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Lena Herrmann Interviews Brunello

*Digitalization is changing everything. Not just business models and organizational structures. But also leadership styles.

Brunello Gianella has published, as co-author, the book "Wenn Turnschuhe nichts bringen: Der CEO-Code für starke Führungskräfte."

In an interview with W&V, he discusses the changing demands that digitalization places on leaders.*Digitalization is revolutionizing all aspects of companies."

What does this mean for individual employees?

Everyone says people must change or adapt. But that's nonsense. People are who they are in terms of personality. And that's a good thing. That's what makes them unique; they are naturally one of a kind, with their own edges and corners. They have inner stability: their identity. When they enter the new world of work, it's not about changing the person, but rather about giving them new tasks or a new job so they can feel comfortable in this changed world and utilize their willingness and potential to perform. To contribute their part to success.

Change frightens many people.

Only those people who have previously flourished in their jobs. When there are changes in a company, they naturally become afraid. Because they worry that they'll have to take on tasks that go against their personality structure.

Is that really so bad?

As humans, we can change our behavior, but not our personality structure. Negative emotions arise, and the will to perform decreases. If we permanently perform work that goes against our personality structure, we must fail and may even become ill.**How should I deal with these employees?**After a change, there's always stability again. And then I need the people who stand for stability. In the meantime, I need to give them a job where they can develop. There's always something to organize, something to manage. These people can take on such tasks, for example.

This book already addresses CEOs in its subtitle. What about medium-sized companies?

Whether someone leads five employees or 5000 doesn't play a major role, so it's also aimed at medium-sized and small companies. A big issue for medium-sized businesses is succession planning. That's not always easy, because leadership often stays in the family. Then you have little room to choose who becomes the successor.

And the young generation can't choose what kind of company they enter or what legacy they inherit.

This is a sad situation we have. It's not easy for current leadership to accept that the new generation has grown up in a different time, where different role models have become possible, where complexity has increased exponentially, and digitalization has enabled a shift in how we handle know-how, for example. Accepting that this necessitates a different kind of leadership and that the old ways are often questioned is very difficult for the father generation. The old generation has to swallow a lot. What's coming for midsized businesses will be tough.

Is everything wrong that the old guard has done so far and how they understood leadership?

No, but with digitalization, the demands on leaders are also changing. Until now, we deliberately looked for people who wanted to exercise power and influence as their inner drive in top management positions. That required a hierarchical organization. The less hierarchical companies are structured, the more we see people whose strengths are curiosity, flexibility, and networking. They want to share know-how and become stronger through that. These are the genes of agility. It's not about changing the system of leadership and leadership styles. I need to allow people who have a different driver for leadership within them and thus change the company. Only people can sustainably change systems.

How do I lead successfully in these new times?

Leadership must become clear about how it ticks and what emotions change triggers in them. The biggest challenge arises when leaders have to change something they don't support. This leads to an identity problem. When it comes to that, the ultimate solution is to replace the person.**A harsh step.**Certainly, but the deception at the C-level can't continue like this. Today's situation requires a different kind of leadership, requires different personalities as leaders. People who are more honest with themselves. Who won't let themselves be bent out of shape. Those who have cultivated a hierarchical leadership style over decades now find themselves in a vulnerable position.

So companies will be led completely differently in the future?

It's no longer about good leadership; it's about successful leadership. And that doesn't mean doing everything differently. Rather, it's about recognizing the situation and having an appetite for change. Successful leadership does not fear that today's lucrative venture may not be tomorrow's lucrative one. Those who aren't frightened by this but are even driven by it can successfully lead transformation.

lena Herrmann by W&V