Hi there,
When asked "What does being a leader mean to you?" or "How does a great leader look?" we usually answer "It depends". No surprises there then. However, in this short article we have gathered some trends for you, which we see among our contacts, clients and cases.
We are naturally biased by our own perspective. Our clients are mainly in a nordic/northern european context - even if rolling out globally. Yet, we see some trending themes concerning the leadership culture which is in demand right now.
Organisations are looking for leaders who are:
Holistic in their approach. They perceive leadership as a part of an inter-related whole - people, processes, structures and ecosystems. They are aware of their 360 leadership arena and the skills required to understand and work with the full complexity and everyone involved.
Relationship oriented. They realise that good business is about people, not things that can be fixed. You just can't go and fix people and relations. They are curious, humble and compationate, putting emotional intelligence and empathy into practice. They are not know-it-alls but make space for differing opinions, learning and development - the pre-conditions for organisational success.
Tolerant and interested in teams. They consider leadership as a team game where success is greater together. There needs to be a balance where individuals can thrive and perform while team trust, safety and results are high. Skilled leaders lead through diverse teams by creating tolerant, inclusive, high-performing settings.
Authentic influencers. They role model great behaviour and company culture in their own way. They trust and believe in themselves - and understand that leaders come in many shapes and sizes. Through personal profiling and self-reflection they learn what they stand for, their leadership values and how best they can act, communicate and hold meaningful conversations.
Consistent and in balance. They are busy and constantly balancing their leadership of operations, capabilities and strategies. They manage their energy well. People who interact with them perceive them as approachable and consistent - containing risk and stress, while robustly and healthily handling conflict and ambition. They truly feel a sense of belonging at work and demonstrate this along with balance outside.
Adaptable and street wise. They understand that leadership can be messy - that 7 out of 10 is often more than enough - as focus is on progression rather than perfection. To do this they are skilled at manouvering, keeping things simple, reading between the lines and noticing different interests around them. They add energy, don't take it, having fun under changing conditions, adapting to varying collaboration demands.
Wrap up: We hope this gave you a little inspiration concerning the recent trending themes which we experience our partners are most interested in at present. Maybe some are giving your leaders a hard time too, while others are hopefully pretty much nailed! Remember, everyone deserves a good leader.
