Positive Leadership or Influencer Leadership or ...?

16.04.2025

16.04.2025

16.04.2025

Barbara Liebermeister stands smiling against a wall and looks at the camera.
Barbara Liebermeister stands smiling against a wall and looks at the camera.
Barbara Liebermeister stands smiling against a wall and looks at the camera.

Positive Leadership or Influencer Leadership or...?

April 16, 2025 – "Please, not again, something new." Do you sometimes think that when yet another new leadership concept lands on your desk, claiming to solve all the management problems that leaders grapple with in everyday work?

The consulting industry is a creative one. It keeps creating new terms that respond to the changing environment, which consultants hope will help them market themselves and their services better.

Leadership concepts seem to be as plentiful as sand on the beach

For example, the field of "Leadership" is mentioned here, in which, apart from myself, many consultants have specialized, partly because management is a core function in every company.

As a market observer, one sometimes gets the impression: It seems like a new leadership concept hits the market almost every month. As evidence, just look at terms like "Agile Leadership", "Change Leadership", "Female Leadership", "Mindful Leadership", "Situational Leadership", "Sustainable Leadership", "New Leadership", "Next Generation Leadership", "Virtual Leadership", "Transformational Leadership"... and of course the term "Influencer Leadership", which I coined four or five years ago with my book "The Leader as Influencer:...".

All these concepts have something in common: They deal with the topic of leadership. At the same time, they focus on different aspects depending on the perspective from which they approach the topic, and derive their conclusions from this.

Leadership concepts often reflect the current "need" and "spirit of the times"

For instance, the term "Agile Leadership" was "en vogue" from 2015 to 2020, when the world spoke of companies needing to become more agile. But today, hardly anyone talks about it, even though this "need" still exists. And the terms "New Leadership" and "Virtual Leadership"? They were hyped in 2020 when the pandemic drastically changed collaboration in companies – seemingly overnight – and made it increasingly virtual or hybrid. But today? Similar is true for the term "Sustainable Leadership", which is closely linked to the issue of climate change.

And what about the term "Transformational Leadership"? It has gained importance over the past two to three years, shifting away from the term "Change Leadership", as it becomes increasingly clear due to unpredictable events like the pandemic, the Ukraine war and its consequences, the Gaza conflict, and the chaotic (economic) policies of the Trump administration that to be successful in the future, many companies need to fundamentally question their current business models and partially reposition themselves in the market.

Yes, leaders must also be bearers of hope

Another leadership concept that has gained significance in recent years is the so-called "Positive Leadership", which aims to transfer positive psychology – which is also currently trending – to the field of leadership.

This concept, I feel, becomes increasingly significant as more crises arise globally and more negative news bombards us, leading more employees in companies to ask:

  • What else is coming our way?

  • How is all this going to continue?

and not a few sink hopelessly into depression because they see no light at the end of the tunnel, which is why it is increasingly becoming a central leadership task to radiate confidence and be a bearer of hope.

The Positive Leadership concept falls short, in my opinion

All of this is true. Nevertheless – and despite the fact that I earned the title "Master of Cognitive Neuroscience (AON)" at the Academy of Neuroscience in 2024 – I tend to view the Positive Leadership approach with some skepticism because it falls short, in my opinion.

For every leader, it holds true: They are not just a leader. They are also, for example, a team or departmental leader as well as a hierarchical superior of their employees and must ensure that their assigned area fulfills its prescribed contribution to achieving the company's goals. They are also responsible for ensuring that their subordinate team collaborates in a way that effectively uses available resources and fully realizes its potential.

A leader should always be aware of this because their performance is ultimately measured by their team's performance.

The diversity of roles makes leadership a highly complex task

It is precisely the fact that a leader is also always

  • a hierarchical superior of their employees,

  • the top decision-maker in their assigned area, and

  • the responsible manager ensuring this area contributes to the company's success,

that makes leadership a highly complex task, which is becoming increasingly difficult to successfully fulfill as the environment changes faster and faster, making long-term planning nearly impossible.

My new book "Leading with Alpha Intelligence:..." will be released at the end of May

Among other thoughts, the above went through my mind as I wrote my new book "Leading with Alpha Intelligence: Ready for the Future World of Work", which will be published at the end of May by Haufe Verlag.

In it, I aim, among other things, to

  • connect the latest neuroscientific findings with the current changes in the field of management and

  • draft a leadership approach that helps leaders fulfill their increasingly challenging role in the modern, rapidly changing, hybrid work environment.

I am already looking forward to the feedback from its readers about how well I succeeded in this – perhaps even from you.

Author: Barbara Liebermeister


About the author Barbara Liebermeister

Barbara Liebermeister is the founder and director of IFIDZ – Institute for Leadership Culture in the Digital Age. As a management consultant, coach, and speaker, she combines business experience with scientific depth and has coined the term Alpha Intelligence®, a concept that captures the essential skills of modern leaders.

With many years of experience in leadership positions and as a coach for top decision-makers, she has been supporting companies of all sizes on their way to contemporary leadership for over two decades – practical, strategic, and effective. Insights from her work have contributed to several books on the topics of self-leadership, networking, and leadership in the digital world.

Barbara Liebermeister is a lecturer at RWTH Aachen, Kempten University, and others, and also serves as a mentor at universities in Hesse. She studied business administration, holds a master's degree in neuroscience, and has completed training as a business, management, and sports mental coach.

Outstanding work: For her pioneering efforts, she was nominated for the #digitalfemaleleader Award in 2017. In 2018, the analysis tool LEADT developed by her institute, which measures digital leadership maturity, was awarded the prestigious Wolfgang Heilmann Prize at Learntec.

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