The Collaborative Business PodcastIt is the last day of 2015 and this is the final episode of the Collaborative Business Podcast.

The week of Christmas I’ve spent on the beautiful island of Aruba and besides enjoying the island and the Caribbean weather it was also time to reflect upon 2015 and plan for 2016.

Part of that reflection made me realize that it is time to stop a few projects and that it is time for a new project, a project beyond the Collaborative Business Podcast, a project that will need to crystalize a little bit more and then will launch in 2016.

You might have heard me say it more often; I strongly believe that our business world is in a transformation. Back in 1998 Yves Doz already opened his book “Alliance Advantage” with the phrase “No company can go it alone”.

Nowadays we see that the landscape is shifting even more. Fueled by elements like the rise of the Internet and the 2008 financial crisis we see a transformation in the way we do business. Flexibility and agility are keywords in every aspect of Today’s business and not every organization has fully adapted to that yet.

Collaboration across organizational boundaries enables flexibility while at the same time flexibility and agility require collaboration and a new style of leadership.

When you’ve followed my work over the past year you might have noticed a shift already from purely strategic alliances to more the broader field of business collaboration and leadership. As an executive coach I’ve obtained my certification in Marshall Goldsmith’s Stakeholder Centered Coaching methodology. A powerful methodology that has its focus to help the leaders in an organization become even more successful. In addition I’ve also obtained my certification to run the Global Leadership of the Future assessments.

Backed by certifications and experience in both leadership coaching and strategic alliances I see the need for an even greater shift in organizations. Leadership in a collaborative business world requires different styles, maybe even different organizational structures that include inside and outside collaboration. Not only in traditional strategic alliances, but also in collaboration between large and small companies and in ecosystems and networks, to name a few.

Hence my 2016 focus will continue on strategic alliances and on leadership, yet it will also be more on leadership and the broader field of business collaboration.

My central question for 2016 will be:

to explore what it requires for the leader of the future to succeed in a transforming collaborative business world and to inspire and support you to achieve the success you as a leader aspire in the collaborative business world.

After all my value proposition continues as never before: Inspire to Aspire.

Thank you for being a loyal listener of the Collaborative Business Podcast and do stay tuned for new multi media projects that support my 2016 question “to explore what it requires for the leader of the future to succeed in a transforming collaborative business world.

Happy New Year!