Futureproof your Leadership – how to best prepare for the future as leaders

 

By Mandy Flint (Brown) CEO of http://excellenceinleadership.co.uk Award winning Published Author of Leading Teams – 10 challenges 10 solutions and The team formula & Elisabet Hearn Author of #leadingteams10 and #theteamformula, speaker, business owner. Passionate about the human aspect of business and sustainable business leadership.

Leadership needs to constantly change and evolve to meet the challenges of the future.

Yesterday’s leadership is not fully relevant today and neither will today’s leadership be spot on for tomorrow. Leaders who want to stay relevant and successful, must adopt a curious mindset, proactively making sure that they futureproof their leadership for the challenges and opportunities that are still to come.
The fast speed of change that we are experiencing in the business world and the society as a whole is one of the main reasons why expectations on leaders are changing right now. Globalization is also part of that change and offers all sorts of possibilities. Expectations of sustainable business ethics and processes, carefully managing the natural, human and financial resources needed for future success is another important factor that puts new, heightened expectations on leaders – as are the demands of new generations.

Leading teams, 10 challenges, 10 solutions, reviewed.

This is not a threat, it’s a promise. It is happening and it’s a great opportunity to learn and develop, to build new experience and create better results.

So, if you don’t do it already, start considering your leadership as your key asset for success, for getting the job done. Don’t hesitate to be proactive and invest in your ongoing development. Set some time aside each week and month for self-studies, networking, coaching, mentoring or other relevant learning activities. Don’t let the day-to-day pressures become an excuse for not ensuring your future success, and that of your organization. Take a balanced view on your short- and long-term priorities.

Here are our top tips for how you can best prepare for the future as a leader:

• Commit to constant development as a leader – remember that development never stops – take responsibility for your development.
• Be truly curious about the world around you, other people, developments and trends – listen and ask questions.
• Keep an open mind to new ideas, new ways of thinking and doing things. Remember that even if you once new the best answer/solution to something, things change and hence so will the needed answers.
• Encourage and promote dialogue between people. Ask questions, challenge people’s thinking to establish a creative dialogue climate where more is achieved as result of that exchange.
• Share your leadership, become as inclusive as you possibly can, to encourage and develop individual and collective leadership and ownership.

• Recruit people who know more than you (especially in those areas where you know the business needs to develop) – don’t be afraid to not “know it all” (no one does!).
• Maximise your strengths. No one can be best at everything, so make the most of your unique talents and strengths. Acquire new knowledge linked to your talents, use your strengths in new situations, push yourself to become the best you can be.
• Be open and transparent; people and organisations need more and more transparency going into the future. There is an expectation for leaders to be more open – share what you can, be transparent and create trust.
• Be a creative communicator. Get savvier with how you communicate; consider your message, medium and approach. Don’t just go with your trusted ways of communicating, push yourself to be creative, to stand out and be heard.
• Share your knowledge, insights and wisdom with others. Fearlessly share what you know – the challenges of the future demands more sharing and cross-pollination of ideas – to find the solutions we need.

These tips are based on our continuous trend spotting on leadership. As you can see most of them are behavioural – and this is an important point. Leadership is the art of influencing others, and we influence through our behaviours. Use these tips as an inspiration for being proactive about the future. Commit to a proper investment into your own future success, and continue to develop the leadership behaviours that will make a difference in the future.

Focus on your strengths and think:  how am I adding value as a leader today and how can I best add value in the future? Let the answer to that question guide you in where you should focus your next steps for leadership development – and future success.

Mandy Flint and Elisabet Vinberg Hearn are leadership development experts with a focus on future trends for leadership. They are the award-winning authors of “Leading Teams – 10 Challenges: 10 Solutions”. Download your free chapter at www.leadingteamsbook.com

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