Why many organizations underestimate internal leadership talent and prefer to recruit externally

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In my work supporting organizational change and transformation, I’ve noticed a recurring pattern: when it comes to filling key leadership roles, many companies instinctively look outside—even when there is untapped leadership potential within. Why?

The hope for quick fixes

A leadership transition is often seen as a fresh start. External leaders are expected to bring bold ideas, challenge old habits, and solve long-standing problems. The hope is that a new face at the top will catalyze the change that has long been needed. But this assumption overlooks a crucial truth: many organizational challenges—be they cultural tensions, inefficient processes, or entrenched power structures—are systemic. They don’t disappear just because someone new takes the helm.

And when change doesn’t come as quickly as hoped, disappointment follows:
“For what we’re investing, we expected more. But so far, nothing has really changed.”

The trust bonus for outsiders

External candidates are often perceived as neutral, objective, and uninfluenced by past conflicts. This “fresh perspective” earns them a trust bonus that internal candidates rarely receive. The idea is compelling: someone from the outside can see more clearly and act more decisively. But in practice, many external leaders struggle to gain traction without a deep understanding of the organizational context they’ve entered. As a result, change initiatives risk staying superficial.

Why internal talent is overlooked

Despite their familiarity with the organization’s dynamics, internal candidates are often not seen as natural successors to leadership roles. The reasons vary: concerns about internal bias or “organizational blindness,” doubts about their readiness, or a simple lack of structured development and visibility. Too often, companies fail to recognize the leadership potential already growing within their ranks.

When external recruitment makes sense

There are legitimate cases where recruiting externally is clearly the right move—particularly when:

  • Specific expertise or experience is missing internally

  • A dramatic cultural shift is needed that may be difficult to initiate from within

  • A neutral outsider’s perspective is required to break long-standing patterns

In these scenarios, external leadership can bring important momentum—especially when combined with internal knowledge and embedded in a thoughtful change process.

The strength of internal leaders

When it comes to building trust and fostering stability, internal leaders often hold a natural advantage. They know the language, history, and informal networks of the organization. They understand the culture—not just the values on the wall, but how things really work. This makes them uniquely capable of guiding authentic and lasting transformation.

Change begins within

The reflex to search externally for leadership is understandable, especially under pressure to act quickly. But betting everything on a new face to fix deep-rooted issues is rarely the answer. Long-term success lies in identifying and developing internal talent while integrating external insights with intention and clarity. Yes, it takes a certain amount of courage to entrust someone with the next leadership role when they may not yet seem fully ready on paper — but more often than not, it’s a risk worth taking. If you never try, you’ll never discover what your internal talent is truly capable of. And some organizations take great pride in the fact that their strongest leaders have grown from within — a success that not only strengthens culture but also inspires others to follow.

How AI is Reshaping Leadership Communication

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In my recent conversations with leaders and communication experts, one of the most discussed topics has been how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally reshaping leadership communication. Rather than simply streamlining processes, AI is forcing both leaders and communication experts to deeply reconsider their roles.

The Changing Landscape of Leadership Communication

When I started my career in a communication department, we spent countless hours on rewriting sentences over and over again to make them sound perfect for the respective leader. Corporate communication back then was all about positioning leaders as heros and maintaining a strong image and reputation. Hence, leadership communication often felt scripted, rehearsed, formal, and focused on clear and consistent messaging.

Today, AI-driven automation and content generation tools have made polished messaging easier than ever. However, the real need is no longer for perfect communication – it’s for human, authentic connection. Employees and stakeholders seek leaders who are transparent, relatable, and open to dialogue. And the rise of AI has paradoxically amplified the importance of real, unscripted leadership moments.

How Leadership and Communication Experts Must Adapt

For Leaders: AI enables efficiency, but true leadership communication must be rooted in authenticity. Moving away from rigid, one-directional messaging, leaders should focus on real-time interactions, vulnerability, and open discussions. Employees have always valued honesty, even when it means admitting challenges and uncertainties; however, in the age of AI, this desire for transparency has grown significantly. Employees now expect leaders to be even more open and real. As a consequence, authenticity becomes the ultimate differentiator in building trust and connection.

For Communication Experts: The role is shifting from content curation to empowering leaders in creating authentic team connections. Instead of simply crafting messages, communication professionals must empower leaders to develop their own voices, create meaningful conversations, and foster environments where unscripted, human interactions thrive. While AI can handle scripted content, communication experts must ensure leadership messaging remains engaging, trust-driven, and genuinely connected to audiences.

Key Shifts in Leadership Communication

From Polished to Real-Time
Leaders are moving away from scripted speeches and adopting more spontaneous communication styles, such as live Q&As, unfiltered video updates, and interactive discussions.

From Corporate Messaging to Transparent Dialogue
AI-generated content can provide consistency, but leaders must go beyond surface-level messaging by openly discussing setbacks, challenges, and lessons learned to build trust.

From Authority to Facilitation
Leadership is no longer about delivering the most polished statements; it’s about fostering discussions, giving employees a voice, and enabling collective problem-solving.

The Future of Leadership Communication

For Leaders: As AI continues to automate routine tasks and optimize communication processes, leaders who embrace transparency, imperfection, and meaningful engagement will cultivate deeper relationships and lasting trust. Therefore:

  • Be Transparent: Share both successes and challenges openly. Vulnerability builds trust and fosters a culture of honesty.

  • Engage in Real-Time Conversations: Move away from scripted messages. Foster genuine, unscripted interactions that allow for true connection with your team.

  • Encourage Open Dialogue: Create space for feedback and discussions, allowing your team to share ideas, concerns, and solutions. This promotes a collaborative and inclusive environment.

For Communication Experts: Communication experts must evolve into trusted advisors, helping leaders embrace authentic leadership. As a result, their role will focus on coaching leaders to foster transparency and vulnerability, and to implement formats – like in-person events and interactive sessions – that create genuine connections with employees. Therefore:

  • Help Leaders Be Real: Guide leaders to speak honestly and stay true to their own voice in all communications.

  • Encourage Two-Way Conversations: Set up events and formats that allow for open discussions, such as live Q&As and team meetings.

  • Support Leaders in Showing Vulnerability: Help leaders feel comfortable admitting mistakes and learning from them, which builds trust and openness.

All in all, the future of leadership communication is not about replacing human interaction with AI but about using AI to free up space for genuine, impactful conversations. In an age of technological acceleration, real leadership is about being courageously authentic.

 

 

Self-reflection: The number one leadership skill

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In my collaboration with leaders, I repeatedly experience how crucial self-reflection and the continuous cultivation of self-leadership skills are. Qualities such as empathy, flexibility, and confident, authentic leadership, recognized as essential in modern leadership, can only be developed through regular self-reflection. But why does self-reflection become the decisive leadership skill? Why do we often find it challenging? And what can we do to ensure it doesn’t get overlooked in our hectic daily lives?

The significance of self-reflection in the era of AI

Self-reflection is a central aspect of personal growth and successful leadership. It enables leaders of all generations to understand and evaluate their own thoughts, feelings, motivations, and actions. This is particularly crucial in an era where leadership is no longer primarily defined by traditional authority. Instead, qualities such as empathy, flexibility, and authenticity are the drivers of modern leadership. Today, in the age of Artificial Intelligence, AI systems are revolutionizing workflows through automation. Even critical leadership tasks such as communication, feedback delivery, and coaching can now be undertaken by AI systems. However, precisely because of this, the human factor remains irreplaceable. Thus, self-reflection and self-leadership are crucial for leaders, placing ethical values at the forefront and nurturing empathetic abilities—qualities that AI cannot replicate in this manner.

A cross-generational theme

Interestingly, I perceive self-reflection as a topic that concerns leaders of all generations. Although the understanding of leadership has significantly evolved historically, personal reflection may have been less central in authoritarian leadership styles. Yet, this does not imply that all leaders in the new world of work or younger generations automatically embody qualities like self-reflection, empathy, and authentic leadership. Conversely, it also doesn’t mean that all leaders who have grown up in hierarchical structures do not engage in regular self-reflection. Fact is,  that self-reflection and self-leadership require learning.

Why is self-reflection often challenging?

If we understand the importance of self-reflection, why do we find it difficult to actively engage in it? The answer often lies in the hectic nature of our professional and personal lives. As leaders, we are often consumed by operational tasks and strategic alignment, leaving us with insufficient time and tranquility to pause and reflect on our own thought and behavior patterns. Furthermore, self-reflection can be taxing and even painful as it confronts us with our weaknesses and mistakes, which we often prefer to avoid.

What steps can we take to foster self-reflection?

To effectively integrate self-reflection into our workday and ensure it does not fade into the background, there are several proven approaches:

  • Understanding self-reflection as a crucial activity and foundation for effective leadership (Develop awareness of its significance for personal and professional growth)
  • Creating time and space for self-reflection (Establishing routines)
  • Using feedback as an opportunity for self-reflection (Actively seek and reflect on constructive feedback to identify personal and professional development opportunities)
  • Fostering self-reflection as part of organizational culture (Creating a supportive environment that fosters continuous learning and personal growth)
  • Leading by example (Making reflection processes transparent to underscore its importance within the team and inspire others to follow suit).

Why not use the summer break to delve deeper into the topic of self-reflection? What defines my personal leadership style? How do I impact my team members? What behaviors are typical of me, and why? What do I want to change?

 

Who we are is how we lead

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In a world where artificial intelligence is increasingly touted as the key to making better leadership decisions than humans – and despite all the enthusiasm I personally feel for the topic of AI – I want to pause for a moment and share some thoughts about the unique value of authenticity in leadership that can only be created by humans.

Dealing with vulnerability

As Brené Brown, a leader I greatly admire, puts it : « Who we are is how we lead. » True leadership isn’t dictated by our job titles or positions ; it’s shaped by our values and the way they form our character. This means not only how we connect with others and make them feel valued, but also how we handle setbacks and overcome our own fears.

Overcoming perfectionism

One important aspect of authentic leadership – staying with Brené – is the willingness to be vulnerable. It can be difficult to show vulnerability, especially in a professional setting where there is often pressure to appear confident and in control at all times. However, authentic leaders understand that true vulnerability is actually a strength, not a weakness. By being comfortable with expressing emotions and admitting mistakes, they can build trust and empathy with those around them.

Finding your voice

Finding and expressing our true voice can be challenging, particularly when we are just starting out in our careers. Many of us may be uncertain about their values and how to stay true to themselves. It takes time and effort to reflect on our beliefs and identify what truly matters to us. And to know, what we really, really want is quite a journey. Also, this is often an uncomfortable process as we must confront our own biases and insecurities. In addition, we need full clarity on our values.

Understanding one’s own behavior

I can very much relate to these challenges from my own experiences. When I first started my career, I often found it difficult to speak up. I was a highly ambitious and wanted everything to be perfect. Probably, that’s why I was often worried about saying the wrong thing or making a mistake. I begun to adapt behaviors that were more suited to the environment I was in than to myself. And it took me a while to realize that my behavior in certain sitations didn’t really match with what I really thought or wanted. In addition, I felt pressure to always project an image of strenght and confidence.

Finding the way to authenticity

Over time, however, I came to realize that finding my voice was essential to my personal growth and success. I learned to embrace my emotions and the fear of saying something wrong and not being perfect. I also discovered that being true to myself and my values was more important than trying to please everyone or fit into a certain mold.

Developing trust

Authentic leadership is built on trust, which can take time to establish. It requires consistent and transparent communication, a track record of delivering on promises, and again a willingness to admit mistakes and make changes. This can be particularly challenging in a fast-paced business environment, where there may be pressure to prioritize short-term results over long-term relationships. Authentic leaders are patient and persistent, and they prioritize relationship-building over immediate results. I think that’s also a differentiator when we talk about trust in the context of AI. Here, “trust” is more about “we rely on the AI’s results and therefore trust the AI’s decisions”, whereas with humans, “trust” is always connected with emotions and how someone makes us feel. However, these thoughts are to be continued…

Being self-aware

In conclusion, being an authentic leader requires a high degree of self-awareness and self-leadership. This is all about emotional intelligence, and the ability to navigate complex interpersonal relationships. It takes time and effort to develop these skills. However, it will definitively not be possible to outsource this to an AI. That’s why it’s all the more important, that we work on what makes us unique.

Embracing generational diversity

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Over the past few months, I have been frequently asked what I think of how certain representatives of GenZ present themselves on social media. I felt more and more inspired to reflect on this topic from a “non-judgmental” perspective. Rachele Focardi’s work on “Reframing Generational Stereotypes” was a great help in this regard.

“Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.”

This quote from George Orwell, included in Rachele’s book, really gets to the heart of the matter. I assume, most of us can relate to this. However, I think it’s too easy to see this as a response to what is currently happening with GenZ entering the labor market and addressing their needs to employers.

It’s not about always pleasing GenZ

Personally, I think many of the GenZ representatives do a great job in helping companies understand the needs of young colleagues. On the other hand, I feel that many companies focus too much on pleasing GenZ in their recruitment strategy. And at the end they only find out that they don’t get the reward for their efforts they expected. This leads to many people labeling GenZ as ungrateful, GenZ still not feeling understood and involved and older generations feeling left out. But to successfully drive positive change, it takes everyone, regardless of their generation. Isn’t that, what we have also learned from GenZ ?

It’s about different interpretations of “respect”

Rachele Fodardi has many answers on how to promote mutual understanding and collaboration between generations. Even though, at the end of the day, most people’s needs are probably not that different from each other. An important takeaway for me is that there are different interpretations of respect and that it’s worth working on a common understanding of the different expressions within organizations.

For those of you who would like to learn more about how to deal with generational stereotypes, I can highly recommend Rachele Focardi’s work. It’s a pure embracement of generacional diversity.

 

New leadership philosophies are taking shape

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 A constant driver of my work with NextGen Leadership is the search for further insights into what, at its core, good leadership is. In pursuit of this quest, I am interested in questions such as: Can good leadership be learned or taught? What is the value of self-leadership and self-reflection on the executive floor? How does leadership work in the virtual space? How are topics such as new work, learning culture and innovation brought to life and modeled in organizations? Or quite simply, how does it feel to sit across from a real leader?

The desire to rethink leadership is growing

Having had the privilege of intensively supporting various leaders in transformation projects over the past few months, I personally conclude that while trailblazers such as Simon Sinek, Brené Brown or Frédéric Laloux still have a big head start on the rest of the field in many regards, more and more organizations and the leaders within them are beginning to take a serious look at newer leadership philosophies. The appetite for change in this area is real.

A good time for leadership development

Even though the desire to organize leadership differently has been developing for some time in many companies, there is no doubt the Covid-19 crisis has massively accelerated discussions around New Work, New Learning and, strongly linked to this, New Leadership. So it seems like a good time for leadership development. This is especially true because the restriction to purely virtual interactions has made it very clear to us what is important in building trust and conveying security: humanity, authenticity and compassion. These are all elements that we would describe as central leadership qualities, and not just since the coronavirus crisis.

Experiencing (leadership) insecurity in the virtual space

For many leaders, the absence of direct face-to-face communication for months as a result of pandemic measures was accompanied by an experience of insecurity in the virtual space. How can you lead your people in the virtual space at all? How do you ensure that the messages you intend are received correctly on the other side?

Self-reflection becomes a decisive driver of change

My observation is that this experience of uncertainty has led to increased self-reflection, which has even prompted some leaders to fundamentally rethink their previous leadership philosophy. I have seen leaders go on to actively change leadership behavior in their organization.

Trust before control

The fact that many leaders have been forced by the Covid-19 crisis to trust their employees more has been a wake-up call for some. Those who previously relied on the adage “trust is good, control is better” realized that employees can also work effectively and efficiently if they are not constantly controlled by their superiors. It is now crucial that leadership development builds on this experience while it is fresh – and does not wait until some leaders fall back into old patterns. This danger also still exists in principle – despite all self-reflection.

Next generation leaders don’t need followers

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While the coronavirus crisis has massively accelerated progress in many aspects of digitalization, it is also forcing us to rethink leadership behavior. By now, most people have come to realize that hours spent at a physical workplace can no longer be a main promotion criterion. And they see that employees can work at least as efficiently from home (if not more so). However, although the need for more agile forms of organization is steadily increasing, many companies are still getting stuck in their pyramid-shaped management structures. But they must break free. I am strongly convinced that self-organization is not just hype and that self-leadership is becoming a crucial skill of future employees.

More courage to break up traditional management structures

Since working more intensively on new leadership structures and new leadership as a concept in next generation leadership, I see many organizations that want to be agile and innovative. At the end of the day, however, they are not (yet) ready to consistently break up their pyramid leadership structure and fundamentally rethink their processes. Design Thinking and Lego Serious Play Workshops, yes. But no structural adjustments or changes to the bonus system, please – that hurts!

Who wants to abolish themselves?

The idea of distributing leadership among different leadership personalities may be well received in theory, but when it comes to radical approaches – such as abolishing oneself as a leader and really making everyone in the team a self-leader – then resistance is immediate, and objections loud: “Somebody has to have the power to make decisions! Self-organization is all well and good, but when the going gets tough, someone has to be there who can decide. Besides, not everyone is a born leader and leadership has to be learned.”

VUCA world demands faster reaction times

Most people have realized that decision-making processes in a pyramid-shaped management structure are often far too long and that pressure to react faster to current market needs is constantly increasing in today’s VUCA world. For many though, it comes down to the fact that the pressure of suffering is simply not high enough.

Self-organization is often still mocked

Holocratic or self-organized forms of organization are often ridiculed. “This can’t work. People want leadership, even the next generation.” Traditional structures are immediately justified in view of their extreme form. But I think this very debate is of fundamental importance when it comes to setting the course for future leadership. Only a discussion that takes place well outside the comfort zone will ultimately help to meet the demands of the ever-changing VUCA world. The point is not that every organization should now become a self-organizing, but that entertaining discussions on radical approaches would go some way toward developing a little further in the direction of modern leadership.

Self-leadership will be a decisive skill in the future

After all, self-organization is not about “everyone doing a bit of what they want”, but about tough self-management. Only those who can lead themselves will develop their own strong personality in a world of influencers and artificial intelligence. Ultimately, this is the foundation of all leadership. Our education system also has an important role to play in providing the next generation with opportunities to learn self-leadership as early as possible. In a world in which we are often very poorly informed despite or precisely because of too much news and too many influencers, it is crucial that we take into our own hands how we deal with all these factors and develop our own path.

When leaders breed leaders

I, too, cut my professional teeth in a pyramid management structure. Within it, I have experienced both great and very bad leadership. I have experienced leaders who still managed to develop a vision with their teams and who, depending on the superior of their superior, can work towards this vision successfully and in an extremely self-organized way. While I’m sure that there will always be some form of leadership in interaction with people, I dare to doubt whether the concept of control and top-down will still work in the future. Instead, I would like to advocate a leader-leader concept in which leaders respect and support each other and where their form of organization encourages this behavior.