Friday, April 09, 2010

Future Leadership Characteristics

The leader of the future will face different and in many ways more challenging demands than the leader of the past. Global competition will rapidly increase, organizations will continue to downsize and reengineer, leaders will have less support staff, workloads will probably increase, and the pace of change will accelerate. The need for human services will continue to increase at a rate greater than the government's ability to meet the need. Traditional hierarchies will break down and the number and fluidity of stakeholder relationships will keep growing. The leader who tries to know it all and to tell everyone what to do is doomed to failure. The leader who believes that there is only one best way and attempts to write detailed procedures has no chance.

The leader of the future will need to continuously involve and learn from others. Unfortunately, as this need is increasing, the time available to do it is decreasing. As the amount of information made available to the leader is increasing, the time to process it is decreasing. The leader of the future will need to be able to effectively focus and prioritize, in a period of rapid change, focus and the frequency of interactions may become more critical than the duration of the interactions.

Recent research has shown that leaders who ask for input from key stakeholders; learn with a positive, nondefensive attitude; and follow up in a focused, efficient manner will almost invariably grow and develop in terms of increased effectiveness. Learning from input and increasing leadership effectiveness is a lot like getting a physical exam and changing one's life-style. The doctor usually suggests, "Go on a low-fat diet and work out every other day." The challenge is not in understanding this advice, but in doing it. As Arnold Schwartzenegger once said, "Nobody ever got muscles by watching me lift weights."

Here's a challenge! Develop the profile of the leader of the future that you want to be. Ask for input from your key stakeholders on how your behavior and activity match your vision, learn from what people tell you about yourself and your opportunities for the future, prioritize and focus on a few key areas for change, and follow up to ensure effective implementation. Completing these key steps can help you to grow and become the leader of the future that you want to be.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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