Leadership Challenges of the present and future: Are we ready?

“One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.”

Arnold H. Glasgow

Steady fact paced change? Check.  Continuous changing definition of relevance? Check. Instability giving birth to uncertainty everywhere? Check.

The leader maestros of today are finding hard to cope up with the increasingly complex and steadily fast paced nature of their businesses.

Since the 1980s business structures have been changing rapidly becoming less hierarchical - more flattened, more fluid. The businesses today are driven by relationships that make the most of people's knowledge and enabled by networks with improved connectivity. These developments have given businesses the opportunity to respond better to their dynamic global environments.

Changing markets, flatter organizations and new partnering arrangements have given 21st century leaders many roles, multiple stakeholders and an increasingly fragmented job where they continually face trade-offs in time, energy and focus. Leading effectively in the face of today’s fundamental challenges requires greater skill, courage and integrity than ever before.

Four broad areas of leadership that are posing greater challenges today include:

1. Sustaining a globally strategic, dynamic perspective: Rapid change and instability can come from any direction. They are constant and it is almost impossible to rule them out.  What leaders of present and future need is intelligence to interpret the changing situations accurately. Leaders must be highly alert for emerging trends and opportunities across the globe – because each and every event in the global market has a bearing on the global organization. The intelligence gathering should be frequent, far-reaching and based on reliable sources.

2. Constructing high-quality, high-value partnerships: It is crucial to understand the rapidly evolving definition of relevance. Organizations need to build stronger internal and external partnerships. Steering through so much turbulence demands a greater breadth and depth of skill, expertise, experience, relevance and innovation than any single organization is likely to possess. Having more and stronger partnerships is the most suitable strategy; their depth and quality will determine how well your business innovates and grows. Building partnerships that can enhance relevant innovation places new demands on leaders.

3. Transforming diverse learning into relevant innovation: With constant changing in market requirements and the quest for new products and services create a high pressure on the organization to continually learn and innovate. Leaders need to actively expand the depth and diversity of sources from which they learn, and quickly apply that learning for innovation. The more varied and multiple sources of learning the better catch on knowledge and this knowledge has never been more critical to help leaders address new challenges, exploit opportunities and innovate. Therefore, leaders need to actively expand the sources of learning and even indulge in shared learning.

4. Providing an inspiring vision and a sharp, engaging focus: Leaders navigate the organizations in the right direction with the right strategy, they know exactly where the organization is going – and are prepared to take up the next important course to get there. In a market as complex and uncertain as today’s, leaders face a difficult balancing act. They have to articulate an inspirational vision and mission to keep the organization moving in the desired direction and on the other hand they have to be prepared with a course of action to face any sort of crisis.  

ARE WE READY?

This is a new era of work that requires a new breed of leaders. Most leaders recognize today's challenges but they lack the ability to respond because they are unable to think differently about their role. The present day leaders trapped in traditional leadership approaches and behavior an outdated meaning of leadership where their thoughts and actions are ineffective in dealing with 21st century complexity. The new leader needs to have the ability to change and adapt quickly-with a future smart eye on what's possible.  By developing a futurist-leaders' perspective, managers will learn new strategies for dealing with people and organizations. The new era leadership style is emerging with a new set of leadership qualities:

• ·         brings new and varied perspectives and confronts threats 
• seeks new solutions outside predictable areas, out of the box thinking
• open-minded and inquisitive about the environment
• mobilizes their company to take exploit new market opportunities
• views business as an integrated network of communities and works across boundaries
• Uses collaborative approach and partnerships to maximize sustainable growth.

The 21st century leaders equipped with more effective skill set are less reliant on ‘how things should be' to approach business challenges and opportunities rather they operate with an enquiring mind - one that makes room for new  opportunities and possibilities. By embracing complexity calmly and confidently they are better able to lead their businesses into the new millennium and deliver sustainable growth that increases business value.