Listen to this article. (Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.)
An article with this title could have been written anytime in my lifetime, and ideas for the future could have been shared. But I believe that as difficult as leadership has always been, when you look at the changes and demands that will be placed on leaders in the future, the role is harder than ever. Asking the question “are you ready to lead in the future?" is one every leader must ask – and every organization must consider as they develop their leaders too.
Here are the five biggest shifts leaders must acknowledge – because each comes with new demands placed on us.
AI
No list about the future of work is complete today without conversation about AI. As leaders, there are several things we must consider and continue to act on.
- What are you personally doing to learn how to use these tools and apply them to your work and the work of the team?
- What are you doing to understand the broader perspective of the use of these tools in your industry and more broadly?
- Are you giving your team time and resources to learn how to use these tools?
- How are you engaging with your team to gain their perspectives including opportunities and concerns in using these tools?
- What are your expectations of your team in terms of when, how and what tools to use?
Distributed Work
It goes without saying that how people think about and experience work is different since the pandemic lockdowns. Even if you work in a industry where people have to be onsite (warehousing, manufacturing, retail, etc.), this societal view of work still impacts you. Here are some questions you need to be thinking about.
- What is your personal feeling about the effectiveness of work when people aren’t physically co-located?
- How is your personal feeling helping or hurting you as a leader?
- Are you actively building your skills in leading people not in physical proximity to you?
- Are you adjusting your expectations of the what, when, where and why of the work as the context and location of work changes?
- How are you supporting your teams/team members in building their skills to work in these new ways?
Culture
Culture is a topic you can’t avoid if you want to get great work done and attract and retain the talent to get that great work done. Here are some culture questions to regularly consider.
- Are you having ongoing conversations about culture?
- Are you taking your responsibility as a facilitator and example of culture seriously?
- How much time do you spend thinking about, talking about and improving culture?
- Do you have a stated aspirational culture?
- Are you providing people with clear expectations and skill development in support of the culture you desire?
- Do you use the aspirational culture as a filter for the decisions you make and how you communicate them?
Uncertainty
The level and amount of uncertainty we face as leaders has never been higher. It can be hard to deal with uncertainty as humans, let alone when the stakes are higher when we put our leadership hat on. Consider these questions:
- How do you deal with uncertainty personally – and is that serving you?
- How does your organization typically deal with uncertainty?
- How are you providing people with the skills to acknowledge and deal with uncertainty more effectively?
Flexibility
I’ve spent a lot of time in the last two years thinking about, writing about and teaching people about flexibility as a leader (for example, here’s a link to my book, Flexible Leadership.)
Like the rest of the items on this list, much more can be said about this capability, but here is a place to start.
- Are you leading like you were 3 or 5 years ago? (If so, chances are, you are becoming less effective.)
- Do you understand that flexibility is the master skill that will help you address the other things on this list (and 20 other things too?)
- Are you willing to lead differently in order to better serve your organization and team?
- How often do you stop to consider how you could flex your approach to a situation, versus simply doing what comes naturally or is your habit?
Readiness – what this article urges you to consider - is a big hurdle to cross. It involves awareness, mindset, a willingness to build new skills and try new things. And ultimately to accept that to succeed you must be willing to change. This article hopefully helps with the first two of these steps, and we want to help you (and the leaders in your organization) with the other steps too.
One of the ways we can do that is with our upcoming Virtual LeaderCon 2025, where experts and thought leaders will join me and an engaged group of learners (like you) to explore and build skills in areas like these and beyond. We’ll bring the experts, the platform and process. You bring your time and desire, and watch amazing things happen.
Oh, I truly appreciate this one! The essence of leadership is not defined by titles, but rather by vision, adaptability, and compassion. Genuine leaders welcome change, foster growth, and cultivate an environment where others can excel. The inquiry is—are you prepared to take the initiative?