Authentic Leadership in Practice: Joke Vandepitte

Some leaders are given a title and are expected to lead. Others grow into their role step by step, often without even realizing it. Their leadership does not stem from a job title, but from experiences, mistakes, insights, and a willingness to keep learning. The story of Joke Vandepitte, co-manager of Pittman Seafoods, clearly falls into the latter category.

Pittman Seafoods was founded in 1990 by her father and has grown into one of the largest family-owned companies in the seafood sector that remains entirely Belgian. Based in Zeebrugge, the company imports and processes frozen fish and shellfish for customers in retail, industry, and foodservice. Today, the company employs approximately 35 people and also has a sales office in Germany and local support in several key sourcing countries.

Although Pittman operates in a highly competitive international market, Joke believes the company’s true strength lies not only in the products it sells: “For us, operational excellence is the bare minimum. What makes customers choose us is customer intimacy. They’re actually buying service—and, as a result, fish.”

Yet this story isn’t about fish. It’s about leadership. About growing into a role that isn’t a given. About finding your own place in a family business. And about having the courage to become not the leader others expect, but the leader who suits you.

Not Destined to Take Over the Company

Anyone looking at Joke today might think her future was set from an early age. The founder’s daughter, raised in an entrepreneurial family, later at the helm of the family business. After completing her studies in marketing, however, she consciously chose her own career path. First she worked in the fashion industry, later at Coca-Cola. Joke: “I never felt any obligation or pressure from my parents to carry on the business. That has always been my own choice.”

In hindsight, that freedom turned out to be an important gift. She had the opportunity to gain experience outside the family context, get to know other organizations, and discover her own interests. When she eventually made the switch to Pittman Seafoods, it wasn’t based on a preconceived plan, but rather on curiosity and a sense of commitment, according to Joke. The first few months, however, didn’t go as smoothly as she had expected: “I started in sales. That was a disaster, because I didn’t really know anything. After a month, I was ready to quit.”

That honesty is typical of her. In hindsight, that difficult start may have actually been an advantage. She got the chance to get to know the company from the inside. She moved to purchasing, built up her knowledge of the business, took on HR responsibilities, and contributed to international projects. Later, she helped launch a branch in Chile.

Finding Your Own Style

For many successors in family businesses, the biggest challenge isn’t the transfer of shares, but the transfer of leadership. After all, how do you build on what a previous generation has established? How do you make your mark without radically changing things for the team?

That was also an important journey for Joke. After all, her father had built the company from the ground up. He knew the industry inside and out, had decades of experience, and had developed a leadership style that worked perfectly in the context in which the company was growing at the time. Joke: “My dad was a very rational leader. Very analytical. More top-down. People often came to him for confirmation.”

It’s a style you often see among founders. When a company is small, virtually all decisions go through a single person. That worked exceptionally well at Pittman for years. Joke, however, quickly sensed that her natural leadership style was different—more intuitive. That difference didn’t have to be a problem. On the contrary. But it did require the courage not to constantly compare herself to others. Many leaders get stuck because they try to become like their predecessor, their manager, or a role model they admire. Yet authentic leadership often emerges the moment you realize you don’t have to be someone else.

Authentic leadership doesn’t simply mean “being yourself.” It’s about knowing yourself well enough to consciously develop your own leadership style: leveraging your strengths, recognizing your pitfalls, being open to feedback, and continuing to grow.

The Turning Point That Changed Everything

For years, the company grew steadily. Roles emerged organically. Decisions were made the way they always had been. Until suddenly something happened that Pittman Seafoods had never experienced before: the company posted a loss. “For me, that was the moment when we made a real turnaround in the company,” says Joke.

Together with her husband Dieter and her father, they took a critical look at how the company was organized. Roles were clarified. Responsibilities were more clearly defined, and a management team was established. Her father also ultimately decided to step back from an operational role. That created space—space for a new generation of leadership, space for a different way of working, and space for growth.

Within a year, an impressive transformation was achieved. Not because new people suddenly joined, but because the organization began to consciously reflect on structure, leadership, and collaboration.

Leadership isn’t something you learn on your own

During that period, Joke consciously invested in her own development. Together with her husband, she took the SME Excellence program. In addition, the management team was guided by external coaches, and intensive work was done on leadership. What’s striking is that she doesn’t view leadership as something you learn once and for all.

Together with the management team, various books were also discussed and applied to real-world situations. Stephen Covey, Patrick Lencioni, Ken Blanchard. Not because any single model holds all the answers, but because it sparks conversations. Stephen Covey, in particular, has left a lasting impression on Joke. His 7 Habits of Highly Effective People on self-leadership was an eye-opener. After all, good leaders start with themselves—not with their team or their organization, not with their KPIs, but with themselves.

The hardest person to lead

When the conversation turns to her own areas for growth, Joke remains remarkably honest. She knows her strengths, but also her pitfalls. “When the pressure mounts, my ‘red energy’ spikes. Then I sometimes rush ahead too quickly and want to solve problems immediately.” This is something many leaders can relate to. It’s precisely at moments when calm is most needed that the urge to speed things up arises.

What helps her then is feedback—from her management team, from colleagues, and from her husband. That may seem like a small detail, but it says a lot about the culture she has helped build. Leadership grows stronger when the people around you dare to be honest.

In addition, she makes a conscious effort to keep listening. Joke: “I think that sometimes, staying silent is one of the most important things I still need to learn.” That, too, is self-leadership. Not the belief that you have to know everything, but the realization that you can always keep growing.

The Power of Authentic Leadership

When we at Stanwick talk about the key principle Be yourself and keep growing, it’s not about perfection. It’s about authenticity. About having the courage to develop your own style. About knowing yourself well enough to leverage your strengths and recognize your pitfalls. About continuing to learn, even when you have years of experience.

In leadership development, too, we see that sustainable growth doesn’t come from copying a single ideal leadership style, but from better understanding your own style and consciously developing it further.

Joke Vandepitte’s story shows that leadership isn’t a destination. It’s an ongoing journey of discovery, reflection, and adjustment. Perhaps she sums it up best herself: “Your leadership role is really just a part of who you are as a person.” And that’s exactly where sustainable leadership begins: not by trying to become someone else, but by further developing who you are.