We spoke with Onno Meij, former CEO of Vanguard Logistics, who is a speaker on our upcoming Leadership in Shipping Masterclass. How has leadership in shipping changed over the past 10–15 years, and where is it still lagging behind? "Historically", the focus of leadership, the way to develop as a leader and the requirements set were very much along the lines of technical and functional knowledge: operations, finance, commercial, technical. Nowadays, with an integrating industry (mergers and acquisitions) and a more and more globalised playing field, the leadership challenges have become more complex. International environment and managing different cultures (internal and external) ask for more soft skills on top, all bound together by strong communicative skills. This, together with a hugely increased focus on sustainability needs and goals as well as the geopolitical changes/turmoil in the area the shipping industry plays its role, do change the "ideal leadership profile". The world has become more volatile and the way management teams have to play is more complex than ever before. And we are already in the next wave of change: digitisation, robotisation and artificial intelligence. All factors that did not play a role 10-15 years ago, or at least not to this level. And the pace of change in technology as well as the social world in which we operate is accelerating every day, and not coming to a plateau at all. Why do strong technical experts often struggle when they move into leadership roles in shipping? This is not specific for shipping but for many industries. However definitely in shipping and logistics, historically male driven environments where being good at "something" together with seniority often was incentivised with a vertical development of the career path, until (senior) management levels. As in the first question, the tasks of a leader in this global complex industry reach well beyond the technical skills only. With more focus on strategic challenges