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Building the ‘Hard’ Leadership of the next decade

How do we develop the ‘Hard Leadership Skills’ of the next decade?

In our article ‘The ‘Hard’ Leadership Skills of the Next Decade’ we outlined the need for a new leadership context as we look to the rest of this pivotal decade. In this article we’re bringing the solution into focus.

It’s clear that in all areas of society there is a need for, and a move towards, a new way of leading & working built on relationship & collaboration. Here are a few examples.

• In organisational transformation the overwhelming evidence shows that only by listening to people, aligning & engaging them as co-partners from the start, can the transformation really be expected to succeed.

• In healthcare it’s recognised that putting patients at the centre of their care, improving their connection & relationship with their care teams and really involving them, can transform healthcare delivery & dramatically reduce the cost of health and care systems.

• CONAFOR (the National Forestry Commission of Mexico) restored a million hectares of forest between 2014 & 2018 with an approach described by the World Resources Institute as “exactly the right way to show leadership on restoration.” Working alongside local landowners & communities, the plant survival rate in the region nearly doubled.

• Ashoka, who support a global community of changemakers, say that given the number and complexity of challenges and opportunities we face, for solutions to outpace problems we need “effective collaboration & the ability to organize into fluid teams-of-teams, where every player must be a contributor and a leader.” They say that this is only possible with empathy: “In a changemaker world, empathy is as fundamental as reading & math.”

We have no simple answers but these examples are part of a groundswell of examples of powerful change occurring as a result of attending to relationships & to the whole. While not yet ‘joined up’, these green shoots are everywhere.

There are a number of dimensions that characterize these powerful initiatives & the leaders who run them. They are explored in Roger Evans’ book ‘5DL – Five Dimensions of Leadership’.

1. Passionate, values-driven, highly self-aware leaders who see the needs of the whole
2. The ability to listen to people, understand their needs, see emerging patterns & how they might be addressed systemically.
3. The willingness to deliver, not as a duty but because it’s the right thing to do ‘values-wise’. To do this even in the face of resistance.
4. Through listening, the ability to bring people along on the journey – despite differences.
5. An ability to ask for appropriate help. To show humility & empathy, not only for others but for the whole.

These dimensions will underpin any serious efforts to contribute to the future challenges we face. As such, leaders and consultants must take them seriously. This means new attitudes & a willingness to step outside of comfort zones and explore the unfamiliar. They are indeed the ‘hard’ leadership skills of the next decade.