Employees used to know just your name, your face, your business reputation.
Now they know your salary, your hometown, your connections on LinkedIn, how much your house is worth. They know more than ever, and you’re under pressure to share more than ever, too –
76% of global executives think it’s a good idea for their CEO to be on social media.
And along with this increased transparency, you’re held accountable for areas you know less about: new technologies, new markets, new cultures and geographies representing new stakeholders. It’s no wonder
CEO tenure is declining.
Good leaders have always stepped out of their comfort zones, but converging global megatrends are putting more pressure on those at the top to navigate a faster, more complex, more integrated, and more transparent business world.
In our recent book, “
Leadership 2030: The six megatrends you need to understand to lead your company into the future,” we examined the repercussions of the convergence of major forces like globalization, climate change, increased individualism, and accelerating digitization.
Among our findings is that leadership in the future will involve increased personal and business-level discomfort. Leaders will have to cope with the blurring of private and public life – and they will have to forge new relationships with competitors and employees. This requires new skills and mindsets. Ego is on its way out.
Technology alone offers several sources of discomfort. Leaders will increasingly be called to evaluate and implement new technologies they don’t always understand and can’t control, from the cost-benefits of data automation to balancing consumer concerns with data mining opportunities to gauging the commercial value of bitcoin and other new concepts. As connectivity-enabling technology and virtual workplaces change how people interact, leaders must engage employees across cultures and business roles through new mediums. Leaders must acquire digital wisdom, even if they lack digital knowledge.
The combination of digitization with globalization and consumer demands for personalized products will complicate the usual processes and relationships. Competitors will be recast as allies, as rival companies will have to work together to achieve more complex technical innovations. Such “co-opetition” will require leaders to maintain a difficult dual perspective – rivals must be simultaneously seen as both vital partners and market threats.
But possibly the biggest adjustment for leaders of today is a power shift that is requiring major changes to how they think and work. Many are accustomed to command-and-control, to fear over love, and to “lead, follow, or get out of the way.” But hierarchies are flattening as power moves away from top internal management and toward employees and a proliferation of external stakeholders. Companies must now appeal to a plethora of global consumer markets, each with distinctive attitudes and desires.
Leaders motivated by power over others will not thrive in this new world.We will see more “altrocentric” leaders, who understand that leadership is a relationship and will therefore primarily focus on others rather than themselves. Adept at engaging rather than commanding, they see themselves as just one integral part of the whole. Altrocentric leaders will be capable of long-term vision encompassing both global and local perspectives.
David McClelland
points out that both emotionally intelligent leaders and their egocentric counterparts tend to be motivated by power; they enjoy having an impact on others.The difference is in the type of power driving them: Egocentric leaders tend to be concerned only with personalized power – power that gets them ahead. Altrocentric leaders, on the other hand, derive power from motivating, not controlling, others.
The altrocentric leader who is intrinsically motivated by socialized power, and who draws strength and satisfaction from teaching, teambuilding, and empowering others, will be able to handle the increased pressure of tomorrow’s business environment. They understand that they need not “have all the answers” themselves, and this mindset and willingness to turn to others for help better equips them to handle the stress of the uneasy chair.
All leaders will see life become more chaotic and overwhelming, and their struggles and management will be more visible than ever. Egocentric leaders will have a difficult time evolving, if they even can, and will be unable to thrive in such discomfort. Organizations need to develop leaders who are motivated by altrocentric leadership. They will be better prepared to succeed in 2030 and beyond.
2030年需要什么样的领导者
哈佛商业评论 Georg Vielmetter，Yvonne sell 2016年04月16日 12:06
摘要 当今领导者必须做的最大的调整可能是“权力转移”，这需要大幅改变思考与工作方式。
过去，员工只知道你的名字，长相和你的商业地位。
现在，他们知道你的薪水，你的籍贯，你在LinkedIn上关注和被关注的人，你房子的价格。他们知道的事情以过去多得多，与此同时，你还面临着比过去分享更多信息的压力。超过76%的全球高管认为，让他们的CEO使用社交媒体是个好主意。
除了这些日益增加的信息透明化外，你也要了解你以前陌生的领域，像是新兴技术，新市场，以及代表新利益相关者的新文化和新地理区域。难怪CEO的任期越来越短。
优秀的领导者总是会走出自己的舒适区，但逐渐汇合全球趋势正给管理者更多的压力，必须探究一个更快速，更复杂，整合度更高的、更透明的商业世界。
在我们最近出版的书中，“领导力2030：带领企业走向成功，你必须了解的6个趋势”，我们调查研究了几个重大问题汇合之后的结果，包括像全球化，气温变化，个性趋势化以及数字化进程逐渐加快等。
我们发现，未来的领导者将会在个人方面的和企业层面都会感到不舒适感。领导者将不得不去应对日趋模糊的个人生活和公开生活的界限。并且，企业领导者们也必须和竞争者和员工建立新的关系。这些都需要新技能和心态。自我意识不能太重。
单是科技就在很多方面让领导者不自在。从数字自动化的成本效益分析，到平衡消费者顾虑和数据挖掘机会，再到衡量比特币的商业价值和其它新的概念——领导者将越来越多被要求评估和使用那些他们不太理解，也无法控制的新技术。随着连接技术和虚拟工作场所改变人们的互动方式，企业领导者必须通过新媒介，与不同文化和职位的员工建立联系。即便企业领导者们缺乏数据体系的知识，他们也需要知道如何运用数据，产生智慧。
数字化和全球化结合，以及消费者对个性化的产品的需求，都会让流程与消费关系变得更加复杂。相互竞争的企业需要一起合作，以实现更复杂的技术创新，因此竞争关系将变为盟友关系。这类竞合关系（co-opetition）需要领导者必须维持一种困难的双重视角-----把竞争对手同时视为重要的合作伙伴和市场威胁。
但是，当今领导者必须做的最大的调整可能是“权力转移”，这需要大幅改变思考与工作方式。许多领导者已经习惯“命令与控制”，运用恐惧而非关爱，以及“我领导，你跟随，要不就滚开”等方式。但是，随着权力从内部高管转移到员工和外部利益相关者，组织结构趋向扁平化。企业必须不断拓展全球市场，每一个市场都具有独特的态度和需求。
以权力控制他人的领导人，将无法在这样的新环境下成功。我们将会看见更多的“以他人为重心”（altrocentric）的领导者，他们明白领导力其实是一种关系，因此首先会关注其他人而不是自己。领导者更多的是参与而不是下命令，认为自己是整体中的一个部分。“以他人为重心”的领导者从长远审视全球和本地市场。
David McClelland 指出，情绪智商（emotional intelligence，俗称EQ）高的领导者和以自我为中心的领导者都愿意使用权力，区别在于使用权力的方式不同：以自我为中心的领导者更注重个人的权力，权力能让使他们拥有优先感。另一方面，“以他人为重心”的领导者则是从激励他人而不是控制他人当中获得权力。
从本质上讲，以他人为重心的领导者是受到社会性权力的激励，他们从教导他人、建立团队、授权他人中得到满足与能量，他们能够处理未来商业环境里日益增加的压力。他们知道自己并不需要“知道所有的答案”，这样的心态让他们更愿意向他人寻求帮助，让他们更能处理领导岗位上的压力。
未来，所有的领导者都会发现生活变得更加混乱、令人不知所措，而且他们的努力和管理，也会比过去更明显可见。以自我为中心的领导者很难改变，他们很难在这种不自在的环境下成功。组织需要培养的是那些以他人为重心的领导者。因为在2030年后，他们更可能成功。（余程瑶/译 腾跃/编校）
Georg Vielmetter合益集团（Hay Group）领导力与人才部门欧洲区总监，与高管和管理团队共同推动组织与各阶层员工的领导力转型。
Yvonne sell合益集团英国与爱尔兰地区的领导力与人才总监。
