A weekly thought for leaders with the courage to introspect.
Eric on bold leadership.
I am a fan of Eric Nordholt. Chief Commissioner of the Amsterdam police between 1987 and 1997.
Why a fan of a police chief? Simple. I lived in Amsterdam. And I remember the city in the early 90s.
Amsterdam was raw. Unsafe. Shit on the sidewalk. Hate in the street. Always on your guard. Walking at night. Not looking back.
In 1991, street robberies were getting out of hand.
According to the police customs at the time, there had to be more surveillance.
Supervision. More blue on the streets in police cars.
But Nordholt did it differently.
He broke with customs.
He freed up 200 officers, trained street teams and sent them out onto the streets. Not in police cars. Not anonymously. But visible. Vulnerable. Eye to eye.
And to show that it was serious?
He went along himself.
The highest boss. Among the people.
Now you think: makes sense, right? But then? That was groundbreaking.
And it worked. Street robberies dropped significantly.
Not only through more supervision, but through courage, visibility and proximity.
What I mean by this is that you cannot truly innovate within the existing rules.
Those who stay within the lines do not draw a new future.
Innovation requires courage.
And space.
For experiment. For failure. For trial and error.
Bold leadership means balancing between your formal boundaries and the freedom you dare to take.
Not โthis is how we do things hereโ. But: โwhat could be done differently?โ
Don't stick rigidly to customs. But test whether they are still correct.
As a leader that means:
โ Dare to be limited.
โ But also exploring those boundaries.
โ Allow new behavior.
โ Embrace mistakes.
Because if you don't, who will?
Your employees, your teams, your new generation, they look at you. Not at what you say. But at what you do.
Bold leadership is different from moral leadership.
Moral leadership follows the rules.
Bold leadership dares to shake things up.
As Eric Nordholt did.
And that's why I say: Eric forever.
The space between the words is where insight arises.
Until next week when our thoughts touch again.
Hans Ruinemans, Boardroom Monk โฏ๏ธ