In this colloquium I would like to exchange ideas about leadership and leadership development in practice. The past 20 years I have been working with leadership in organizations in many different roles. First in diagnosing and selecting leaders and now in leadership development, training, and coaching. In this work I see recurring patterns of high expectations and ambitious goals, where the emphasis is often on achieving strategic objectives (demands) and less on shaping a future perspective (desire). More than once, this leads to disappointment for the organization that initiated it and the consultants who have done their best to of good service. In this talk I would like to share the way in which we shape leadership development and the experiences and dilemmas we encounter in the process. In addition, I would like to exchange ideas with the attendees about where we see starting points for strengthening future leadership and how scientific research and findings can play a role in this.

Jozef Zondag is a registered psychologist NIP/Work and Organization. Hij works as a Senior Managing Consultant at Berenschot and is the chairman of the NFMD (Dutch Foundation for Management Development). He is specialized in leadership development, coaching and the realization of complex organizational change processes. As a consultant, trainer and coach, he loves to work with the (often unconscious) dynamics of work the place. He has a strong desire to encourage people to authorize themselves to be the leader of their own development and to live their work live to its full potential.