Leading in a world that never stands still

Command and Control leadership has had its day. Yet many organisations are still led by top management that commands, middle management that transmits and employees who execute.

Meanwhile, business is becoming more complex. New disciplines and challenges keep emerging: AI, cybersecurity, sustainability, diversity, social media and influencer marketing, to name a few. Much of this expertise sits throughout the organisation, beyond what any management team can master.

Co-creative leadership approaches such as Servant Leadership offer an answer. But what does this look like in practice? And what does Gen Z have to do with the future of leadership?

When the destination can no longer be defined

A defining moment for the author came in 2017, when he tried to apply the traditional change management model to his Global Business Services organisation: moving from its existing Plateau A to a stable future Plateau B.

Scanning emerging trends, from digitalisation and connectivity to the demands of a technology-savvy generation, revealed that nobody could predict where these developments would lead, or whether another stable state would ever emerge. Plateau B could not be defined.

Change is no longer something organisations manage between two periods of stability. It has become the permanent environment in which they operate.

Almost ten years later, the situation has not changed. Today, embedded AI, geopolitical shifts and rapidly expanding technological opportunities make it impossible to define what the world of work will look like in five or ten years.

This uncertainty also changes the role of leadership. When expertise is distributed and the future cannot be defined, relying on instructions from above becomes increasingly difficult.

Servant Leadership offers a different philosophy. Introduced by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970, it puts serving others at the centre of leadership. Rather than controlling activities, servant leaders establish direction, empower people, develop capabilities and remove obstacles. They mentor and coach instead of continuously instructing and supervising.

The fundamental shift is from controlling people's activities to enabling their contribution and holding them accountable for outcomes.

This does not mean weak leadership or endless consensus. Authority, difficult decisions and accountability remain essential.

What Servant Leadership looks like in practice

In the author's experience, Servant Leadership starts with a different understanding of the management team's role. Each member has two equally important responsibilities: leading their own function and contributing to the development of the entire organisation. Functional leaders are expected to know their disciplines better than the Managing Director. Otherwise, why have them in those roles?

The challenge is to bring this expertise together without losing a common direction. Foresight and strategy work help the team agree on goals, initiatives and measures of success, while responsibility for implementation rests with the respective leaders.

The overall leader maintains alignment, mentors, coaches and acts as a sparring partner. Individual catch-ups every one or two months replace continuous supervision, with urgent or important matters raised whenever necessary.

Diversity and psychological safety become essential. Beyond demographics such as gender and age, diversity includes complementary skills and personalities, as well as reflecting the organisation's markets and customers. Different perspectives inevitably lead to disagreement. Discussions may be exhausting but are better than superficial agreement with suppressed opinions.

This takes patience and trust. But the result can be a management team that genuinely feels responsible for the organisation's success.

Servant Leadership in the AI era

Artificial intelligence is evolving from a tool into an integral part of how organisations operate, including how they are led. It increasingly influences how people work, how decisions are made and how responsibilities are distributed.

Małgorzata Jakubicz, creator of HomoTech Leadership® and a Servant Leadership advocate, has developed an approach to this emerging leadership challenge. Her starting question was: «What does it mean to serve people when technology increasingly shapes their work, decisions and opportunities?»

HomoTech Leadership® develops leaders who combine human strengths such as empathy, creativity, critical thinking and ethical judgement with the capabilities of technology and AI, translating that combination into responsible decisions and action.

Its underlying principle is particularly relevant:

Technology should serve people, and leaders remain responsible for giving it meaning and direction.

Building on Servant Leadership, the model adds technological awareness, systemic intelligence and responsibility for AI-supported decisions. It has been applied in leadership development programmes delivered with EY Academy of Business.

Is Gen Z lazy, or simply ahead of its time?

Technology is one part of the story. The expectations of a new generation challenging established ideas about leadership and work are another.

Older generations frequently criticise Gen Z for wanting too much flexibility, questioning authority and supposedly lacking the willingness to work hard. But viewed through the lens of Strategic Foresight, could these expectations actually be aligned with the changes transforming work?

AI and automation make it possible to work smarter. Digital connectivity allows collaboration independent of location for many professions. And value creation increasingly depends on knowledge, creativity and outcomes rather than attendance. So why should performance be measured primarily by attendance rather than results?

Of course, not every job allows remote work, and not every member of Gen Z shares the same expectations.

But the clash between Gen Z's expectations and traditional ways of working is a fair and healthy conflict. Employees have legitimate expectations of flexibility, autonomy and meaningful work. Organisations have equally legitimate needs for togetherness, belonging, team spirit and a shared organisational culture.

The future of work is not about choosing between what employees want and what organisations need. It is about bringing both together.

Can we seriously imagine that after the technological revolution now unfolding, knowledge workers will still predominantly sit in offices from eight to five, supervised by managers passing down instructions?

The future needs leaders, not commanders

There is no final Plateau B. Organisations need to continuously anticipate change, adapt and shape their own future.

This requires leaders who create shared direction, bring together diverse expertise, empower people and remain accountable for results. Not every ideal will become reality, and the transformation will take time. But the direction is clear.

The future does not need less leadership. It needs a different kind of leadership.

Goodbye Command and Control. Welcome Servant Leadership.