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LEADERSHIP IS A PROCESS OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE, WHICH MAXIMISES THE EFFORTS OF OTHERS TOWARDS THE ACHIEVEMENT OF A SHARED GOAL.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

What Skills Will It Take To Lead Successfully In The Future?


New research from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) which surveyed 2,200 leaders from 15 organisations, in three countries between 2006 and 2008 produced some interesting findings.

The research project was designed to answer the following questions:
  • What leadership skills and perspectives are critical for success now and in the future?
  • How strong are current leaders in these critical skills and perspectives?
  • How aligned is today’s leadership strength with what will be the most important skills and perspectives in the future?
A comparison of the leadership strength from the research contrasts existing leadership skill levels with what skill would be required in the future the results are illustrated below:




The research identified the following seven competencies as most critical for success, now and in the future:

Leading people: directing and motivating people.

Strategic planning: translating vision into realistic business strategies, including long-term objectives.

Managing change: using effective strategies to facilitate organisational change.

Inspiring commitment: recognizing and rewarding employees’ achievements.

Resourcefulness: working effectively with top management.

Doing whatever it takes: persevering under adverse conditions.

Being a quick learner: quickly learning new technical or business knowledge.

The interesting thing to note from this research is that only three of the ten required skills for the future are current top ten skills.

All the others rated as important for success in the study are not skills that leaders have mastered today. This means that today’s leaders are not meeting the demands of their organisations. The CLL call this the “Leadership Gap”, referring to the huge gap that exists between the leadership skills organisations have today and the skills they will require in five years time.

Given these findings we need to take personal responsibility and ask ourselves:

What are we doing personally to improve our leadership skills?

What are we doing to help others improve their leadership skills?

If we are taking action, are we doing enough?
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