Many metres worth of books have been written about the concept of leadership. Nevertheless the concept also remains 'elusive' in many ways. What makes someone a 'leader' and how does this translate into the daily routine of managing a business? A round table discussion with four CEOs about the certainties and dilemmas facing modern leaders. Theme 2: A real leader preserves the business.
Around the table we have Goof Hamers from Vanderlande Industries, Eddie Perdok from Kramp, Timo Hoogeboom from HAK and Bart Bakker from Royaan (see also the text boxes). Led by former NRC journalist Max Christern they discuss what leadership means to them and how they approach it in practice.
For NPM a subsidiary that does not have an effective, well thought out sustainability policy constitutes a liability, a risk. What does this investor's belief mean for a leader of an investment? Is a leader someone who by definition has the business' preservation imprinted on his or her memory?
It is Hamers who takes the lead. He says: "I do not need a great deal of convincing about that, because to me sustainability also means that my children will be able to live in a decent world too. When I was at Fokker, sustainability was still called 'environment' and was viewed as a cost item on which you had to spend as little as possible. I think that in recent years, we have witnessed a transition which has clearly demonstrated that sustainable business practices are also simply good business practices. In leadership terms the most important thing is to translate the container term 'sustainability' for your organisation into something that the management and employees can work with.
You must be seen to challenge your organisation to design the same thing from a totally different perspective - and suddenly you seem to consume a lot less energy and produce significantly less waste. If you start to think in terms of total cost of ownership you will arrive at completely different solutions. I genuinely consider it my job to ensure that sustainable initiatives are stimulated and that people are rewarded for them. And attention is often a far greater reward than we all imagine."
