What are the Key Leadership Skill & Capabilities needed for the Future?

  The potential for digital leaders has become endless to mind all sort of gaps and make a significant difference.

The substance of leadership will never change, it is all about the future, but the leadership skills and styles need to be continually re-shaped to adapt to the digital normal with VUCA characteristics. So what are the key leadership skills and digital capabilities needed for the future?

Creativity: One of the biggest challenges in this complex world is the fact that we need different perspectives, different knowledge and different ways to solve a problem. Sometimes there is not one answer: there are some, or many, in the same application. What is needed is to think divergently, and then convergently as a team. The next generation of leaders will be a new breed of individuals with the skills and creativity of the new digital age combined with the work ethic. Because digital is the age of choices. The creative leadership discovers the new alternative way to do things, to breakdown the silo thinking and to build the solid culture of innovation.

Technology savvy: Good leadership is technology independent; however, with the technology we can tailor our personal taste to enforce leadership influence; through the use of social media there is a great opportunity for the next generation of leaders to amplify the voice and make a positive impact. This applies to the baby boomer, Gen x and millennial or anyone who see the digital trends and can jump on board the train. Technology savvy doesn’t mean you have to play every fancy gadget, but about knowing how to leverage the right information to make the right decision at the right time; and how to apply new tech to improve leadership effectiveness.

Entrepreneurial Spirit: There is a disconnect between different generations of employees due to the rapid change in technology and current worldwide culture that has taken place. The identity of a younger digital native generation of the workforce is more entrepreneurial and value-driven, they are aware of the new complexity, and the desire to find a new space and they want to find new rules to do things on their way. They also despise bureaucracy and formalities related to a hierarchical and ordered society and prefer to be seen by others as peers. The key is to stay connected and learn with each other between different generations. In the chaos will rise and is rising new types of leaders with a much more Entrepreneurial Spirit to go along with them.

Continuous delivery: Compared to the previous leadership style, digital leadership can not be defined by a few spotlight moments, but through the continuous delivery. Day by day should be assessed with competence, performance, potential, business results, and culture fit for the role. Leadership must be anchored to a full professionalism also made of personal qualities such as, independent judgment, critical thinking, professionalism and sense of responsibility and balance through which it becomes possible to earn the role of wise and guiding the organization in which we work and the respect and trust of others.

Learning agility: Leadership is not what you have, but is what you give away. One way to combat this is to continue to learn, grow, and increase your value to the organization. We need to live, learn and lead to keep the precious cycle alive and well. Agility is also manifested in the ability of managers to change their style of decision-making in response to a wide range of parameters such as urgency, the level of risk, time constraints and the regional and cultural differences. No decision-making style can be applied everywhere or constantly. Agile organizations tend to have managers with the right mix of personal attributes, that is, people who demonstrate a variety of skills, clearly comfortable with ambiguity and respectful of processes.

Coaching & Mentoring: Leaders should become teachers and mentors, and prepare the next generation of leaders. Not only does this increase personal growth and add value as an employee, it increases the adaptability and knowledge base of the organization. Good leaders understand the need to continually develop the capabilities and commitment of their team members. They do this by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and ensuring that weaknesses are overcome through encouragement, coaching and training. Strengths are reinforced and extended through delegation and mentoring. In the end, leaders have a personal and moral obligation to develop more leadership.

Flexibility: Today, the so-called "flexible organizations" are the companies that are able to "navigate" the change and the complexity of the business world. Organizational flexibility is essential for business success. Leadership is not only flexible in the ability to learn and adapt to new responsibilities, but also and above all, in the effectiveness of its initiatives, the creativity with which complex problems are solved, in actively seeking feedback on its effectiveness.

Social Influence: So the new generation of leaders understand the difference between influence and authority, and, therefore, are completely at ease in influencing and participating in the team. They do not focus on hierarchy but on ideas, information, creativity, flexibility, openness and curiosity. They practice thought leadership and amplify influence via content creation and sharing, to build solid social footprint.

Currently, we are short of new leaders, but we are overwhelmed with individual minded persons, therefore the potential for leaders has become endless to mind all sort of gaps. The new generation of leaders is self-aware, resolute, responsive, flexible, able to speed up the decision-making process by leveraging the abundance of information. The new leaders integrate a good knowledge of themselves and understanding of others, including emotional intelligence, with their rapid use of technology. Only then can a leader really inspire and create from the whole heart and full mind.

Posted in: All about Future,Future of Leadership