There might have been a time when we relied on our political, business, and community leaders to interpret the world for us and give us reliable institutions of civic and commercial order. But now we live in the open source era where information is ubiquitous, ideas represent currency and where entrepreneurship is the dominant platform for business success.
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Leadership Redefined for the Open Source Era!
We live in interesting times. From Brexit to Trump we see
the democratization of anger, frustration, and bigotry, while at the same time
we are witnessing the democratization of technology, ideas, and capital. Change
is inevitably paradoxical, and we are living through a history of bright, shiny
possibilities and dark, dystopian currents in equal measure. How should we
prepare future leaders?
There might have been a time when we relied on our political, business, and community leaders to interpret the world for us and give us reliable institutions of civic and commercial order. But now we live in the open source era where information is ubiquitous, ideas represent currency and where entrepreneurship is the dominant platform for business success.
There might have been a time when we relied on our political, business, and community leaders to interpret the world for us and give us reliable institutions of civic and commercial order. But now we live in the open source era where information is ubiquitous, ideas represent currency and where entrepreneurship is the dominant platform for business success.
Airbnb, Tesla, Apple, Alibaba, Google, Zappos, Uber, are
good examples of “exponential organizations”, where output is disproportionally
large because of new organizational techniques that leverage accelerating
technologies. And while technologies such as artificial intelligence,
nanothechnology, robotics, and digital biology are rapidly redefining the work
environment, the practice of developing leaders for these organizations is
lagging. What is the new model of leadership for 2020-2050?
Here are four ways we might better prepare our future
leaders:
1. Unleash Innovation
Create the environment for anyone to propose new ideas with
a net benefit for society, and allocate resources for test cases and pilot
programs. Develop a start-up mindset. Be prepared for transformation and
metamorphosis. New leaders will need to create a delicate balance between
disruption and containment.
2. Leadership Being
Successful leaders in the open source era are “autocratic”
or single-minded about their vision, mission, and purpose. But they also
display an unshakeable adherence to their core values, a deep awareness of
themselves, and a generally compassionate treatment of others. Leaders will
need to be resilient, revolutionary, and remarkable in their purpose, yet
considerate and empathetic in building collaboration.
3. Systems Architecting
Historians in the late Twenty-First Century will almost
certainly judge us for dithering on climate change and on our collective
failure to perceive the interconnectedness of all our actions. successful
leaders of the open source era are able to conceive radically different systems
of engagement of people and resources, of which Uber and Airbnb are classic
examples. Systems thinking, imagining, and architecting will be essential
skills for new leaders.
4. Leadership Coaching
Coaching has emerged as a highly specialized field of
leadership development which is able to respond flexibly to changing
operational environments and individual learning needs. Now, more than ever, we
need capable and wise leaders who will make decisions for our common good, not
just the good of shareholders. New leaders will need leadership coaches who can
act like Sherpas, shouldering some of the load as they guide their clients
towards their individual and organizational summits. They may also need
leadership coaches who can behave like Shamans, wisely perceiving patterns and
divining the future.
Does your leadership development curriculum consider these
four approaches? If not, then you are most likely briefing your leaders for the
past, not the future.
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