We are twenty years into the 21st century and the world is completely different from what it was at the turn of the century. The corona crisis has only underlined some of the deeper changes in society. The pendulum of history is in full swing. We are living in a change of age, more than in an age of change. Not only because of corona but also because the collective thinking about many things is changing dramatically. Some examples: There is a perceived need to address the vulnerabilities of the ways in which we live, consume and produce; There is a revaluation of the role of the state; Neoliberal capitalism is in the line of fire; Business leaders are more often required to balance the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders; Inequality in wealth and income has become a major source of discontent. At this ELP Leadership Conference we will take time to reflect on where we are today, how we got there and where we want to go from here. Following his latest book 'Civil Leadership as the Future of Leadership. Harnessing the disruptive power of citizens' (Amazon, 2018) Steven de Waal will focus on the new public leadership that is necessary in the new public arena due to the digital power that is now given to 'the people' or citizens in general. He lectured about this internationally in 2019 (pre-corona), including in Canada, New Zealand, USA and many countries in (Western) Europe. So partly his contribution will be about the Digital Civil Revolution that was already going on pre-corona (and this analysis was mainly proven in this crisis) and, of course, partly about what the corona crisis teaches us about our leadership. He reflects on this in his blog 'The corona crisis and civil leadership'. Basically his main focus now is on evaluating the outcome of his PhD study into values of civil leaders versus the requirements this new public arena poses on leaders seeking public authority. He addresses this in the issue of strategy versus morality and will go into it shortly in his contribution. You may also want to read a blog with the main conclusions based on his international lecturing, which was of course pre-corona. Click here for a video recording of the plenary parts of this conversation with Steven P.M. de Waal
