sustainability / Profits elements in their organization has always been a juggling act for leaders. They work hard to keep a watchful eye on all the “balls” in the air without dropping any of them. As leaders, we want our people to channel all of their energy into this delicate balance. We want our people to have the wherewithal to manage both the internal and external factors of day to day leadership delivery.

Constants in leadership
In all my years facilitating leadership programs and engaging with leaders at multiple points, certain trends in leadership have been constant. They have served many leaders in global organizations well. This is what I have compiled:

Courageous leadership matters.

It’s an age-old philosophy but the simple things like constantly looking for solutions and championing them matter. Even when it could mean a 50 percent chance of failure, it matters when it is something that you strongly believe in. Great leaders always ask themselves: If I fail after trying, what are those consequences as compared to the consequences if I don’t try?

Continuously engage. Do not leave a vacuum.
Leaders raise their hands and speak up even if it means that their ideas may go against groupthink.
If your ideas are good and receive positive feedback, then all will be well. If not, you would have at least tried. When you are courageous and speak up, you gain confidence. This confidence (and respect) will hold you in good stead as you climb the corporate ladder.

Choose between the fixed vs growth mindset.

Successful leaders have extraordinary tenacity. They are able to extract something worthwhile from their exploits and circumstances. They also seek the kind of experiences that provide rich opportunities for growth. If you want to become a better leader, seek worthwhile challenges and maximise all that you can from any leadership situation or opportunity.

Embrace servant leadership.
As the phrase indicates, the goal here is for the leader to serve. It is different from traditional leadership where the leader is focused on ensuring the company thrives. Is it a radical idea? Yes, it turns the traditional notion completely on its head. But that is
simply because servant leaders are all about changing the mindset. From commanding to serving. From flaunting power and authority to displaying empathy, humility and active listening. Don’t climb the leadership ladder in order to be served. Serve others, and in doing so, others will serve you even better.

Embody the 3Vs of Vision, Vitality and Voice.
Vision – Envision where you would like to bring your organization, your team and yourself. Have a clear picture in your mind of what this looks like. Then, communicate the vision clearly.
Vitality – Be positive and energised. Seek to influence your peers and supervisors wherever possible to ensure that your vision is materialised.
Voice – Give every member of your team a voice. Empower, delegate, coach and teach. Provide them with the tools they need. Track team performance. Ask yourself: What do I need to do to make a difference? How can I create visible action plans for them?

Manage people with your heart (emotion) and not with your brains (head).
Ask yourself “Why” at least five times before deciding on an issue when it involves people. They are there for a reason. Leaders need to consider this and the varied motivations at play.

Create opportunities to get feedback.
It may be difficult for leaders to get relevant feedback, particularly if they occupy powerful positions in organizations. But, in reality, leaders require more feedback than subordinates. If they do not get feedback on how they are doing, leaders may not learn much. Start by asking the team for their perception of the leader’s behaviour and the impact it has had on them.

Take a 10 percent stretch.
The stretch goal is often seen as the source of individual and organizational motivation. This differs from the ordinary challenge because there is an element of the extreme within. Leaders, I believe, need to stretch their targets by at least 10 percent from their previous targets. There are several positive outcomes associated with leaders who regularly practice the 10 percent stretch. First, their apprehension about doing something new or different gradually decreases. Second, their repertoire of leadership skills begins to broaden. Third, their team benefits from these changes.

Learn from others
Learn by asking questions and paying attention to everyday details. Ask for insights from other leaders especially if they have gone through some of the tasks you are currently undertaking. You can benefit from their experience.
Observe their insights not only in terms of how things were executed but also, about how leadership skills were employed.

Understand your superiors.
Work to understand your superior’s personal and business objectives. Much like you can help your subordinates to achieve their goals, you too can help achieve your superior’s goals (if you know what these are). Understanding your superior’s values, preferences and personality can also help you strengthen your relationship with them. The business and the team are almost always top priorities for leaders. Leaders focus their time and energy on taking care of business and then, on taking care of the team that carries out the vision. Invariably, great leaders put themselves last. It is only once their key priorities are met that they look within at their personal agenda and their own development needs. Can a leader provide opportunity for growth, innovation and creativity while also focusing on an alignment of corporate and individual goals? It is no easy feat but with practice, passion and a desire to leverage combined insight, it is something leaders can indeed aspire to.

Stay authentic.

Lastly, remember to stay authentic as there is only one of you in this world.

In conclusion, as leaders, we are called to constantly reassess our values and the business agenda. We understand that values, ultimately, are like rubber bands. They can only stretch so much until they achieve a breaking point.

This requires us, then, to ask ourselves certain questions regularly:
● What is my own personal leadership philosophy?
● What does this philosophy look like?
● What are the key elements of this philosophy?
● How do I change over time?

Everyone needs to have their own leadership philosophy. The questions above can assist you in ensuring mindfulness about your direction and values at all times.

Feel free to engage with the author or continue the dialogue here.

@Copyright TPCL (2021)

Business context and drivers

The aim of this on-going programme is to support emerging and future leaders to make the transition from being an individual contributor, expert in technical knowledge or skills, to becoming a leader and enabler of others.

TPCL has been working with this global client on a long term program for numerous years, ensuring its current and applicable as the emerging leaders adapt to new working environments. This program has further developed into working with their subsidiary in the digital consulting space where leaders operate in a very fast-moving working environment.

Our approach

Maintaining a faculty to deliver the workshop six (6) times/year in person and translating online with additional 1:1 coaching to embed their learning.

The workshops cover ‘understanding yourself as a leader’, leading others and leading under pressure, uncertainty and change.

Key objectives

Feedback from the client indicates that participants:

“The 3-days-leadership-part run by the TPCL facilitators has been the best-rated elements of the program. While participants still miss the live-in-person element, they have been surprised how much you can still advance your level-of-leadership virtually”, Senior L&D Manager

To learn more about this case or other interventions of relevance for your organisation don’t hesitate to get in touch

In our last panel discussion, we heard how TPCL Germany is shaping organisational culture and seeing breakthrough. In this article, the second in a series of three, we travel (virtually speaking) to Switzerland to hear the insights of two of TPC Leadership’s most commercially perceptive leaders.

We’re joined from Zurich by TPCL Managing Partner Reinier Labadie, along with TPCL Partner Marcus de Vasconcelos.

Reinier, a management consultant for 22 years, has a rich history working with multiple Fortune 100 companies. Marcus meanwhile, has implemented business transformation programmes for large corporations across the globe. Here they speak of the challenges they are facing and how multinational companies need to adapt to the evolving global landscape.

A partnership and an integrated perspective

“Marcus and I already go back 10 years or so,” Reinier says, speaking of how TPCL Switzerland was formed. “We had a good history of working together.”

Originally, Reinier was the consultant and Marcus, who has worked for large corporations across four continents, was the client. Their paths crossed over the years until eventually Marcus left the full-time corporate world to train as a coach. Almost inevitably, he connected with Reinier again and, eventually, became a part of TPCL.

“It’s certainly different from working in a large corporation where you have hundreds of resources and large budgets at your disposal,” Marcus says. “But also, honestly, it’s more fun because I can see the direct impact of what I do.”

Switzerland is a country of multinationals who face both a number of advantages and their fair share of challenges. The perspective of both Reinier and Marcus is a powerful combination, providing the insight that these businesses are looking for.

“I look at matters very much from a consulting perspective,” Reinier says. “While Marcus brings his corporate view. It helps us to be closer to what our clients really need. And what do they need? Business transformation is often driven by organisational and process change, but many of these larger businesses struggle in terms of people – making sure they thrive with change, resulting in increased performance.”

How to transform an organisation

This people problem is echoed by Marcus, who references how he has helped businesses adapt to significant shifts in their approach, customer base or market. He talks of strategy, systems, processes and organisation, but it is the people who present the largest challenge.

“At the end of the day,” he says, “the big challenges always come when you need to help people who have done something a certain way for years, decades sometimes, to adapt to do it differently… or to do something completely different.”

This is particularly a struggle when an organisational culture reinforces the old approach. No matter how dedicated a leader is to transformation, change will get stuck in the mud of old mindsets unless that thinking is addressed.

“If you have a new senior leader who takes a more enlightened view about leadership,” Marcus says, “the culture of the company needs to support that view, otherwise that person is not going to survive for long. If that leader persists regardless, it might actually be counterproductive for the person, both in terms of what they can do in the company and in terms of their career.”

Creating a multinational methodology

Successfully creating a culture shift is challenging in any situation, but the difficulties are heightened for multinationals based in Switzerland and with offices all over the globe.

“For those big multinationals,” says Reinier, “be it Nestlé, UBS, Novartis, Roche or one of the many others, you need to have a consistent approach. One which you can help roll out across multiple countries and multiple continents. That’s where TPCL can make an important difference.”

The TPC Leadership network, as Navin and Ulrich discovered in Germany, gives our partners access to specialists and teams of consultants across the globe. They are then able to facilitate transformation projects in different regions.

“To work with large corporations,” says Marcus, “you need to have a consistent methodology so you can replicate the approach around the world. What we have focused on, over the last year, is getting feedback from senior leaders so we can refine our methodology. Or to put it in more commercial terms, we’re developing our offering, and it’s been a really insightful learning experience.”

The challenges for remote teams

Reinier notes that, with the rise of remote working, it is becoming increasingly challenging for multinational businesses based in Switzerland to keep their teams focused on the strategic needs of the company.

“One of my clients is recruiting more remote workers from further afield,” Reinier says. “And they’re looking to fly them in once a month to maintain a sense of team cohesion. It’s a perfectly acceptable strategy but it’s asking much more from leaders in terms of keeping the team together.”

Part of the solution, Reinier says, is to ensure purposeful leadership. A strong sense of aspirational purpose will keep performance high and enable businesses to grow and thrive. Where this becomes complex is in how you instil and maintain that sense of purpose across a multinational team.

“To encourage a sustained mindset, you cannot do it by department. You need to include all the compartments of your organisation in your efforts, creating a consistent approach across each region. And this,” Reinier says, “is where TPCL comes in.”

Looking to create transformation or maintain cohesion in your organisation? Get in touch to learn more about how we can help.