It may be hard to think about the future when the present is so challenging, but in times of great change and uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to stay several steps ahead in your preparation. This is especially true with leadership skills.
That’s the funny thing about the future. It’s never as fantastic as we hope nor as horrible as we fear. The one thing that’s for sure is that times will change and we will have to adapt. While there is no way of knowing exactly how that change will play out, we can identify trends, make common sense judgments about where they lead, and prepare for them.
These are the skills you should be cultivating now to be successful as a leader for the future.
The building of transparency and trust
Leaders of the future will need to be fully authentic and transparent. Even when the news is bad, people want to know what’s really happening. In an era when the trust will be crucial, leaders who are consistently open and genuine, regardless of the circumstances, will engender that trust.
Positive attitude toward change
Leaders of the future will need to be optimistic by nature and positive about change because everything around us is likely to remain uncertain and complex for some time to come. Leaders won’t have the luxury of allowing themselves to become overwhelmed or immobilized; they must maintain an optimistic mindset as things around them remain unsure.
The flexibility that embraces ambiguity
Leaders of the future will need to be agile and flexible—able to create quickly, risk passionately, pivot immediately, and move on from failures, taking in the lessons of each experience in order to keep moving forward. The future will bring ambiguity, and the best teachers will be creation, risk, failure, and experience.
Communication for clarity around the complexity
Leaders of the future will need to cultivate the ability to see through complexity and complications, to make sense of messy situations filled with contradictions, to cut through superficial concerns, and communicate the essence of the issue at hand. Their clarity will help them lead people to better things that most people can’t yet perceive.
Appreciation of diversity
Diversity counts.
Leaders of the future will need to genuinely appreciate diversity and embrace its value at every level. In a time of uncertainty, constructive engagement happens best when leaders bring together people with different backgrounds, expertise, and knowledge.
Seeing the good within the bad
Leaders of the future will need to develop the skill of learning how to turn crises and challenges into opportunities. Preparation and nimble thinking will keep teams and organizations out in front of events, so they’re ready to offer solutions at the moment.
Ability to undertake massive disruption
Leaders of the future need to access their inner determination to achieve and their willingness to make massive changes in their teams, their organizations, their industries—even themselves.
It is difficult to know what lies ahead. But whatever form the future takes, successful leaders will be those who know how to act with courage and clear intent in an authentic and engaging way that will create trust among their people—those with the imagination, integrity, and agile intelligence to make truly great things happen.
The future holds both challenges and opportunities. Are you listening to the signals today and developing the skills you’ll need to lead in the times ahead?
