In april 2022 gaf ik een posterpresentatie waarin ik kort inging op het ongemak in de boardroom tegen een achtergrond van systemische transities. Een voorbeeld daarvan is de transitie naar een nieuwe economie waarin niet alleen de economische waarde van een bedrijf centraal staat, maar ook de sociaal-maatschappelijke en ecologische waarde. Hieronder deel ik graag de introductie van mijn presentatie.

Short introduction

My research is about people. People who have key-positions in corporate companies. People who are motivated to lead into a transition to a new economy; a better balance between the economical, societal and environment values of companies.

Something interesting is going on

These leaders are motivated for the transition to the new economy. In the mean time they work in a system which is situated in the neo-liberal paradigm. That is the same paradigm that have made them successful and that is instilled in most of today’s leaders. This paradigm is thus maintaining the status quo.

Another paradigm is needed. Changes in praxis are needed. The transition to a new economy concerns not only a shift on a systemic and organisational level, but also requires a personal transition within the same capitalistic structures. Leaders are asked for change, but no one knows how to. They have to lead into the unknown. You might imagine that this, to the backdrop of societal pressure and the urgence of the transition, is causing discomfort. The impulse could be to neglect or avoid discomfort.

But as I see it, discomfort could also be seen as an opportunity for change. Discomfort is part of the process, part of the transition to a new economy. Instead of neglecting, avoiding or even ignoring discomfort, my central question in the first phase of my research is ‘How could discomfort in the boardroom be cultivated as a means for accelerating the transition to a new economy?’.