Developing New Leaders In Global Business

By M. Isi Eromosele

Although economic and operational decisions may be taking priority over talent development in the short-term, today’s challenging times in business also underscore the importance of effective leadership.

Dramatically changing market realities are adding another layer of complexity to companies’ understanding of what they need in terms of talent. Crucial leadership skills in today’s organizations are, in fact, insufficient for meeting current and future needs.

Businesses, government agencies, non-profits and educational organizations need leaders who can effectively navigate complex, changing environments and get the job done.

A leadership gap or deficit may have one of two causes: when leaders are focused on the right competencies, but haven’t sufficiently mastered them or when leaders are not focused on the right skill areas. The first is a matter of degree; the second is a matter of substance. Either can be a problem in both the short- and long-term.

Key Leadership Skills

Seven leadership skills are consistently viewed as most important now and in the future. They are: leading employees, strategic planning, inspiring commitment, managing change, resourcefulness, being a quick learner and doing whatever it takes.

Today’s leaders are not adequately prepared for the future. Today’s leadership capacity is insufficient to meet future leadership requirements. The four most important future skills - leading people, strategic planning, inspiring commitment, and managing change are among the weakest competencies for today’s leaders.

The leadership gap, then, appears notably in high-priority, high-stakes areas. Other areas where there is a significant gap between the needed and existing skill levels are: employee development, balancing personal life and work and decisiveness.

Identifying Leadership Needs

For organizations to build leadership strength, they first need to know what elements of leadership are needed and valued in the organization and for what roles. This may be an obvious point, but it is one that has organizations spending enormous sums of money and time trying to define needed competencies.

Fine-tuning or customizing an organization’s competency model is needed as organizations build a leadership strategy and create development initiatives.

The following 20 skills and perspectives have been identified and refined though research and work with leaders and organizations:

1. Balancing personal life and work - balancing work priorities with personal life so that neither is neglected.
2. Being a quick learner - quickly learning new technical or business knowledge.
3. Building and mending relationships - responding to co-workers and external parties diplomatically.
4. Compassion and sensitivity - showing understanding of human needs.
5. Composure - remaining calm during difficult times.
6. Confronting people - acting resolutely when dealing with problems.
7. Culturally adaptable - adjusting to ethnic/regional expectations regarding Human Resource practices and effective team process
8. Decisiveness - preferring doing or acting over thinking about the situation.
9. Doing whatever it takes - persevering under adverse conditions.
10. Employee development - coaching and encouraging employees to develop in their career.
11. Inspiring commitment - recognizing and rewarding employees’ achievements.
12. Leading people - directing and motivating people.
13. Managing change - using effective strategies to facilitate organizational change.
14. Managing one’s career - using professional relationships (such as networking, coaching, and mentoring) to promote one’s career.
15. Participative management - involving others (such as listening, communicating, informing) in critical initiatives.
16. Putting people at ease - displaying warmth and using humor appropriately.
17. Resourcefulness - working effectively with top management.
18. Respecting individuals’ differences - effectively working with and treating people of varying backgrounds (culture, gender, age, educational background) and perspectives fairly.
19. Self-awareness - recognizing personal limits and strengths.
20. Strategic planning - translating vision into realistic business strategies, including long-term objectives.

All of the 20 competencies identified above are expected to be more important for effective leadership in the future than they currently are. All the competences are increasingly important for leaders and organizations to develop and maintain. This holds true across countries, industries, and organizational levels.

Leaders who are effective in each of these areas, then, have strengths that are needed and will continue to be needed by organizations in the years to come. Those whose strengths lie primarily in the other areas will have significant learning to do to remain as relevant and effective as their peers who have demonstrated the most desired competencies.

The Future Leadership Gap

Today’s leaders are not adequately prepared for the future. Today’s leadership capacity is insufficient to meet future leadership requirements. This finding is consistent across countries, organizations, and level in the organization.

The four most important future skills - leading people, strategic planning, inspiring commitment, and managing change, are among the weakest competencies for today’s leaders. The leadership gap, then, appears notably in high-priority, high-stakes areas.

Other areas where there is a significant gap between the needed and existing skill levels are: employee development, balancing personal life and work, and decisiveness. These areas are flagged as “key gaps”, competencies that are not strengths but are considered important.

Bridging The Gap

A current deficit of needed leadership skills is a problem; a gap between current leadership bench strength and future leadership demands is a serious liability. The sooner organizations can understand the reality of their leadership situation, the quicker they can move to adapt by re-focusing leadership development efforts and re-thinking recruitment priorities.

To increase leadership capacity, organizations will want to take both a strategic and a tactical approach.

Strategic Planning

This involves translating vision into realistic business strategies. Managers who are highly competent in this area typically articulate long-term objectives and strategies, develop plans that balance long-term goals with immediate needs, update plans to reflect changing circumstances and develop plans that contain contingencies for future changes.

Tactical Approach

In the absence of new investments in developing critical skills and perspectives, the leadership gap in organizations will continue to widen. Some organizations will heed the call and be poised to recruit and develop high-caliber leaders whose strengths match organizational needs, rather than the skill sets needed five or ten years ago.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2012 Oseme Group