A lot has happened in 2020 and more than ever we are entering into a digital future. Are your leaders prepared?
Curious, adaptable, and emotionally skilled leaders are critical in a world where advanced technology is constantly changing the rules of the game—even displacing entire job functions. To address this new paradigm, a new kind of leadership development must emerge—one that is capable of developing the skills needed to not only navigate the digital age, but to drive success.
Is your business preparing leaders to be successful in the workplace of the future? If not, here are the top four reasons to prioritize Leadership Development in your organization to keep pace with our evolving digital world.
1. Leaders of the future will be working in the jobs of the future.
The leaders of the future are going to look a lot different than the leaders of today. The digital age has changed the complexion of the workforce: from new roles and responsibilities to business realities evolving at the speed of broadband. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that seven of the top ten emerging jobs of 2022, as predicted by The World Economic Forum, are related to digital technology and data. With this rise in new roles, new skills must rise to meet the trend. Leadership Development prepares leaders with the hard skills and personal management tools needed to thrive in our new reality.
2. Leaders will need to cultivate the human skills that AI and automation can’t replace.
As technology, AI, and automation become more intimately integrated into routine tasks and a variety of job sectors, the skills that make us uniquely human will be even more important. Alongside digital fluency, the future job market is going to demand that workers move towards a human-centered skill set, including emotional intelligence, team development, social influence, and service orientation. Building leaders for this future means changing how we approach Leadership Development on a large scale.
3. With the rise of big data, leaders will be challenged to make complex decisions in the face of rapidly changing information.
According to the State of the Future 19.0 report published by the Millenium Project, one of the top global challenges of the next decade is decision-making. For leaders, the ability to make sound decisions is only going to get harder as an overwhelming amount of data becomes available for evaluation. Information overload has never felt more prevalent than in this moment. Leadership Development will be critical in providing the necessary tools for making good decisions in the future.
4. Leaders will have to learn how to think, rather than what to think.
The digital age is defined by rapid and constant change. The leaders of the future need to master the art of learning if they want to keep up. Although access to knowledge is at an unparalleled level, making effective decisions is harder than ever. Leaders need a new framework for making decisions as the ground shifts beneath their feet. That is, leaders must learn how to think, not what to think. And Leadership Development programs must reflect this important shift.
The digital age is here. A technocentric job market—and all that comes with it—is on the horizon. Is your organization preparing leaders for success in this new terrain? To learn what makes an effective leader in the digital age and how leadership development can play a critical part in growing your leaders and your business, download our eBook.
Luke Colaciello uses storytelling to support The Regis Company's endeavors in marketing and sales, building brand awareness around human-centered programs that help organizations and their people find their leading edge.