Responsible leadership involves ethical decision-making, sustainability, and accountability, prioritising transparency, inclusivity, and social responsibility. It focuses on long-term impacts on all stakeholders and fosters a positive and inclusive organisational culture. Nouman Aziz, GPHR®: Dear Dr. Timmermann, based on your experience with leading multinational companies: 1️⃣ How do you define responsible leadership, and what key characteristics distinguish it from other leadership styles? 💡 For me, leadership is a responsibility in itself. People who lead, irrespective of the size of their entity, have defined their role as being the person in charge to guide others along a path, give direction, walk ahead and take over the accountability – for the risks but also chances. Integrity, trustworthiness, and prudence combined with a motivational and empathetic spirit to continue on the journey, even if the hill gets steeper or the rain sets in, are the basics to empower those who follow to cross borders and challenge the extra mile. Dominance, self-centricity and personal overstatement are the ingredients that make leader run ahead, lose their team members and end up alone. 2️⃣ Can you share an example from your career where responsible leadership significantly impacted your organisation or team? 💡 My life has been governed by tasks connected to change management, be it processes, mindsets or the new set-up of organisations. Humans, by nature, do not like change. It costs energy and creates risks. Defining a vision to inspire, structuring the steps of the journey, putting momentum into the movement, celebrating the successes as they come and never stopping to believe that the mission will be accomplished have paved the way for many changes that I could be part of. Turning KSB Company into a resilient and profitable global player and a great place to work is only one of them. 3️⃣ What are the biggest challenges leaders face today in practising responsible leadership, and how can they overcome these challenges? 💡 Fear and a lack of understanding that one's successes as a leader are solely based on the team's successes is bad medicine for a leader. Listen, learn and be brave without losing empathy, this is the better cure. At the beginning of every change journey, 20% will applaud, 60 % will shrug their shoulders, and 20 % will protest. Get them all on board. Targets are seldom reached on a straight road, accept curves, without losing the target. Life is a roller coaster; you are no superhero but as human as those that you work with. Share thoughts and feelings, laugh and inspire, make mistakes but learn fast, walk ahead and take risks.. with a smile – you are the leader! Is there anything missing? Feel free to add. I am looking forward to your thoughts and experiences in the comments. #leadership #responsibleleadership #socialresponsibility
Dear Dr. Zimmermann, you embody the true meaning of servant leadership. When I studied for my citizenship test, I learned a lot about our constitution and the first three words are "We the people". You have the vision to adapt in order to reach a distant goal together. Wishing you continued success and a fun roller coaster ride, and hope to connect. #Servantleadership #transparent #ethical #accountable
Senior Managing Director
6moDr. Stephan Timmermann Very Informative. Thank you for sharing.