Leadership Is About Relationships

Many companies talk about modern leadership.

About flexibility.

About trust.

About work-life balance.

About New Work.

But everyday business quickly reveals that leadership does not truly matter in presentations. It matters in those moments when plans fall apart, uncertainty arises, and people still need direction.

This is exactly what our interview series, "Leading Through Change – People, Methods, Mindset," is about. We speak with leaders from different organizations about how leadership evolves when working realities, expectations, and lifestyles are changing simultaneously.

For this conversation, we sat down with Laura Mertel, Head of immosolve & Empro+.

Why her in particular?

Because she brings a perspective that many organizations urgently need: a leadership approach that does not treat work-life balance as an additional benefit but as an integral part of responsible collaboration.

And because her perspective on leadership clearly illustrates how significantly leadership expectations have changed in recent years.

For Laura, this transformation is closely linked to the period following the pandemic – and to her return to work after parental leave.

Not only because working models have changed, but because this period demonstrated something very clearly: good performance does not depend on whether someone is physically present and visible. It depends on whether they take responsibility.

Before the pandemic, many organizations had established ideas about what performance should look like: being on-site, visible, and easily monitored.

Then came a period when teams suddenly had to work remotely – and in many cases performed better than previously expected.

For Laura, this was a defining learning experience: "People need their freedom. They don't want micromanagement; they want responsibility."

This statement is powerful because it challenges a widespread misconception: leadership does not automatically become more effective through greater control.

Quite the opposite.

Particularly in knowledge-intensive roles, performance often emerges when trust, personal responsibility, and clarity work together.

At the same time, Laura emphasizes an important limitation: this level of flexibility is not possible in every profession. That is precisely why it is important to recognize that flexible working arrangements can also be a privilege.

One particularly interesting insight from our conversation is that leadership is usually evaluated based on visible activities.

Meetings.

Decisions.

Presence.

Communication.

What is easily overlooked is the invisible work behind them.

Laura describes very specifically how much leadership involves preparation and follow-up: consciously setting aside time to prepare for personal conversations, considering the broader context, and reflecting on what individual team members are currently dealing with – both professionally and personally.

This aspect may appear unspectacular, but it is highly effective. "Blocking out focus time in my calendar was a real game changer for me."

At first, this may sound like a minor adjustment. In reality, it reflects a fundamental leadership principle: leaders who no longer have protected time to think, plan, and focus on their people eventually become purely reactive.

And that has already become a reality in many organizations.

A second insight from the conversation is particularly relevant for leaders: good leadership does not mean always having an immediate answer.

It means helping people navigate uncertainty without allowing it to turn into a lack of direction.

Laura consciously approaches these situations with openness. If the solution is not yet clear, she says so. If a decision has not yet been made, she communicates that transparently. "Okay, I don't know exactly where this is heading or what the solution will be yet, but this is where we currently stand. Why don't we think about how to get there together?"

This is not a loss of control. It is leadership in action.

People do not always need ready-made answers. But they do need to know that they are not being left alone with uncertainty.

Especially in dynamic environments, this form of clarity becomes increasingly important: not as top-down control, but as a shared effort to navigate change.

One particularly relevant part of the conversation is Laura's description of the tension between innovation and everyday operational stability.

How much change does a team need?

How much stability is necessary to make change sustainable?

And how much innovation is genuinely useful – rather than simply new?

These questions may sound obvious, but they are central to many teams.

Particularly in environments where new tools, processes, and working methods are constantly being introduced, there is a growing risk that change becomes an end in itself.

Laura describes how quickly a team can fall into "tool chaos" when another supposedly innovative solution appears every week.

For managing directors, HR leaders, and executives, this offers an important practical insight:

Change requires not only speed, but also the right fit.

The decisive factor is therefore not simply being open to new ideas. It is the ability to evaluate and filter change.

Not every innovation is helpful.

Not every tool makes work easier.

And not every change represents progress.

The conversation becomes particularly compelling when Laura discusses work-life balance not as a theoretical concept, but as a practical reality.

Not during the weeks when everything runs smoothly, but during those when children are sick, appointments fall through, and the entire schedule has to be reorganized.

These are the moments that reveal whether leadership is flexible only on paper or genuinely supportive in everyday working life.

What stands out most is Laura's attitude: communicate openly, avoid sugarcoating situations, accept support, and offer that same support to others in return.

This is precisely what makes work-life balance a genuine leadership responsibility.

Not because every situation can be resolved perfectly, but because effective leadership in these moments does not judge. Instead, it organizes, prioritizes, and builds trust.

One particularly important idea is that Laura does not see transparency as an excuse, but as a way of setting an example.

When she openly communicates that something is not possible at a particular moment, she also demonstrates to others that setting boundaries is acceptable.

The topic of New Work also takes on a refreshingly practical dimension during the conversation.

Not as a buzzword.

Not as an abstract cultural concept.

But through concrete practices:

• Flexible working hours

• Flexible work locations

• Clearly defined core working hours

• Dedicated focus time

• Fewer meetings

• A conscious decision to avoid unnecessary tools

One statement from the conversation captures this particularly well: "New Work is fundamentally built on autonomy and meaningful work."

The essential point is that autonomy only works when supported by structure.

Otherwise, flexibility can quickly turn into fragmentation.

For leaders, this is an important distinction: modern work does not require less leadership. It requires more precise leadership.

Perhaps this is the most powerful insight from the entire conversation.

Laura puts it simply: "For me, the core responsibility of leadership is building relationships."

This statement connects almost everything discussed during the interview: work-life balance, trust, clarity, team dynamics, assessment methods, and the ability to recognize uncertainty.

This perspective becomes particularly interesting when Laura discusses recruiting and assessment methods.

She would welcome support in an area where leadership is often especially challenging: assessing people not only in terms of their professional expertise, but also their willingness to learn, self-leadership capabilities, and resilience.

Not to turn leadership into a purely technical process, but to build teams that are more stable, better aligned, and sustainable in the long term.

At the end of the conversation, one question stands out.

Not as a tool.

Not as a method.

But as a mindset.

Laura says there is one question she often misses in leadership circles and HR discussions: "How are you really doing?"

Not in relation to KPIs.

Not about processes.

Not about tools.

But as a genuine question directed at another person.

Perhaps this is a fitting conclusion to a conversation about leadership in times of change:

Good leadership is responsible for delivering results – but without relationships, attentiveness, and genuine interest in people, it is rarely effective in the long term.