Change requires vision, but above all, the courage to get started. Rather than waiting until everyone is convinced, it is about demonstrating that an idea can work in practice.

During the Breakthrough Festival, on September 17th, organised by NextGen Tech Leaders, Elies Lemkes-Straver, independent supervisory board member, executive and advisor, and Valentijn Lemkes, Digital Consultant at Alliander, shared their story. The conversation began with Valentijn asking for advice, but soon led to valuable insights into leadership, vision and driving change.

Elies was the first director of Brainport Eindhoven. Drawing on that experience, she shared a clear message: having a vision is one thing. Holding on to it when many others do not yet believe in it is something else entirely.

Brainport grew from a region facing an economic crisis into an internationally recognised high-tech ecosystem. The story shows that change does not happen simply by continuing to talk about it. Organisations spend a great deal of time building support, aligning stakeholders and convincing others. Sometimes, it is more important to simply get started and demonstrate in practice that something works.

From convincing to taking action
This raises an interesting question for leaders and organisations in the midst of change: how do we get everyone on board? Or should we more often replace that question with: where can we start and demonstrate that it works?

The conversation between Elies and Valentijn is now available to listen to as a podcast. A personal conversation about vision, leadership and change, with lessons that are relevant not only to the next generation of tech leaders, but to anyone looking to create momentum within an organisation.

Listen to the podcast here and discover why change sometimes starts with less discussion and simply taking action.