Leadership in Changing Times

Hannes Leroy, Associate Professor at RSM Erasmus University, took to the virtual stage of Offshore Energy Exhibition and Conference 2020 to discuss the necessities for successful transition leadership – something close to the ongoing energy transition.

Leroy noted that the competencies needed for an effective change-oriented leader are numerous, and increasingly confusing with new books and guides on leadership change emerging every minute. To distill a large number of competencies into the bare essence, Leroy and his team have established a compass that aims to help leaders be effective.

A compass covering seemingly simple traits of an effective leader that should be task-oriented, change-oriented, relations-oriented and ethics-oriented at the same time.

While these traits cover larger fields, the essence is to know ‘what you are doing, who are you doing it with, and for whom, why, and how’, according to Leroy.

Leaders themselves have to be capable of embracing change and also be capable of framing the change for specific people as we are naturally prone to resisting change. An effective transition leader is also someone capable of dealing with the moral dilemmas of a change, making sure the change is a positive one and will lead to further positive results, it was noted during the session.

Leroy was also a guest at the Energy Plaza for an Q&A session with our host Eva Brouwer. When asked about the tips that can make energy transition easier, Leroy said: “Be bold in making decisions that affect daily operations. Start working in a different way”.