17 Jan

Why your soft skills are now the premium skills in the AI era

Generative AI has not eliminated the need for expertise. It has eliminated the need for unexamined expertise. In organizations, the most damaging failures no longer come from a lack of technical capability, but from poor problem framing, misplaced optimization, and leaders who mistake speed for judgment. As AI takes over more of the executional “middle,” human value shifts to...
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02 Jan

Results are never the problem. They are the mirror.

Leadership is not revealed in intentions, values, or language. It is revealed in results. In my work with leaders and teams, I always start with outcomes — and then work backwards to what leadership truly demands under pressure. Not to judge, but to understand which patterns, decisions, and behaviors are quietly shaping performance. Results are never the problem. They are the...
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12 Dec

My leadership journey: from engineering teacher to global executive to leadership (team) coach

man leaning against glass window with his reflection in it
In this personal leadership journey, Jan Salomons shares how he transitioned from an engineering teacher to a global executive and ultimately to a leadership and executive coach. Drawing on more than 35 years of international leadership experience across complex organisations, he reveals the pivotal insights that shaped his purpose: leadership is human work, not just technical or operational skill....
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09 Dec

Stillness and reflection: the hidden courage behind authentic leadership

In a world full of noise and pressure, the most courageous leaders are not the loudest ones, but the ones who create space for stillness and honest self-reflection. Like a quiet bridge reflected in calm water, authentic leadership emerges when we stand steady in who we are and dare to look inward. Clarity, integrity, and presence begin not with...
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25 Nov

The 10 Executive questions that change everything

Most executive teams don’t fail because of strategy — they fail because of what they avoid. These 10 provoking questions cut through noise, expose blind spots, and accelerate real transformation. They challenge leaders to face the hard truths about their behavior, decisions, and impact. If you want to grow as a leader, start by answering these questions honestly.
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24 Oct

PDSA and VUCA: Why Leaders Need Both to Navigate Today’s Reality

In a world defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, leaders can no longer rely on fixed plans or past experience. VUCA describes the challenge — but PDSA provides a practical way to respond through fast learning cycles. My early years as a teacher, working with Kolb’s experiential learning model, taught me that people grow through experimentation, reflection, and...
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05 Sep

When the lights went out: leading through chaos in a VUCA world

When TNT’s global network went dark during the NotPetya cyberattack, every system failed — but people didn’t. In this story, Jan Salomons shares how leadership, trust, and adaptability kept Europe’s largest logistics network running manually for days. It’s a story of crisis leadership in a VUCA world — where volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity tested every level of society,...
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22 Aug

A new formula for change

Change doesn’t fail because of poor plans — it fails because people haven’t made the psychological transition. In this article, Jan Salomons explores his formula for successful change, combining shared vision, urgency, leadership, learning, and capacity. Drawing on his decades of experience and his VUCA leadership approach, he explains how leaders can guide teams through endings, transitions, and new...
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01 Aug

When fear rules….. silence takes over: rebuilding trust and connection at work

Fear can quietly take over organizations — through silence, control, and pressure — until trust disappears and performance collapses. In this article, Jan Salomons explores how fear-based leadership emerges and what leaders can do to reverse it. He shares five practical ways to rebuild trust, including how to reframe control, invite openness, and restore team rhythm. In a VUCA...
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