Four Leadership Skills Essential in the Future of Work
The future of work is here, whether you are ready for it or not.
According to McKinsey, top performing organizations are embracing cultures whereby:
Companies create sustainable, inclusive growth.
Networks of leadership teams steer organizations to benefit all stakeholders.
Self-managing teams innovate and evolve in rapid response to the economic turbulence and capture opportunities quicker through asynchronous working and faster feedback cycles.
Employees of all levels take ownership of their personal development as they rise to their full potential and drive impact.
How do leaders drive organizational transformation to keep pace with the future of work?
As an alternative to focusing on the external ways you could change those around you, reflect on how you could grow within yourself to drive impact. The techniques you developed over the years will take you far in your career but to reach new heights you should be aware of four essential leadership skills worth investing in.
1. Unleash Human Potential
There is no longer a division of professional and personal selves. Instead, leaders leverage strengths from their whole self to unleash the full power of human potential. Leaders demonstrate vulnerability, humility and empathy recognizing the oneness of what it means to be human.
Furthermore, when leaders foster a culture of authenticity, they invite employees to bring their whole selves to work as well. As a result, bonds of communication, collaboration, and support are strengthened.
Actions to consider:
Increase self-awareness by working with a leadership coach.
Solicit feedback from colleagues and partners you trust.
Prioritize wellbeing (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and environment) to support you in managing stress and building resilience.
2. Become a Visionary
Leaders create bold visions to drive holistic impact for all stakeholders by embracing a mindset of possibility and abundance.
Questions to contemplate:
Beyond generating profits and maximizing shareholder value, what is the larger than life dream you strongly desire to come to fruition?
How does this bold vision grow the pie for all players (including competitors) of the industry by expanding opportunities?
How does it positively impact society and the planet?
Actions to consider:
Once this bold vision is defined, connect it to the purpose of teams and align it with operating metrics through a bottom up approach.
Employees should understand why their work is valuable. “To build towards X (bold vision) through my Y (purpose/role) and Z (strengths/talents).”
Provide transparent access to progress towards achieving the bold vision.
3. Empower Self-Managing Teams
Release the old mentality of hierarchies, vertical decision making and sharing information on an “as needed” basis and embrace a culture of trust, transparency and ownership from the bottom up.
Actions to consider:
Adopt a “we are all leaders” mentality and encourage ownership across all employees.
Welcome small entrepreneurial teams to join forces and solve problems through horizontal collaboration and transparent access to information.
Establish decision making processes and checkpoints to drive ownership from the bottom up. Incentivize making decisions and learning from mistakes through a safety net approach.
4. Embrace a Coach Mindset
Leaders no longer possess all the answers. It is impossible to be omniscient due to the complex nature of technology, local cultural norms, and the speed of change. Instead, leaders should solicit the expertise within their network to solve challenges, identify opportunities and mitigate risk.
Actions to consider:
Focus on employee input as well as output. Understand what drives your employees and what inhibits their work. Partner with them to unleash their full human potential.
Champion curiosity. Listen to what is being said and not being said through nonverbal cues. Ask open ended questions to understand the underlying dynamics behind challenges and points of friction. Understand what approach employees would to take to drive a solution forward without attachment to the outcome.
Give and receive feedback early and often. Create a process for bilateral feedback that is integrated to a consistent cadence instead of annual performance reviews. It is best practice to ask for consent before sharing feedback and connecting the feedback to growth.
Companies Grow when People Grow
In conclusion, think of these four essential skills as a spectrum of growth instead of an all or nothing approach. You will develop them over time; seek out opportunities to flex your new skills and learn along the way. Embrace what works well for you and your organization.
For more support, connect with a leadership coach to master these skills at a pace that makes sense for you. Better yet, consider partnering with Insposphere’s transformational leadership programs designed for your organization to cultivate empowerment in flow.
For a more in depth look at this topic, read the full article “New leadership for a new era of thriving organizations” in the McKinsey Quarterly (2023).
