Blogs

[Dutch version can be found here]

You’ve probably seen them: beautifully crafted goals hanging on the walls of boardrooms, catchy and well-designed. Ambitious OKR’s shine in quarterly plans and strategy decks. The energy during the kick-off is electric. Everyone nods in agreement. The direction is clear, the team is motivated.

And then… nothing really happens.

Teams are busy, but not with the right things. Urgency takes over. No one really knows who’s doing what. And when the quarter ends, the goals are still there — just not achieved.
It’s frustrating — not because people aren’t working hard. On the contrary: most teams want to contribute to something bigger. But without a clear translation from strategy to action, without ownership, and without rhythm in execution, even the best intentions fade.

OKR (Objectives and Key Results) is a great method to formulate strategic goals sharply and make them measurable. But in practice, it often remains abstract or turns into disconnected lists.
What’s missing is systemics. That’s exactly why I added IWIM to OKR — a vital expansion that brings execution, rhythm, and ownership into play.

From OKR to OKRIWIM

OKR was originally developed from Peter Drucker’s MBO (Management by Objectives) concept by Andy Grove, one of Intel’s first employees. In the 1970s and 1980s, Grove and John Doerr further shaped the OKR method. From the late 1990s, after Doerr became an early investor in Google, OKRs were adopted into Google’s operating model. Since then, countless companies have embraced the OKR method.

The classic OKR structure includes:

• Objective: an inspiring, directional goal
• Key Results: concrete, measurable results that show whether the objective is met

But, as said, good intentions and metrics alone are not enough. That’s why at ViaMens, we work with four additional building blocks:

• Initiatives: what actions, projects, or steps contribute to achieving the Key Results?
• Who: who owns each initiative and result?
• Information: how, when, and where is progress made visible and discussed? How is progress reported?
• Monitoring: how do we keep the system alive, learn from the data, and adjust along the way?

Together, these seven elements form the OKRIWIM framework. It’s not more work — it’s a way to make work more effective, purposeful, and connected.

Why the IWIM extension is essential

1. From goal to action
Initiatives make it clear what is actually going to happen. Without them, it remains wishful thinking.

2. Make ownership explicit
If no one owns it, nothing happens. The “Who” brings every part of the plan to life with a name and face.

3. Information
Everyone needs to know where we stand. Progress reporting doesn’t mean bureaucracy — it means rhythm. It creates space for reflection and adaptation.

4. Monitoring for learning and adjustment
Goals are rarely static. Monitoring helps us detect trends, understand root causes, and adjust strategies in time.

OKRIWIM in practice

Let’s say an organisation wants to improve customer satisfaction. The Objective is clear:
“We deliver the best customer experience in our sector.”

Key Results

• Customer satisfaction increases from 7.2 to 8.0
• Complaints resolved within 48 hours increase from 60% to 90%
• Customer churn drops from 12% to 8%

Initiatives

• Redesign of the customer service process
• Customer-focused training for service teams
• Implementation of a new feedback system

Who

• HR owns training
• Customer Service Manager owns process redesign
• IT owns the feedback tool

Information / Reporting

• Bi-weekly updates in the team dashboard
• Monthly review in the management team

Monitoring

• Real-time KPI dashboard
• Quarterly reviews on trends and blockers

Suddenly, things get concrete, aligned, and measurable. No longer an abstract ambition, but a living system.

Why OKRIWIM works

The success of strategy execution doesn’t just depend on inspiration — it depends on coherence and discipline. OKRIWIM forces the connection between why, what, and how. Between vision and behaviour. Between direction and rhythm.

And the system doesn’t work top-down — it thrives through involvement at every level. Teams define which initiatives matter, who owns what, and how they will reflect and learn. That creates ownership, engagement, and ultimately… results.

Don’t make it heavier than it is

OKRIWIM might sound complex, but in practice, it makes things simpler and more logical. It reduces fragmentation, vagueness, and frustration. It brings clarity and focus — not another system, but a better way of working.

At ViaMens, we use OKRIWIM in leadership development, strategy execution, and team transformation. It works for startups and established organisations, in both profit and non-profit sectors. Why? Because it aligns with how people naturally work and learn: with goals, together, and through regular reflection.

Ready to actually achieve your goals?

Ask yourself:

• Do we have clear goals and concrete actions?
• Does every team member know their role?
• Is progress visible and open to discussion?
• Are we learning actively and adjusting in time?

If not, it might be time for OKRIWIM.

Want to know more or explore what this could look like for your organisation? Let’s talk. Together with your people, we’ll bring your goals to life.

Erik Versteeg, August 8^th, 2025 | www.viamens.nl

ViaMens delivers Leadership, Organisational Development, Impact and Continuity.

[Dutch version can be found here]

You can often sense it instantly. Someone enters the room, and without saying a word, there’s something about them. A natural authority. People pause, pay closer attention, adjust their tone.

What makes certain leaders command a room the moment they walk in, without uttering a single word? Why do some capture our full attention, while others need to raise their voice just to be heard?

Often, the answer comes down to one word: gravitas.

Whenever we start a leadership program at ViaMens, I pay close attention to how key team members enter a room. Not just physically — their posture, gaze, movement — but also energetically: how do they take their place? Do they bring a sense of weight? Do they carry gravitas?

Gravitas is that elusive but unmistakable quality that separates competent leadership from truly impactful leadership. More often than not, it’s the deciding factor at the top level of organizations — in promotions, succession planning, and, ultimately, in the overall effectiveness of the business.

What is gravitas?

The term comes from Latin, meaning “heaviness” or “weight”, and was considered one of the core virtues of public life in Roman times. Alongside virtus, dignitas, and pietas, it formed the backbone of Roman leadership. It implied seriousness, trustworthiness, sound judgment, and a strong presence — traits still essential in today’s leaders.

The Dutch newspaper Het Financiele Dagblad once shared a telling example in the article “In Search of Gravitas” (March 2018). At Rosen Company, two internal candidates were vying for a senior executive role. Both were competent, but the board ultimately chose the one they believed had gravitas. “John lacks the sufficient weight,” a board member remarked. It had nothing to do with degrees or technical skills — it came down to presence, calm, and the ability to judge wisely in complex situations.

Gravitas: more than a first impression

Many people describe gravitas as a blend of balance, confidence, and authenticity. Some simply say, “You know it when you see it.” But gravitas is more than flair or stage presence. True gravitas isn’t an act — it’s the alignment of inner strength and outward expression.

It’s built on a combination of:

• Internal qualities such as self-awareness, integrity, expertise, and emotional intelligence;
• External signals like body language, tone of voice, poise, calm under pressure, and a clear, convincing communication style.

In other words: gravitas is the ability to stand your ground in challenging situations, judge wisely, speak with quiet conviction, and inspire trust. It’s a form of authority that doesn’t shout — it resonates.

Why gravitas matters in leadership

Leaders who lack gravitas may be respected for their content, but they often fail to inspire natural followership. That creates noise, doubt, and slows down decision-making. Gravitas, on the other hand, brings:

• Trust – People feel safe with someone who knows what they’re doing and doesn’t need to prove it loudly.
• Decisiveness – Leaders with gravitas take responsibility, even for unpopular decisions.
• Calm – In moments of crisis, they become the anchor. They absorb chaos without being thrown off.
• Influence – Without manipulation, they bring others along through credibility, clarity, and integrity.

Gravitas is often about perception — how others assess someone’s competence and importance. It’s shaped by how we see someone act, speak, and present themselves. Again and again, gravitas proves to be the critical differentiator in high-stakes leadership.

Can you develop gravitas?

To some extent — yes. But it’s no quick fix. Gravitas requires practice, experience, and deep reflection. You could see it as a journey along two tracks:

1. The visible path – trainable skills and behaviors:

• Developing the ability to speak clearly and powerfully, even off the cuff;
• Practicing emotional control — remaining calm even in chaotic or hostile environments;
• Using your voice, posture, and language consciously as signals;
• Actively seeking feedback on how others perceive your “weight” — and where it’s lacking.

2. The inner path – a personal journey that requires time, life experience, and introspection:

• Learning to handle setbacks, moral dilemmas, and uncertainty;
• Building self-knowledge: who you are, what matters to you, and what your unique voice is;
• Deepening your judgment by truly understanding both your field and the people in it.

True gravitas arises when outer appearance and inner strength are in harmony. Not through performance or pretense, but by cultivating character. Only then does your presence carry real weight — not just shadows cast on the wall.

The courage to make a difference

In leadership development, I often see people focus on strategy, structure, or communication. All important — but without gravitas, it stays shallow. Gravitas is what gives leadership real depth. It’s the difference between power and influence, between position and authority.

At ViaMens, we help leaders connect with that deeper layer — not to perform more ‘weight’, but to strengthen the quiet foundation on which true impact rests.

Curious how you — or your team — could grow in this area? Let’s talk. Most happy to spar with you about it. Send me a message or give me a call.

Erik Versteeg, August 4, 2025 | www.viamens.nl

ViaMens delivers Leadership, Organisational Strength, Impact and Continuity.

[Dutch version can be found here]

Who’s really in charge here?

In many family businesses, that’s not an easy question. Is it the founder who built the company from the ground up? The children who formally hold the shares but struggle with their role? The cousin who has no management position but knows every employee and feels responsible for the company culture? Or the external CEO, appointed by the family, who runs the daily operations?

What happens when formal control doesn’t align with real influence? And what if the family itself is unsure what responsible ownership actually looks like today?

Recent academic insights on ownership dynamics in family businesses make it clear: ownership is not a fixed position, but a living interaction of relationships, structures, and expectations. Ignoring these dynamics increases the risk of internal stagnation — especially when things are going well externally.

Ownership is not possession, but a role

Many entrepreneurs still associate ownership with shares: who owns what? But that says little about involvement, decision-making, or strategic direction. In family businesses, owners are rarely distant investors. They are emotionally invested, think in generations, and often feel a moral responsibility toward employees and the broader community.

Yet ownership is seldom clearly defined. In practice, tensions often arise between family members:

• What may I say if I have no formal leadership role?
• Should dividends be treated as income — or as a return for taking risk?
• Who gets to define what ‘good governance’ means?

At ViaMens, we see these questions rarely addressed directly — until conflict arises.

Case study 1: The invisible fault line

A construction company is led by two brothers. A third brother and their sister are passive shareholders. The shares are neatly divided. For years, everything seems stable — until a major dispute breaks out over a proposed investment in digital infrastructure.

The brothers running the business want to move fast. The others feel excluded. At the next shareholders’ meeting, the situation escalates: accusations of secrecy, sidelining, and broken trust.

ViaMens is brought in to facilitate dialogue. What becomes clear is this: everyone feels responsible — but in very different ways. No one has ever discussed what ownership actually means to each of them.

Through a series of guided conversations, clarity emerges:

• The active brothers gain recognition for their operational role.
• The other two regain confidence in their strategic oversight position.
• A family charter is created to formalize agreements on decision-making, communication, and dividends.

The result: renewed trust, clarity of roles, and space to shape a long-term shared strategy.

From role confusion to role clarity

ViaMens approaches ownership as both a formal and relational reality. In many cases, it’s not the legal structure that causes stagnation, but the absence of a shared understanding of roles — or worse, unspoken expectations that collide.

We often see tension in three areas:

1. Relationships – when multiple family members are owners but with different levels of involvement. Who decides? Who informs whom? Who protects the family’s values?
2. Structures – companies that started small but have grown into complex organisations with multiple generations and shareholders. The old structure no longer fits the current reality.
3. Processes – succession, sale, investment, conflict resolution. Without clear processes for decision-making, emotions take over. Even minor disagreements can escalate quickly.

Balancing rights and responsibility

Healthy ownership is about balance: between rights and duties, between taking and giving, between power and accountability. Many family owners struggle with this balance — especially when they are no longer active in the business.

Legal optimisation alone rarely solves this. It starts with having the right conversation.

ViaMens supports this through:

• Ownership dialogues – helping families understand each other’s perspectives, concerns, and ambitions.
• Governance structures – such as shareholder agreements, family constitutions, or family councils.
• Succession planning – addressing both the rational and emotional dimensions of transfer.

Case study 2: The next generation steps in

A food production company is preparing for succession. The founder is in his early sixties. His three children each have different lives: one works in the company, one is in healthcare, the third in finance.

The parents want to divide shares “fairly” — hoping this creates harmony. But tension starts to rise among the siblings. Who will lead? Should profits be shared equally with those not involved? Can a business thrive with three captains on the sidelines?

ViaMens is asked to guide the process. Over six months, we work not only on legal and financial planning, but more importantly, on role clarity.

• Each child expresses their personal ambitions and concerns.
• The parents realise that “fair” is not always the same as “equal.”
• Together, the family shapes a long-term vision of ownership.

The outcome: one child takes on operational leadership. The others remain involved as shareholders, with clear agreements around influence, responsibility, and reward.

From family business to family capital

Family businesses aren’t just commercial entities. They carry more than financial capital — they hold social, intellectual, and emotional capital as well. Ownership, then, is more than possession. It’s stewardship — for something greater than oneself, across generations.

At ViaMens, we see strong ownership as a vital key to sustainable and meaningful business. When families take ownership seriously, they create space for renewal without losing their roots — and prevent invisible dynamics from silently taking control.

Curious what this could mean for you?

ViaMens supports entrepreneurs, successors, and ownership groups in shaping healthy, future-ready ownership. With a background in family business, strategy, psychology, and governance, we help families hold the right conversations and build sustainable continuity. Grounded, open, and clear.

Want to know what we could mean for your family business? Let’s talk. No pitch — just a real conversation.

Erik Versteeg, 7 July 2025 | www.viamens.nl

ViaMens delivers Leadership, Organisational Development, Impact and Continuity.