New Age Leadership Demands and Where Organisations Stand

And great leadership matters more than ever in a world characterized by disruptive digital business models, multigenerational workforces, flat organizations and the focus on teams over individuals. Our leaders face a plethora of challenges today.

If you consider the role of any C-suite employee, things have changed for them. CEOs are expected to address social issues, CFOs have become strategic leaders and all of them are asked to work collaboratively across functions. I

In the presence of traditional models and mindsets, this becomes all the more difficult. The old ways do not work anymore and organizations are slowly getting to accept this hard truth. In Deloitte’s 2019 Global Human Capital Trends Report, as high as 80 percent of respondents rated leadership as a high priority for their organizations. But only 41 percent viewed themselves as being ready to meet their leadership requirements.

What Are The Challenges?

Even though many organizations have attempted to change their leadership models, developing new competencies remains critical. The impact leadership has on the social and physical environment, as well as in their customers and employers gets microscopically scrutinized. Here is a look at some of the biggest gaps that need to be filled.

1. Being Transparent

Leadership is no longer about strategies behind closed doors, with the outside world not having a clue of what goes on. The social enterprise of today demands transparency. Transparency helps build a network of trust and respect in a world where every intent is looked at with suspicion. Be it, customers or employees, every stakeholder has an inherent need to be given reasons to stick with an organization. However, a lot of work needs to happen to make organizations transparent, as the current levels remain poor.

2. Developing Leaders From Within

Leaders do not always need to be hired from outside. Instead of always hunting down the best from the market, sometimes looking inward might be of great advantage. Spotting the right ones and offering them with the tools and resources to enhance their skills and capabilities can work for several reasons. Firstly, the person is familiar with the way the organization works. Secondly, this gives an opportunity for the person to expand his/her horizons through training and coaching, which can satisfy their thirst for personal growth. Potential leaders need to be invested in within the organization and enabled to try, experiment and learn by doing.

3. Internal Collaboration

The roles of the C-suite have changed completely. These roles, be it the CFO, CHRO, CTO or CEO have traditionally had their own tower of responsibilities, without really interacting too much with each other to build common strategies for growth. Today, these C-suite roles are far more complex and demand them to work closely with one another. Collaboration at the top tier of organizations, however, still remains a massive challenge to address as only 17 percent of C-suite executives said they regularly collaborate.

Aiming at just increasing revenue is no longer the only priority. Leadership demands far more than that. Topics such as inclusion, fairness, social responsibility, understanding the role of automation, etc. demand attention. The sooner the integration to satisfy these roles happen, the easier the process of transition will get for organizations.