Leadership Today

Can we depend upon the past to guide our decisions of the future?

A few decades ago, leaders basically had to figure out what to do and then tell people what, when, where, and how to do it. Today’s managers and leaders face a whole new set of expectations in the way they motivate the people who work with or follow them.

So what are the guiding principles for leaders of today? Ironically, in the past, the past was usually a good predictor of future success. But those were times when change unfolded at a much slower pace. Not anymore. Today’s world is shaped by technological and commercial innovations and disruptions. With change being a constant for all business domains, good leadership has evolved to become more flexible and highly adaptable.

One of the most notable areas of change in leadership style is the process of decision making. While in the past most decisions were made by top management with little or no consultation with staff, today employee input is often an integral part of decision-making with employee engagement an important principle of human resource management.

Modern leadership in fact leans on the principle of empowering others, which is very different from the past few decades when it was assumed that most employees could not think for themselves and needed a leader with better intellect and understanding. Modern leaders, on the other hand, are often more enablers than managers – they recognise employees’ strengths and make all the resources available for them to utilise their strengths to achieve optimal results.

Leaders today are active participants. They are not just there to delegate tasks, but must take on the additional duties of training and mentorship to enhance skills and guide their teams on important projects. And looking at the increase in global business changes in the future, the idea of effective leadership will also continue to evolve. Hence, investing in developing your own leadership skills and understanding of organisational development will be an important part of accelerating your corporate career.

If you are looking for leadership development programmes for yourself or ad hoc workshops you can get in touch with the N&P Business Consulting team at info@np-connect.de or DM in messages right here.