An organization is a collaborative effort aimed at generating added value. Since time immemorial, we have known that each individual alone is always outmatched by the power of cooperation. To make this cooperation successful, we need a shared understanding of what we want to achieve together in the short and long term. We need to agree on what works and what doesn't, what is safe and what is dangerous, what is right and what is wrong. These shared beliefs are collectively held and passed on to the members of the collaboration. We call this culture.

Within the collaborative framework, guidance is necessary. We want to know why and for what purpose we are collaborating, and what is useful and necessary in that context. We want to feel valued, seen, and protected. We want to belong and know who does not belong. And we want to see an example to which we can mirror ourselves. An example that inspires us to develop ourselves. This need for guidance is fulfilled by leadership within a group.

Leadership is about meaningful thinking and action that provides direction to that cooperation to achieve added value. Leadership articulates the task or assignment, provides direction and boundaries, and stimulates the development and collaboration among people. The culture of an organization can be described as the dominant patterns of thinking and behavior within a group. Patterns that determine and perpetuate implicit shared beliefs, norms, and values. Leadership and culture go hand in hand. Culture shapes leadership in development, and leadership serves as the role model for culture.

Scientific research has unequivocally established that a developmental or constructive culture and leadership are the most important characteristics of organizations that excel in the long term. A developmental organization is characterized by: Trust, safety, and openness. Responsibilities and authorities are decentralized in the organization. Empathetic, people-centered, and coaching leadership that consistently and congruently demonstrates exemplary behavior. Leadership that is action-oriented and focused on problem-solving. Taking and giving responsibility. And understanding how to promote and manage collaboration within groups, teams, and the organization.

The development of a constructive culture and constructive leadership is both stimulated and hindered by our own dominant patterns of thinking and behavior. Barriers to development arise because these patterns stabilize and dominate. In itself, this is a useful mechanism: it makes our thinking and actions predictable and efficient. But it can also be a limitation to further development and exploring the boundaries of our talents and possibilities. Research shows that we only unlock and utilize between 40% and 60% of people's potential in our organizations. And we systematically tap into talents and competencies in people that do not align with their true capabilities.

To overcome these barriers, we need to examine and learn how to replace restrictive patterns of thinking and behavior, both at the individual and group levels. This means that an effective learning process involves both the individual and the group. And it also means blurring the boundary between personal and professional development. After all, self-examination is about us as human beings. And humans are not divisible.

In the profound development of a constructive organization and constructive leadership, we focus on the inner motives, related talents and competencies, and how they manifest in thinking and behavior patterns at both individual and collective levels. This unlocks the potential of all involved so that they gain energy from development and learning. Only then do we get an energetic and meaningful learning process that is reflected in an energetic and constructive organization where learning naturally continues.

Developing and maintaining a constructive culture and constructive leadership is in itself a developmental and learning process. A process that essentially takes place every day. Every routine we perform throughout the day contributes to the prevailing customs in an organization. We generally do this without thinking about it or consciously steering it. Awareness of how culture and individual leadership work and how they manifest is the first step in a fruitful process of leadership development. You discover how you are a co-producer of reality. From this awareness, experimenting with more effective patterns of thinking and behavior is the next step. By reflecting on this, we learn how to influence and change patterns of thinking and behavior. Not only in ourselves but also in interaction with our environment. Ultimately, we become skilled and routine in using the renewed patterns. And thereby, we embed what we have learned in our culture and leadership.

Through a programmatic approach to the learning process of culture and leadership, we can steer the nature and content of the learning process. We can focus on specific desires, requirements, and aspirations articulated from within the organization. It is crucial to be congruent between the objectives in terms of culture and leadership as defined in the program and the way we shape and execute the program ourselves.

Once a program starts, the clients, program managers, experts, and trainers become role models for the desired culture and leadership. We, as clients and implementers, also need to be aware of our own patterns of thinking and behavior and to what extent they further or limit the program. This means that at the basis of programmatic learning lies a constructive and reflective dialogue in determining our common objectives. The nature, rhythm, and regularity of our interventions. And the way we continue to engage in conversation at the program level, and between the clients, the participants, and the learning facilitators.

From our expertise and experience, we know that the collaboration between clients and implementers in leadership development is particularly crucial for success. Without this collaboration, participants may feel alienated from their own organization. After all, they cannot experiment and reflect on limitations and possibilities as they experience them in their own work practice. While the intention is for them to bring new insights and behaviors to the people they work with.

We, too, will show the intended leadership every day in our approach and execution to achieve and embed the desired development in the organization.