New Rules of Work Leadership by Amit Jain | Meaning at Work American political activist, author, and several time presidential candidates, Ralph Nader, once said, “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” Truer words have not been spoken concerning Leadership in a disruptive business world. Technology has disrupted almost all the spheres of our lives. It has created new jobs that were once possible only in the realm of sci-fi movies. Organizations are breaking down data siloes and redistributing decision making so that corporate hierarchies are now much flatter. As if that was not enough, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have made the business world smarter, faster, and agile in the last decade alone. On the other side, most of the corporate leadership development programs haven’t responded appropriately or fast enough. An aggressive personality and hard-driving skill set, that got so many leaders to the top in past years, seems to have peaked in the current environment. The old formulas have gotten obsolete. Five Future Ready Lessons for Leadership A leader’s success is measured by innovation, not execution.: The traditional corporate mindset has its focus on systems and processes, whereas the entrepreneurial style is more risk-oriented and dynamic. A successful leader builds a culture of innovation and motivates people to expect more from themselves. Collaboration & communication is key in any effective organization and new age leaders use it wisely. With the advent of HR Tech, several tools empower leaders and organizations to collaborate better. In a recent Fortune survey, 73 percent of responding CEOs cited the rapid pace of technological change as their greatest challenge PeopleStrong’s Zippi is one such tool. It’s a complete productivity-focused tool that helps organizations track tasks, communicate effectively and monitor performance in a secure environment. Enjoy the adventure: Bruce Lee once said, “Be Water, my friend”, Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless like water. Water is the perfect example of agility; it changes it flows/ directions depending upon the situation. None of us have a crystal ball to see the future, however, a leader needs to embrace ambiguity because leading disruptive innovations means getting used to incredible levels of uncertainty. Modifying assumptions and adapting in the face of change helps leaders achieve new heights. Also, leaders are now required to anticipate the future and be prepared for it. Interpreting data accurately, integrating different views and taking quick judgments to reach unified decisions makes all the difference. A New Age Leader is open about goals, performance & failure: One of the other important traits of leadership is taking everyone along and be transparent with your stakeholders, customers and team members. It’s better to put together a shared vision and the rationale behind it. At PeopleStrong, we had written the New Code of Work statement (#NCOW) which is a vision for 2022 and was shared with all the employees, where every function knows their role and expectation. Democratizing the Goal Setting: When we travel to an unknown location, we tend to take the help of google map which shows step by step directions and navigation. If we take a wrong turn, it still reroutes us towards our destination. Similarly, organizations need to set a disciplined goal-setting process on a quarterly, bi-annually or annual basis. However, a leader fosters an environment to experiment and learn by defining different milestones or control points to ensure even if someone falls or misses, they can iterate again & again until the goal is met. A Digital Leader practices managed empowerment: Leaders believe in building a sense of pride amongst people around them while delegating roles & responsibilities. They inculcate a work ethic that drives people to deliver the best of the product and drive oneself beyond the ordinary. To be a humble leader takes great courage, and it’s critical in creating an environment where employees feel included, acknowledged and appreciated. For the smart organizations, I’d say, develop your talent on its way to the top. Building your bench is crucial to strategic succession planning, and developing employees is critical to retaining them. “Leadership is a practice, not a position. Leaders don’t grow when they are comfortable, they grow when they anticipate the future, avoid complacency”. Download a white paper on how effective leaders transformed their traditional HRMS to New Age HCM Platforms. From Traditional To New-Age HCM. Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
