Developing Corporate Leaders

The process of developing leaders for the corporate world has to undergo a radical transformation. Old mindsets and methodologies, the tried and tested will fail dismally to produce leaders capable of leading into the future.

In a world that is getting ever smaller cultures collide with increasing frequency. In this world of radical indeterminacy, paradox, diversity and acute uncertainty, leadership needs to transcend local context. In short, the ‘global leadership’ template is being re-written. Relying on what has worked in the past will be the surest recipe for failing in the future and avoiding this fatality requires a radical overhaul of our understanding of the context, task, challenge and measure of the corporate leader. Or in the words of Kenichi Ohmae in his book, The Next Global Stage,”Over the last two decades, the world has changed substantially. The economic, political, social, corporate, and personal rules that now apply bear scant relation to those applicable two decades ago. Different times require a different script.”

Here are just four trends that are changing the face of business and therefore leadership which require our attention when it comes to developing corporate leaders.

# 1 The move from a closed / centralised way of operating to one that is open / decentralised. This movement is evident at a political, economic, structural as well as social level. Central to this change is the issue of control. Perhaps the biggest lesson for those preparing for leadership is the new reality that they are not in control. Old models of command and control when it comes to the corporate leader of the future are just that – old. Learning how to evoke order without control is the next big challenge for leaders everywhere.

# 2: The move from strategic planning to strategic thinking. In a world where tomorrow does not resemble today, where predictability gives way to uncertainty, the need for flexible, future-focused strategy trumps the reliance on detailed strategic plans. How many corporate strategic plans would have to have been shredded in the aftermath of 9/11? Most corporate leadership meetings that I attend are still dominated by operation concerns. Strategic issues, and by strategic I don’t mean simply taking last years financials and adding 10%, are seldom entertained. Savvy leaders learn that posing the right questions becomes more important than having the right answers.

#3: The move from ‘right- wrong’ scenarios to those of ‘right-right’. Future leaders will be required to navigate in a sea of paradox. The paradox will be increasingly experienced at multiple levels, including personal, cultural, structural and generational. The only way to lead through paradox is to construct helpful frameworks that allow for a deeper understanding of the paradox at work. Without understanding there can be no real respect and therefore no authentic relationship. Future leaders will have to learn to lead in a pluralistic context in which they are able to invite the best out in others rather than simply impose their mindset and way on others.

# 4: The move from external to internal. Future leaders will be expected to display a high degree of self-awareness, pay attention to intuition and be comfortable with reflection. Leadership is about character – who you are matters most. This is increasingly the focus of attention in of much of the contemporary writing on leadership yet the problem is, corporate programmes and processes to develop leaders are not designed with this end in mind.

Until we change this, as well as pay close attention to the inevitable pull of the future, we will fail to produce the right kind of leaders capable of leading in the uncertainty of tomorrow. We need companies that are willing to challenge assumption around the development and practice of leadership and who are willing to learn from the future rather than the past.

Keith Coats is a director of TomorrowToday.biz, a dynamic organisation that helps companies identify the mega trends that will impact the people connected to their business – employees, customers and partners.  Keith is a recognised expert on leadership development and a gifted facilitator, executive coach and futurist.

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