Winning the Next Generation of Leaders: Why Culture Must Move From Words to Daily Virtues

When we founded xpand back in 1987, we were a small group of idealists with big dreams. At best, we looked five years ahead. Today, nearly four decades later, I look at our growing team and realise that many of our original dreams have come true—and just as many have not! It has been a wonderful, bumpy, deeply enriching journey.

Now, as a co-founder, I find myself in a natural transition. Step by step, I am passing on executive responsibilities to younger colleagues. As we look at the next ten years, our pressing question is not merely how to grow, but how to win, integrate, and keep the next generation of talented leaders and professionals.

Perhaps you recognize this in your own organisation. You look around the table and ask: How do we attract leaders between 20 and 40 years old—and how do we ensure they stay for the long haul?

This younger generation brings fresh energy, but they also bring clear expectations. They are not looking for a fancy corner office or a glossy brochure. They are looking for a stable, meaningful culture where core values are actually lived out on the shop floor. They do not ask, "What are your promises?" They ask, "Do you live what you claim to believe?"

The Architecture of a Lasting Culture

As an architect by training, I often view organisations through the lens of foundations, pillars, and roofs. You can draw the most magnificent building on paper, but if the foundation lacks integrity or the pillars are hollow, the structure will crumble under the first heavy storm.

In many companies, core values are treated like wall decorations—beautiful framed posters in the reception area. But the next generation has a keen eye for hypocrisy. They spot the gap between rhetoric and reality instantly.

"Values describe what we believe is essential, but virtues are the daily, ethical habits that bring those values to life."

In his insightful book What You Do Is Who You Are, business thinker Ben Horowitz makes a crucial distinction that has deeply impacted my own thinking. He points out that starting with core values is not enough. You must translate those values into virtues.

A value is a conviction, such as honesty. A virtue is a constant, lived habit, such as always telling the truth, even when it costs you something. If I say our value is truthfulness, but I only tell the truth when it is convenient, then truthfulness is not a virtue in our culture. It is merely a wish.

From Core Values to Daily Habits

To build an organisation that endures across generations, the sum of your leaders' values must form a clear, healthy canon. Over the decades, we have refined our own core values to reflect what truly matters to us: Self-responsibility, a Culture of Appreciation, Courageous and Servant Leadership, Creative Mastery, and Social Entrepreneurship.

These values are the promises we make to one another and to our clients. But how do you bridge the gap between a high-minded value and Monday morning at 09:00?

You do it by building a clear bridge: Values turn into Virtues, and Virtues turn into Concrete Behaviours.

Let us take a concrete example. Suppose your core value is Self-responsibility (Zelfverantwoordelijkheid). How do you make that tangible for a young team leader?

1. The Core Value: Self-responsibility.
2. The Virtues: Self-leadership, resilience, and intentional living.
3. Some of the Lived Behaviours:
   • Behaviour A: You intentionally schedule quiet reflection time each week to review your vision, direction, and priorities, translating them into daily actions.
   • Behaviour B: You practice self-discipline by focusing daily energy on your most important strategic project before answering reactive emails.

When a young professional sees their senior leaders modeling these exact behaviours, trust deepens. Distrust brings control and micro-management; genuine trust brings freedom and responsibility. The next generation flourishes in an atmosphere of trust, but that trust must be anchored in visible character.

What would be your core values translated in Virtues and lived Behaviors ?