Leading with Agility:Top 8 specific Leadership and Management Skills required in Today’s Economic Environment
It highlights the importance of flexibility, strategic thinking, and clear communication as essential for success in tumultuous times.
Traditionally, organisational leadership is all about managing the known, is viewed more as a stable process, has its own pace, and lends itself to orderly planning.
But the way forward against the intensifying fourth industrial revolution is managing uncertainty where leadership will be chaotic, messy, and unpredictable.
Businesses will have to operate in turbulent environments that feature high change and high uncertainty, where the situational requirements keep constantly shifting throughout the situation in response to internal as well as external factors, such as competitive moves, new.
technological advancements, customer needs shifts, regulatory requirements changes, and general economic and political conditions.
Leadership in an uncertain and volatile environment will take the shape of a discipline intended to respond to the unique challenges and opportunities the world throws up every day.
Going forward, success will be a matter of organisations willing to become agile, adaptive, innovative, change-tolerant, and have a chaos-friendly culture that recognises and supports the unique needs of different situations, from traditional to extreme.
Such a transformation then calls for a highly strategic leadership that dwells on a well-developed mindset for gauging the technological, social, political, market and economic realities of the environment in which businesses operate.
Given today’s economic and business environment, the bitter truth is that we are operating in a bewildering new environment in which little is certain, the tempo is quicker, and the dynamics are more complex.
The critical worry today is how leaders stay on top of everything they need to know to do their job, what kind of leadership will effectively steer organisations to success through such economic volatility and chaos and what skills are required for such leadership.
This scenario calls for leadership and management capability that anticipates uncertainty, rushes to think, reaches out, builds enduring bonds and gets comfortable leading at the edge of chaos.
Foresight and anticipating change will be hallmarks of a great leader who will have to;
In this article, we will explore specific leadership and management skills required in today’s economic environment and how to lead in such an environment.
"
It highlights the importance of flexibility, strategic thinking, and clear communication as essential for success in tumultuous times.
Traditionally, organisational leadership is all about managing the known, is viewed more as a stable process, has its own pace, and lends itself to orderly planning.
But the way forward against the intensifying fourth industrial revolution is managing uncertainty where leadership will be chaotic, messy, and unpredictable.
Businesses will have to operate in turbulent environments that feature high change and high uncertainty, where the situational requirements keep constantly shifting throughout the situation in response to internal as well as external factors, such as competitive moves, new.
technological advancements, customer needs shifts, regulatory requirements changes, and general economic and political conditions.
Leadership in an uncertain and volatile environment will take the shape of a discipline intended to respond to the unique challenges and opportunities the world throws up every day.
Going forward, success will be a matter of organisations willing to become agile, adaptive, innovative, change-tolerant, and have a chaos-friendly culture that recognises and supports the unique needs of different situations, from traditional to extreme.
Such a transformation then calls for a highly strategic leadership that dwells on a well-developed mindset for gauging the technological, social, political, market and economic realities of the environment in which businesses operate.
Given today’s economic and business environment, the bitter truth is that we are operating in a bewildering new environment in which little is certain, the tempo is quicker, and the dynamics are more complex.
The critical worry today is how leaders stay on top of everything they need to know to do their job, what kind of leadership will effectively steer organisations to success through such economic volatility and chaos and what skills are required for such leadership.
This scenario calls for leadership and management capability that anticipates uncertainty, rushes to think, reaches out, builds enduring bonds and gets comfortable leading at the edge of chaos.
Foresight and anticipating change will be hallmarks of a great leader who will have to;
- Guide the organisation through volatile times
- See patterns in chaos and take charge
- Act boldly to safeguard the interests of the organisation
- Be prepared to alter strategies
- Be agile to stay ahead of the volatility curve
- Manage constantly emerging opportunities through rapid upturns and downturns
8 Leadership & Management Skills required in today’s economic environment
Coming from my experience of 40 years and my understanding of how business and life will evolve in the future,
I see the following skills & competencies as a must-have for leadership & management in today’s economic environment:
1. Be Adaptable to Deal with any Situation
Today’s economic environment teaches us that businesses just cannot predict what’s on the horizon, and leaders need to be ever-ready for something new and unpredictable to raise their head out of nowhere.
Leaders must be prepared to work with whatever comes their way and aim for the best possible solutions under all conditions.
This can only be possible by embracing adaptability.
Adaptability in leadership is all about the ability to deal with the unknown, recognise, react to, and adjust to changing market trends, innovations, and industry shifts.
Leaders with exceptional adaptability traits are:
- Willing to put in extra effort when circumstances demand
- Able to reprioritise tasks and plan of action
- Flexible in their style of leadership and communication
- Positive and hopeful even under stressful conditions
- Oriented towards new learnings and improvements
2. Manage your Risk Well
Today, every business, big or small, has to deal with technology-driven seismic shifts at some point and lives in an environment that changes rapidly due to the rise of new business models and new entrants in every industry.
The fact of life today is that every business is always at risk. Therefore, leaders need robust risk management skills to enable companies to navigate the volatile and chaotic business environment.
Leaders today need to address risks at all business levels. Risk management is now considered an essential leadership trait in executives at the helm of organisational affairs.
Related Article: 7 ways of building and leading a high performing team
3. Be Innovative
In a business environment where rapid technological developments, particularly in information technology and communication, are driving globalisation,
thereby tearing down the geographic limitations and market barriers that deterred businesses from growing. Innovation is becoming a critical driver of performance, growth, and market share.
An organisation’s ability to innovate – tap new and radical value-creating ideas and capitalise on emerging market opportunities- will be the most essential way for businesses to accelerate change.
Action roles of innovative leaders;
- inspire productive action at all times
- promote creativity
- offer constructive feedback
- understand what risks are worth taking
- encourage out-of-the-box thinking
- foster a culture that supports innovation
- encourage experimentation
4. Have a very Solid Strategic Planning Skills
The influences of globalisation and the emergence of the digital era expose organisations to a new set of demands, resulting in the business context becoming more and more dynamic, complex and heterogeneous.
The new competitive pressures make organisations need to continuously adjust their strategy and structure to the external business environment.
Therefore, success is more about the leaders being highly competent in exploring the driving forces behind a business proposition and being able to alter and adapt business strategies to changing economic, political and social scenarios.
To lead in such an environment calls for solid strategic planning skills where leaders are agile and innovative enough to alter the direction of the business and allocate resources to pursue the new direction, analyse the emerging competitive landscape and set goals, identify emerging opportunities and challenges, and initiate action plans to achieve the desired objectives.
5. Need of the hour, “Agile leadership”
The world of business management is changing radically, totally and irreversibly. It is not just that today’s business challenges don’t share even a family resemblance with yesterday’s, but the world in which businesses are managed is changing irrevocably.
With constantly changing requirements, rapidly evolving technology, and a competitive landscape that shifts daily, organisations need to be able to renew themselves, adapt, change quickly, and remain relevant and resourceful in a rapidly changing, ambiguous, and turbulent environment.
For businesses, the need of the hour is “agile leadership” i.e. business leaders need to be agile enough to move forward at high speed, develop a growth mindset, learn from experience, and have the ability to prepare for multiple scenarios, think innovatively, deal with complexity and manage paradoxes.
In business, agility is all about flexibility and adaptability where agile leaders accept change as an opportunity and not a deterrent, encourage collaborations to remove barriers, and promote a culture of openness, ownership and continuous improvement.
6. Have a flexible and adaptable collaborative work environment
The biggest change visible in a post-pandemic environment is the gradual shifting from command and control to a more inclusive, collaborative working and problem-solving model – a hybrid working model.
As much as the business world sees many benefits in hybrid working arrangements, leaders now have to address a new set of challenges that arise from such an arrangement like leading a team remotely while maintaining effective communication, teamwork spirit and productivity.
As the nature of the workforce becomes more diffused, organisations realise the benefits of collaborative working and are slowly shifting to a more flexible and adaptable collaborative work environment.
It, therefore, follows that leaders need to upgrade and update their collaborative working skill set and work towards a leadership practice that fosters collaboration by bringing the managers,
executives and staff out of their silos to work together, share information transparently and take ownership of their contributions.
A collaborative leader is highly skilled in seeking out diverse views and ideas among teammates to enable the building of strategies and solve problems thereby keeping the team well engaged.
7. Create a culture that nurtures employees.
Employee engagement is a necessary strategy for companies that want to succeed in the marketplace in today’s challenging and volatile economic environment.
It is not an HR initiative that managers are reminded to do once a year, but a key strategic driver of employee performance, accomplishment, and continuous improvement all year.
What is presently witnessed is an ever-increasing complexity resulting from globalisation, technological advances, and the internet of things, and all these are putting pressure on the organisation’s need for skills and competencies at various levels to deal with the business challenges of today and the future.
It, therefore, goes without saying that for leaders to win in the marketplace, in such a turbulent and volatile environment, must first win at the workplace and that is what employees.
engagement for leaders is all about. By all measures, employee engagement is a critical part of organisational success at it connects employees to the organisation and fosters an attitude of commitment on their part. However, the onus of creating a culture that nurtures employee engagement falls upon the leaders of the organisation who create an environment that inspires and motivates people to give their very best at all times.
8. Continuous learning is critical for leaders.
In a hyper-competitive business world, staying ahead of the volatility curve is critical for organisations to remain relevant and resourceful.
In such a scenario leaders cannot afford to be complacent to cease learning and become stagnant.
Leaders need to feel the market’s pulse at all times and be aware of industry trends, emerging technologies, and evolving customer preferences to enable them to make knowledgeable decisions and seize opportunities.
Continuous learning is critical for leaders to succeed in today’s business environment as it exposes leaders to innovations, new and latent concepts and best-evolving practices in various management domains.
It also enables leaders to draw from a rich pool of information and knowledge to solve complex problems, navigate environmental upheavals and pursue business goals.
Final Thoughts
The convergence of forces is reshaping the global economy: there is an exponential increase in the pace of innovation;
new technologies are disrupting old industries and creating new ones, communication networks are spawning at astonishing speed, and global emergencies are erupting suddenly.
To succeed in tomorrow’s extreme environment, one can’t wait for the organisation to become environment-friendly and make life easier.
That would be insane to think so. Leaders must learn to succeed under any circumstances, even if it means deciding to walk away from an impossible situation.
Suppose there’s one thing I’ve learned from my experience of 40 years. In that case, there is no more tremendous success than being true to oneself under any circumstances and being a leader under extreme conditions means just one word: courage.
Courage to do things right. And courage to do the right things.
As much as we may envisage the future, the fact remains that “reality rules”. Given the rapid pace of change, the realities of tomorrow may be very different from what we envisage today.
Yes, the awareness of a new leadership paradigm is rising. Still, the critical challenge is the shedding of classical leadership models and being open to shifting the paradigm to learn to thrive in everyday turbulence and uncertainty.
The need of the hour is a kind of leadership that is multifaceted, dwells on a well-developed mindset for gauging the technological, social, political, market and economic realities of today’s business environment and is based on the pre-supposition that radical change and uncertainty are the norms, not the exceptions.
Subscribe to new post
The One Liner
Useful Links
Order Related Queries
Useful Links
Order Related Queries
Trusted By |
