Life is full of challenges. Whether it’s personal barriers or professional hurdles, we’re bound to face failure. We’re going to feel immobile. We’re going to feel stuck. You may be wondering if this post will help address that.
Companies need different kinds of leadership at different stages. And there’s a very precise kind of leadership needed in an organization that’s moving fast, so fast that the office you leave at night is different from the one you walk into the next morning. Changing accordingly is the key.
Every day, there are new contestants, new fears, and new chances. There’s no simple, forthright set of marching orders. It’s more like a dogfight. You and your team will be flying upside down and at an angle sometimes. Our age is not short of unlimited ideas, of ways new technology can be applied to fix global industries and increase prosperity. But we are starting to notice a serious deficit.
Many of us tend to carry this image of a leader that is an all-knowing superhero, who stands and commands and protects his followers. The fact of the matter is that such an image is from another time. A time in which the world went through many incarnations including wars, plagues and revolutions. Due to this periodic image being painted to us since childhood we are still, even today, following an outdated framework based on obsolete success models. For a world that ‘was’ and not a world that ‘Is’ or the world that is ‘coming’.
In a 21st century world, which is more global, digitally enabled and more transparent. With faster speed of information flow and innovation these three traits, if adopted can make you a great leader. These three traits, if adopted, will determine your effectiveness as a 21st century leader. Men and women that are not comfortable with predictability of yesterday but for the realities of today.
1. Relying On Traditional Practices Will Not Help You Grow.
It is vital for a leader of a company to instigate creativity and form new techniques that would enable his followers to grow and excel anywhere. Great leaders are not head down, they see around corners. It is mainly about shaping your future not just reacting to it.
2. Develop Relationships With People Who Are Very Different Than You.
These differences can be biological, cultural, physical, functional, political, and socioeconomic but despite all these differences a leader will connect with you, gain your trust in achieving a shared goal. Having a more diverse network is a birthplace of solutions because now you have people that are thinking differently than you are.
3. Great Leaders Dare To Be Different.
Taking up tasks that are not familiar and comfortable to you is what makes a good leader. To abandon the tasks that felt comfortable and promised success, to take risks and be courageous. Great leaders do not just talk about risk taking, they actually do it. The most impactful development comes when you are able to build the emotional stamina to withstand people telling you that your ideas are naïve or reckless.