Leadership – 25 Years From Now

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(Photo courtesy lumaxart)

In this interesting post at Psychology Today, the author brings attention to the work of Bernard M. Bass. Bass – a leadership scholar – predicted correctly in 1967 many aspects of leadership in 2000.  Its only prudent to pay heed to what he has to say about leadership in 2034.  

  • Leadership development efforts will continue, with ongoing training a requirement for leaders (much of the training will be web-based).
    [Hmmm …a second career idea.]
  • Second careers will become commonplace, as will 85-year-old employees.
    [There go my dreams of retiring by 45!]
  • Women will become the majority of leaders and directors in most organizations (he argued that this is due to their more transformational qualities and greater concern for equity, fairness, and social justice.)
    [Today, there are still write-ups aplenty about low percentage of women leaders in the corporate world. This will be an interesting one to watch.]
  • Leaders will make regular use of artificial intelligence to aid in decision making.
  • Biotechnology and genetics will play a part in both understanding leadership and in leader selection.
    [Wonder what impact this will have on the leaders are “born vs. made” debate. If it does supports the former, then the first prediction in this list will be up for question.]
  • We will “outgrow” bureaucracies, and most organizations will be flexible and mission-driven.
    [Hallelujah!]
  • With technological advancements, it will be much more difficult for dishonest leaders to emerge in organizations and greater transparency in organizational operations will be the norm.
    [Really hope this applies to political organizations as well. ]
  • Virtual work (e.g., virtual teams; web-based collaboration) will be the rule rather than the exception.
    [Google will be glad to see this & the direction they are headed.]

Read the full blog post by Ronald E. Riggio here.

Thinking of becoming an entrepreneur?

BusinessCard 
(Picture courtesy Shoa)

The story of how I was wrong ~ Inspirational presentation about how an MBA student found his true calling in life ~ Link (SlideShare presentation)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

What Entrepreneurship Means ~ Alicia Morga talks about her story about becoming an entrepreneur. Maybe you’ll discover you’re an entrepreneur. Maybe, you’ve been one all along. ~ Link (FastCompany video)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

Should You Be An Entrepreneur? ~ A simple test of 20 questions to determine whether you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur ~ Link (HBR Blogs)
Reality Check

Career Design: Why Three Jobs Are Better Than One ~ Three blog posts that addresses the different aspects of making the shift away from a secure job (read all the 3 posts) ~ Link (blog post)
Inspiration | Real Life Story | Reality Check

Building India’s Amazon: Flipkart ~ The story of how the young techies moved from working for tech giants to working for themselves ..successfully ~ Link (interview)
Real Life Story

Khan Academy ~ An inspiring story of an individual pursuing his beliefs & doing a whole lot of good while at it ~ Link (About page)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

Living Self-Employed Online: The Manual They Forgot to Give You ~ Experiences & lessons from someone who has been at it for 18 months ~ Link (LifeHacker blog)
Lessons | Reality Check

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Related Posts:
     ~ Thinking of starting your own business?
     ~ Tactics for Taking Risk
     ~ Leadership Capabilities

Links of Interest – 15Oct2010

  • As Nations Age, a Chance for Younger Nations: Pick any age cohort above the median age of 28 and you’ll find its share of the global population rising faster than that of any segment below the median. Will the world ever grow young again? Read the full The New York TImes article here.
  • Tata Group has given America’s prestigious Harvard Business School a $50 million donation, the largest gift the school has received from an international donor in its 102-year history. Read article here.
  • Nice advice applicable to almost all aspects of our lives: What is celebrated is repeated! Celebrate the wins! Check out some more thoughts on this here.
  • Paulo Coelho derives five life lessons for us from the characteristics of a pencil.
         #1 Never forget there is a hand guiding your steps – God
         #2 Now & then, stop writing and use a sharpener
         #3 Correcting ourselves helps keep us on the road to justice
         #4 What matters is not the wooden exterior, but the graphite inside
         #5 Always leave a mark!

Related Posts:
     ~ Links of Interest – 12Oct2010
     ~ Links of Interest – 02Jul2010

Leadership Capabilities

Based on their research over the years, McKinsey has elaborated upon its centered leadership model in the latest McKinsey Quarterly. The model has five capabilities at its core, which McKinsey claim are the primary determinants of leaders’ performance & effectiveness. These capabilities also positively affect the overall satisfaction of leaders. 

Meaning:

  • Of all the dimensions of centered leadership, meaning has a significant impact (5 times more than others) on satisfaction with both work and life
  • Centered leaders often talk about how their purpose appeals to something greater than themselves and the importance of conveying their passion to others. Sharing meaning to inspire colleagues requires leaders to become great storytellers, touching hearts as well as minds.

Managing Energy:

  • Leaders will find it hard to sustain energy and commitment within the organization unless they systemically restore their own energy (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual), as well as create the conditions and serve as role models for others to do the same.

Positive Framing:

  • Positive psychologists have shown that some people tend to frame the world optimistically, others pessimistically. Fortunately, we can all become aware of what triggers our fears and learn to work through them to reframe what is happening more constructively. Once we have mastered reframing, we can help others learn this skill

Connecting:

  • Leaders depend increasingly on their ability to manage complex webs of connections. While this environment can be challenging, it also allows more people to contribute, generating not only wisdom and a wealth of ideas but also immeasurable commitment. Leaders must also be adept at building relationships with people scattered across the ecosystem in which they do business and at bringing together the right people to offer meaningful input and support in solving problems.

Engaging:

  • This is the ability to engage with risk, with fear, and even with opportunity. Risk aversion and fear run rampant during times of change. Leaders who are good at acknowledging and countering these emotions can help their people summon the courage to act and thus unleash tremendous potential.

Centered leadership is a journey, not a destination, and it starts with a highly personal decision. Transformation is not only about changing the organization or changing the mind-sets and behaviour of everyone. It starts with yourself and your willingness and ability to transform yourself. Only then will others transform.

Read the full McKinsey Quarterly article here.