For the times they are a-changin’” – and far more quickly and dramatically than we could have imagined even a month ago.
The disruptions that every organisation and business are facing right now make this a great time to re-assess your own leadership style and skills and find out if they will see you safely through Covid-19 and beyond.
Are you leading effectively, now, when it matters?
Fortunately, Korn Ferry, an international organisational consultancy, has conducted extensive research to uncover the traits of the strongest leaders in times of disruption.
The HR giant has capitalised on its worldwide resources in a recent report which analysed the profiles of 150,000 business leaders. It also surveyed 795 stakeholders and analysts, as well as comparing the performance of leaders in 18 key global markets.
Korn Ferry found dramatic results in terms of leadership ability and expectations:
√ 78% of stakeholders worldwide say that leadership is the most important element in a company’s investment appeal – and by that they mean the CEO. (The Board comes 4th on the list, and Senior Leadership comes 10th.)
√ Australian stakeholders have an even stronger view: 92% hold leadership as most important, with 88% focusing on the CEO.
√ 67% of stakeholders believe that traditional leadership is not ready to face the future (64% of Australian investors think the same).
√ According to this report, only 15% of leaders in Australia and the world have the skills their businesses will need to thrive.
According to Korn Ferry, future movers and shakers must be self-disruptive leaders. They must be vital, flexible, creative and inspiring. Self-disruptive leaders maximise potential and direct their colleagues to compelling goals, instead of merely maintaining the status quo.
Rather than honing the characteristics and capabilities that have worked in the past, “leaders instead must equip themselves with a strong portfolio of future-oriented and change-ready skills in order to keep responding to fluctuating market demands with dynamism and insight”.
In other words, future leaders must know how to ADAPT:
A Anticipate
D Drive
A Accelerate
P Partner
T Trust
Self-disruptive leaders have strong aptitudes in all five of these areas.
Leaders who can anticipate are able to make quick decisions and create opportunities. They focus on what the organisation’s stakeholders want and need, and know how to innovate and provide direction for their teams. No matter how confusing the context, these leaders signpost clear goals for their staff.
Those who have drive know how to create a purposeful and positive work environment for their employees. They motivate their staff by keeping them focused on organisation goals, and they carefully manage their own energy and that of their workers.
Self-disruptive leaders know how to accelerate their work processes, testing prototypes quickly and swiftly modifying processes to devise products and implement services as they are needed. They make sure they are in the loop of new developments, and operationalise new ideas based on that knowledge. Australian stakeholders see that our business leaders are lagging behind in this area.
These managers are also highly skilled at partnering with their colleagues. They create connections across the organisation, match employees’ personalities and skill sets to the tasks at hand, and encourage ideas and information to be shared throughout the workplace. (This is the strongest skill set for Australian leaders.)
And finally, future leaders must know how to build and show trust in their employees and in their business. They create relationships between staff and the organisation that allow for growth, they actively integrate diverse opinions and perspectives into the work of the organisation, and they use these strong relationships to strengthen their staff’s sense of purpose and contribution.
So how can workplaces foster this kind of leadership?
Korn Ferry has three suggestions:
√ Focus on developing new mindsets, rather than skills or behaviours.
√ Open up leadership development opportunities, so everyone in your company can improve their skills.
√ Foster always-on development by making training and learning opportunities easily available, and rewarding staff as they take charge of their own leadership growth.
Developing leadership is something everyone in your organisation should be involved in. As Stephen Johnston of Korn Ferry in Australia puts it, if ADAPT skills are integrated throughout your workplace,
“companies will develop a self-perpetuating ecosystem of leaders,
ready for whatever the future of work brings”
If you’d like to explore how I can apply my passion for ADAPTING to disrupting your workplace from the inside, albeit remotely, click this link to book a virtual coffee.