There are five characteristics that will differentiate and define successful leadership of the future, according to leadership expert Marshall Goldsmith.
The first way in which leaders will be different is in their ability to think globally, he said.
“Historically, leadership was much more local or domestic and now leadership is much more global,” said Goldsmith. “And that’s happening everywhere.”
The second trait of successful leaders in the future will be cross cultural appreciation.
“Diversity no longer means dealing with different people in your own company or country,” he said.
“It’s dealing with diversity from around the world.”
The third way in which leaders will be different in the future is their level of technological savvy.
“While leaders don’t have to be a technologist, they need to understand how technology is going to influence the whole business,” said Goldsmith, who was speaking at the recent World High Performance & Leadership Forum which was held in Melbourne.
“The leader of the past will know how to tell. The leader of the future will know how to ask”
The fourth way leaders can be successful in the future is through a focus on building alliances and partnerships.
In the past, he said alliances and partnerships were not nearly as important as they will be in the future.
“If you look at IBM, for example, in 1979 they had no alliances and partnerships and were proud of that,” he said.
“Today they are all about alliances and partnerships, so the role of leaders in alliances and partnerships has changed dramatically.”
The fifth and final way leaders will differ from those of today is through the concept of “shared leadership”, said Goldsmith.
“Peter Drucker said, ‘The leader of the past will know how to tell. The leader of the future will know how to ask.’
“Leaders in the future will have to ask, listen and learn from knowledge workers,” he said.
“You can’t tell these workers what to do and how to do it – because they have the knowledge and expertise in how to do things.
”So there are ways in which leaders in the future will be similar to those of today – and there are many ways in which they will forever be the same, but these five changes will be important for leaders of the future.”
The evolving role of HR in leadership development
HR will also experience significant change over the coming years, according to Goldsmith, who said HR as a function is going to become more important in developing leaders.
“The role of leaders is changing so rapidly, and they are going to need to be continuously developed, so this is going to be an evolutionary process for HR,” he said.
HR needs to pay more attention to results in any training program or intervention, according to Marshall.
“I think it will be a really positive thing in the future if we measure whether people do the stuff they are taught,” he said.
“So do they implement their learning? I think most HR programs which are rolled out are very logical, make sense and probably work – but they don’t work if nobody does them.
“If you can’t measure something then how do you know it works?”
“One of the problems in HR is that is rolls out a program which is very well thought out, but some of the executives do absolutely nothing to execute on the program and then they say the program doesn’t work.
“Well, no program that’s not executed is going to work,” he said.
As such, Goldsmith said HR functions need to do more to measure the effectiveness of leadership development interventions in a way that quantifies long-term benefit to organisations.
“If you can’t measure something then how do you know it works? In leadership development, historically there has been very poor measurement that doesn’t do any good,” he said.
It is important that leaders realise positive long-term changes in behaviours which help them become more effective, as judged by those around the leader – and not the leader themselves, said Goldsmith.
“There’s going to be a big trend in this, because historically if you look at leadership development what gets measured is akin to asking questions like, ‘Was the food tasty?’ Or, ‘Was the room nice?’
“The focus in the future is going to be much more on measuring leaders, not just in measuring programs and process,” he said.
Holding line managers accountable
HR leaders also have to learn to deal with line managers in a much less fearful way, according to Goldsmith.
“They are going to have to learn to be able to confront things,” he said.
“Historically, HR leaders have not confronted line managers on their behaviour and on what they’re doing, so there is no sense of accountability with HR programs because HR people haven’t held line managers accountable.”
An important step in this process is for HR leaders to be a partner with the CEO, so that line managers are held accountable from the top for what HR rolls out.
“If HR implements and it doesn’t work, shame on the HR leader. But if they don’t implement, shame on them.
“So I think the really big challenge of the future is having HR leaders with the courage and the support to actually confront line executives,” said Goldsmith.
Focusing on fit and purpose
Most leaders also need to spend more time focusing on fit and their own purpose, he observed.
“Most people spend more time planning their vacation than they spend planning their lives,” said Goldsmith.
“I think it’s really important for leaders to spend more time and look at this as an important and meaningful part of their job – and at every phase of the career.”
Goldsmith recounted a story in which he was coaching a CEO who was planning to retire in six months’ time, and the CEO was asked if and how he would change the company in that time, and if he would plan for this.
“He said, ‘Of course I would. I am responsible.’
“I said, ‘Well, your life is going to change in six months and you haven’t done anything to plan for that. What’s more important? The company or your life?’
“And the guy had a break through, and said ‘You’re right.’
“There’s a huge correlation between positive engagement at work and positive engagement at home”
“Most of us spend very little time and effort on this because we get so wrapped up in the day to day minutia of life that we really cannot back away,” he said.
Focusing on fit and purpose will also become more important for another reason, according to Goldsmith.
“More and more, work is going to be part of your life, and the two are more closely intermeshed,” he said.
“So if you don’t find happiness and meaning in your work it’s going to carry over in to the rest of your life.
“If you’re living in a world where you’re working 60 hours a week and your computer and mobile phone go with you everywhere, you’re living a new-age professional hell if you don’t love what you do.”
Goldsmith’s research has also found that people who find happiness, meaning and satisfaction at work are the same people that find it at home.
“There’s a huge correlation between positive engagement at work and positive engagement at home,” he said.
Image source: supplied
