Corporate Culture & People, 28 January 2026
HR Talk: Leading in changing times
Why it’s time to lead differently
What does effective leadership look like in a world of constant change? In this HR Talk, ERGO’s Labour Director Lena Lindemann speaks with Pradeep Pinakatt from Düsseldorf Airport about leadership and introduces ERGO’s new framework “PEOPLE – Lead to Succeed.”
Leadership has never been easy, but rarely has it faced such multifaceted challenges as it does today. Digitalisation, artificial intelligence, geopolitical uncertainty, demographic change, and shifting employee expectations are all transforming the world of work. According to Deloitte’s 2023 Human Capital Trends study, 94 percent of respondents view the competence and effectiveness of leaders as critical to business success. The message is clear: in an increasingly complex world, leadership must evolve continuously.
In times when change has become the norm and one crisis follows another, people need orientation.
In this HR Talk, Lena Lindemann from ERGO Group and Pradeep Pinakatt, Managing and Labour Director at Düsseldorf Airport, discuss what leadership requires today and what it must deliver tomorrow.
Leading in changing times
The traditional image of the all-knowing manager no longer fits our times. In a world defined by constant transformation, no one can have all the answers.
Today, leadership means continuous reflection and self-questioning – asking the right questions, showing openness and genuine interest, and proactively engaging with change. This mindset enables leaders to stay both adaptable and capable of learning. When leading teams, it’s essential to set direction, provide inspiration, and build trust.
Providing orientation also means openly admitting when you don’t yet have the answer but being willing to search for it and bring others along. That’s also a core leadership task.
Successful leaders today see themselves less as supervisors and more as coaches, enablers, and companions. They create spaces where teams can think independently, take ownership, and actively shape outcomes. This is how trust and a shared commitment to success grow.
Leaders serve as role models – something they should always be aware of. Integrity, credibility, and consistency matter. It’s about being open to reflection, making decisions transparently, and constantly developing as a person.
Leadership as a team effort
Leadership today is no longer an individual discipline. Given the increasing complexity and pace of change, sustainable success arises when responsibility is shared between leaders and teams and when leadership teams develop their collective leadership strength.
Collective leadership competence means that leadership teams provide shared direction, coordinate decisions, and model a coherent understanding of leadership. But how can that be achieved across different countries, cultures, and hierarchies?
ERGO Framework “PEOPLE – Lead to Succeed”
This is precisely where the ERGO Leadership Framework comes in. “PEOPLE – Lead to Succeed” provides orientation and fosters a shared understanding of what good leadership means at ERGO – whether in Düsseldorf, Warsaw, Mumbai, or San Francisco.
Built together with leaders from different countries, functions, and levels, the framework owes its strength to the spirit of collaboration behind it.
At its core stands the shared understanding of leadership PEOPLE:
- P – People: Openness, genuine interest, dialogue, and mutual respect
- E – Empowerment: Building trust, nurturing strengths, and enabling innovation
- O – Ownership: Taking responsibility, understanding decisions, and owning them
- P – Performance: Setting goals, recognising achievement, and giving constructive feedback.
- L – Learning: Embracing learning as a mindset for leaders and teams alike.
- E – Evolution: Fostering adaptability, self-reflection, and personal growth.
Through shared standards and regular exchange formats – such as Leadership Days or PEOPLE Dialogues between teams, employees, and leaders – this mindset becomes tangible in everyday life at ERGO.
Leading in the age of artificial intelligence
Technology, especially artificial intelligence, is one of the key drivers of workplace transformation. AI is reshaping how we work, decide, and lead. As more routine tasks become automated, leaders face a new reality. They manage fewer day-to-day operations yet take greater responsibility in areas that machines cannot replace – human connection, ethics, and collaboration.
A central leadership task is to view decisions in their broader context, weigh risks responsibly, and foster trust in the use of new technology.
Balancing Performance and People
Artificial intelligence and data-based management make performance more measurable than ever. Yet numbers tell only half the story. The other half is defined by the quality of collaboration – trust, reliability, and fairness. The challenge is not to choose between performance and empathy, but to make sound decisions that honor both.
It’s essential to set clear goals and expectations, while creating a positive work environment with a healthy company and failure culture. For me, these go hand in hand.
A new standard of success emerges when results and relationships align, when people identify with what they do. Then, performance and people are not opposites, but two sides of the same success story.
Your opinion
If you would like to share your opinion on this topic with us, please send us a message to: radar@ergo.de
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