What’s driving leaders?
How has leadership changed with time and how can future leaders manage to lead effectively?
What does purpose have to do with leadership? The short answer is everything. Leadership that’s not built on the solid ground of a meaningful purpose is destined to fail from the start. Leadership is by nature a complex, multifaceted organism that is vulnerable to a great many influencers trying to sway the way decisions are made. It’s easy to lose one’s footing, falter, or even fall when you’re not clear about who you are, what you do, how you’re different — and why you even bother coming into work in the first place. Without an anchor — a true north — you won’t last long as a leader.
Having a defined purpose helps leaders adopt an overall approach, see the big picture, and plan for the future; rather than wasting energy on fire extinguishing. Leadership that stems from a purpose helps in navigating around the common pitfalls associated with silo thinking, and it promotes an all-inclusive mindset in tune with the intricate global enterprises of today and tomorrow. Those who are inhabited by individualists are passionate about work that creates positive changes in society.
Every business should have a meaningful purpose — in fact, defining it is the primary task for its leaders. Supported by this solid foundation, executives make better decisions with more clarity and guide their teams to get things done. Essentially, it results in assertive and effective leadership.
Purpose isn’t just institutional; it’s also personal. Your own leadership purpose may take different forms and shapes, but it should be recognizable to everyone who is close to you. It gives you the stamina to endure in a storm and provides clarity in a chaotic world. It helps you avoid errors that can cost you your job and reputation as a leader.
Every business should have a meaningful purpose — in fact, defining it is the primary task for its leaders.
Such an approach to leadership takes into account not only the well-being of the company but also the community and the world at large. It starts with what you can do, here and now, involving your team, your company, and your community. It’s about creating sustainable products, services, and solutions to better the world for as many people as possible. It’s a move away from selfish short-term profit to long-term positive power that impacts how we work and live.
From constant to chaos
Leadership today is fantastically complex. Twenty years ago, leadership was practiced according to straightforward rules that were well-documented and relatively easy to learn. There was a right way and a wrong way to lead a small team or large organization. Management was mechanical and hierarchical; decisions were made top-down. It was also a very different world then. The internet was in its infancy, people bought almost all of their goods from brick-and-mortar shops, and most of us went into the office every day to work.
Yesterday’s leadership
Gone are the days where your manager gave you directions and you immediately got to work, never questioning authority. Your own opinion about the matter did not matter one bit, and should you be so impertinent as to speak up, you’d likely be scolded and told not to meddle in issues that were none of your business.
Gone are the days where your manager gave you directions and you immediately got to work, never questioning authority.
You might say the world of yesterday was a simpler one: business rules were clear, organizational structures were rigid, and companies knew where they stood with their customers and partners. Once established, companies tended to last longer than they do now, and there were fewer competitors around. As a leader, you pretty much knew who was on your side and who wasn’t. So, what happened?
Today’s leadership
We now live in an extremely interconnected and international world, where business transactions are done in nanoseconds and most of us have at least one smartphone and three social media profiles. Leaders today often work remotely, as do many of their colleagues. While technology can be a wonderful tool to connect people, it can also be a challenge, as some types of communication are still best carried out directly face-to-face. Leaders who hide behind email instead of walking the floor are not the examples to follow.
Modern leadership is often described as being transformational, meaning it’s about managing change. But it’s also about creating followers by inspiring, engaging, and activating people. This is sometimes referred to as the pull effect. Your job as a leader is to attract followers and to shift decision-making away from managers to employees. People no longer simply do what you tell them to. They need to believe in the reason for doing it. Leadership has to be authentic.
The world today is characterized by innovation and disruption at the corporate and brand levels; at the same time, we see millions of young people dreaming of fulfillment and a desire to help improve the world on a personal level. The millennial generation expects great things of businesses and their leaders. They demand that companies take an active part in saving the world from climate disasters, by offering a hand to people in need, and promoting a healthier work-life balance for their employees. Being a manager has become a balancing act of massive proportions. It’s timely to ask: can this revolution continue at such a hurried pace?
Tomorrow’s leadership
The answer is yes: The speed of the world will continue into the future and the labor market will be even more complex and intricate than it is today. Thus, managers need to prepare for a workforce that is more diverse, well-educated, globally savvy, and ambitious — and at the same time, more concerned about others and committed to saving the world. So how will future leaders succeed?
Experts indicate that the leaders of the future will be more hands-on, inclusive, and open to the notion of including more employees in decision-making processes. The companies of the future will be less hierarchical than before, and effective internal communication will be critical in order to get people on board when important decisions have to be made. This will require dependable, secure managers with high levels of social intelligence and empathy who are capable of balancing the interests of the owners, the demands of the board, the wishes of customers, and the dreams of employees.
A new breed of leaders
Leaders with purpose are not like traditional leaders, who are usually most concerned about the bottom line and short-term financial gains. Instead, they are interested in creating lasting positive effects that are channeled back to a wide range of stakeholders. The borders between leaders today and tomorrow might be somewhat fluid, but there are nonetheless some characteristics of future leaders worth paying attention to:
- Cubist mentality. It will be important to conceptualize problems from multiple viewpoints. Leaders who have the advantage of foreseeing disruptions will be able to act early to adjust course, respond appropriately, and take necessary countermeasures.
- Socially intelligent. Leaders will need to demonstrate empathy, to think on the go yet maintain a strong vision. They will typically be people’s people, although there will be both extrovert and introvert leader figures. What they will have in common is that they will put people first.
- Facile in all communication forms. Gone are the days of rigid communication infrastructure. Future leaders will need to demonstrate the ability to communicate across a wide range of platforms and devices. Being native to and curious about new technology will be a prerequisite.
- Precision cut. Future leaders will face an unprecedented level of integrated computer and robot technology. This will greatly improve efficiency and save on manpower — but it will at the same time require meticulous precision, as human errors tend to magnify once they’re rolled into complex company databases and CRM systems.
- Vigilant. It will be necessary for leaders to anticipate and act on trends heading their way, and do something about it before disruption is a fact.
- Culture of purpose. Future leaders will need to allow talented and hard-working individuals to grow and develop into leaders in their own right. Creating an atmosphere of success will not only grow the business but also prepare it for future challenges.
Creating a thriving culture
Future companies will be all about creating a thriving, integrated, and harmonious work culture. It’ll be necessary to attract and retain people who identify with the company brand, its values, and its purpose. Building a capable, strong workforce will require hiring and engaging people who aren’t satisfied to simply show up on time and check off the tasks assigned to them. Employees now have an intrinsic desire to be part of the company’s success. The best ideas may not be born in the boardroom, but they may emerge during friendly banter in the company’s gym or over lunch with colleagues in the cafeteria. Engagement is key for the success of future companies. And to achieve this, companies must create a culture of inspiration and trust, something we will cover more in-depth in the following chapter.
Without purpose, leaders do not have the necessary anchor to perform at their best.
Bringing it to life
Although leadership involves much more than just defining the company’s purpose and bringing it to life, those two directives are undoubtedly the most important job for any leader. Without purpose, leaders do not have the necessary anchor to perform at their best. A leader must therefore not only have his or her own purpose but also work to unveil the purpose of the company. Purpose — both personal and organizational — provides a roadmap and keeps you on track.
Both purpose and leadership will continue to evolve, as surely as business and culture will. Change is the new constant, and future leaders must prepare for chaos. Their task should be to make it a purposeful chaos. Whereas leaders in the past were concerned with eliminating deviations, leaders will in the future need to learn on the go, adjust to innovations, and tackle competition; often from the least expected places. Tomorrow’s most effective leaders will embrace this new, chaotic world. Planning will be replaced by an intelligent reaction. A powerful purpose will provide a necessary guiding light in this unruly landscape.
This article was first published on Mission’s website. Find out what other fascinating issues we write about.
