“You must unlearn what you have learned” – Yoda (The Empire Strikes Back, 1980)
The world continues to reset itself following the pandemic. In the world of work, we have had to move with pace, get creative and balance new ways of working to maintain engagement and the wellbeing of our people. Whilst HR plays an important part in this; shaping the future is undoubtably the role of leaders.
A while ago we published a blog which looked at the future of work in 2025 and 2030. In this blog we are going to be looking at what skills and mindset leaders need as we move towards the future.
In this Forbes article , Benjamin Laker wrote about the future business landscape. He notes that while certain key leadership skills (such as setting a vision and delivering on a strategy) will remain constant, the new leaders will need a fundamentally different set of skills and mindset in order to lead effectively.
Leadership skills
Being a leader is a highly sought commodity. It is a set of qualities, skills, personality traits and strengths, which can either occur naturally (it is easy to see when someone is a “born leader”), or that can be developed overtime.
Leadership skills are all the abilities used in organising people and teams to reach a common goal. Management skills refer to more day-to-day operational processes, whereas leadership tends to be more strategic and overarching. The skills enable you to provide clear instructions, delegate, set goals, motivate, and manage deadlines.
A good leader has a versatile mix of skills and styles that can be used in a variety of different settings. Leadership qualities should be developed as you progress through your career.
Some of the more traditional leadership skills include:
- Goal setting & planning
- Communication
- Delegation
- Dependability
- Integrity
- Decisiveness
- Motivation
- Conflict management
- Team building
Goal setting & planning
These skills involve being able to establish short, mid, and longer term objective setting that are part of the wider organisation goals.
Planning skills are used to create smaller goals or a series of goals to meet the larger objective. With these skills you can calculate resources needed in a team, set realistic goals based on the resources and assign tasks so that everyone is working towards the goal. By setting this shared purpose and creating meaning, you are going to be able to motivate the team and enable a great employee experience.
Communication
These skills include the ability to be able to write, listen, speak, and present information to others in a clear & concise way. Having effective communication skills will also enable you to determine the best method of communication for specific messages such as email round, a town hall, a 1-2-1 and whether it is suitable for a face to face or virtual space.
Delegation
This is the ability to assign tasks to others. Delegation is not the passing off of tasks that you do not want to do, but the tasks that you do not have the skills to do yourself or where you need help completing them. When delegation is used effectively, it can nurture and enable others to grow, as well as empower and create autonomy which are all universal elements of a good employee experience.
Dependability
Dependability and reliability is about trust. It is trusting that someone can complete a task right and on time; and be relied upon to help when it is needed. This quality involves setting a standard of behaviour and expectations, as well as having good work ethics such as punctuality and kindness. In a leader, being dependable means leading by example and role modelling the behaviours that you are wanting to encourage in others around you.
Integrity
One of the key enablers of engagement. Integrity in a leader is about being honest, sticking to your morals, and being accountable for your actions and mistakes. A great leader may hold themselves to account for their team errors. Leading with integrity is also leading by example and encouraging others to do the same, much like dependability.
Decisiveness
Being decisive is about making evaluated and evidence-based decisions even under pressure. Leaders that are effective decision makers, will be able to understand the options and consequences of the decision. This is most certainly a skill that is developed overtime as leaders need to have in-depth industry knowledge, within the field they are working in.
Motivation
This is the ability to be able to motivate others as well as to self-motivate. The key to leaders being able to motivate, comes from the setting of a clear strategic narrative and clear organisational objectives and purpose. If people can see what they are doing and how it fits into the bigger picture, this will help motivate them to help you achieve the overall goal.
Conflict Management
This skill is when you are able to mediate effectively between parties in a dispute i.e., they have different stances on a situation or topic. You would use conflict management to understand each sides perspective, mediate a discussion, and turn the conversation to a compromise.
Team building
This is the ability to be able to identify strengths to create strong teams who have the necessary skills and compatible personalities. A leader who takes a strengths-based approach, will be able to build a team who will flourish and thrive and be able to bring their best selves to work. Within this, should also be the opportunities to enable the team to grow, discover hidden talents and try new things in a safe space.
But what will be different in 2030…
Jacob Morgan in his book “The Future leader” (2020) interviewed more than 140 top CEO’s from around the globe across different sectors. He asked all the CEO’s questions about what top skills and mindsets would be most relevant in the next 10 years. From this. Morgan put together what he calls the “notable nine” which is the top four mindsets and the top five skills that the leaders of the future have to master.
Mindsets
Global citizen
The mentality behind this mindset according to Morgan, is about thinking globally and embracing diversity. With the evolution of tech enabling people to be connected, leaders need to understand cultures, actively seek diverse teams (including diversity of thought), and lead people from different backgrounds to help navigate their way in the new global markets.
Servant
This is very much the antithesis of previous thinking around leadership where a leader is thought to sit at the top of the organisation and stay there. The mindset of service means you practice humility and serve four groups:
- Your leaders (if you have them)
- Customers
- Team
- Yourself
Chef
Just like a chef balances ingredients to create the perfect meal, Morgan argues that leaders must balance the two most essential ingredients in business – humanity and technology. He encourages embracing cutting edge technology to improve the efficiency in the organisation. Not meaning reducing the need for human employees, but being able to deploy them where they add the most value and feel valued in return. Also providing a sense of purpose and meaning and caring for people.
Explorer
This is still embracing an explorer of old, navigating the unknown and being open to ideas. Continually learning and being curious about the art of the possible will remain an essential part of the mindset of a leader in the future.
Skills
Coach
A great coach will motivate, inspire, and engage every single person in their team as an individual, but also as a wider, collective group. Future leaders will need this skill plus the ability to appreciate employees and individuals, and develop their people to be more successful than they are. Enabling growth results in a great employee experience which will in turn drive up engagement and people wanting to work for your organisation.
Futurist
The ability to predict the future, not by crystal ball gazing or tarot card reading. A futurist considers multiple scenarios and think through the possibilities. They also need to stay on top of trends and connected to their network. Of the 140+ CEO’s that Morgan interviewed this was considered to be the top skill needed.
Tech Geek
Gen Z’s and beyond, are the generations who are current on the latest tech, and future leaders will need to think the same as them. Leaders will not need to be the experts on how to use the tech, but embrace the use of it and how best to leverage it to make the organisation perform at its best.
Translator
People who have these skills are masters at communication. They’ll need to ensure a listening strategy that truly enables employee voice and act upon what people are saying. And will need to know the best channels to communicate and use verbal and nonverbal communication to deliver their messages. This is not a new skill at all, but listening and communication are often skills that are lacking in an organisation and can be detrimental to a great employee experience if you don’t get them right.
Master Jedi
Leaders in the future will need to be more like Yoda (and who doesn’t love the greatest jedi master of all time?!). What Yoda has in abundance, is high emotional intelligence with empathy and self-awareness. Great communicators are not afraid to show their vulnerability, and a greater self-awareness of your strengths and areas for improvement, will help others understand you and for you to understand them.
Being a leader in the next decade is going to see a shift towards a more person centric approach with flatter hierarchies and a greater focus on tech.
If you want to talk to us more about emotional intelligence, internal communications, engagement or developing leadership skills that are future ready we would love to hear from you so please say hello.
