Leadership 2.0 in processes of a sustainable change: Practical experience

Document from the year 2025 in the subject Leadership and Human Resources - Leadership, language: English, abstract: In order to successfully implement sustainable changes in a company in the context of change processes, strong leadership is required at the top of a company, which should have a great deal of empathy and a sure instinct in order to position the company in the market in the long term and profitably. In order to successfully shape these sustainable changes, it will not be the famous power of the leader of the past, but will only work with the involvement of employees in the new world of work in the knowledge age, which is characterized by digitalization and artificial intelligence. This new form of leadership is also referred to as Leadership 2.0, in which it is important to retain top performers and, in particular, key personnel in the company in the long term, which is a very challenging leadership task in HR management. In change processes, a fundamental distinction must be made between incremental change management and radical change management. While incremental change takes place continuously and is integrated into everyday working life, radical change represents a strategic realignment of the company, which is largely associated with staff reductions and is intended to change the corporate culture. This is particularly true in the case of restructuring, where cost-cutting programs play a decisive role in ensuring the long-term survival of the company. Employees are more willing to go along with incremental change, also known as continuous improvement, than radical change, as they could also be affected by staff cuts. This fuels employees' fears and therefore often leads to high staff turnover.