By CPA Dr. Leah J Samoei Chepkwony
The Rate of Change Driven by Technology, Globalization, and Societal Shifts Requires Leaders to Be Agile
In the present world, leadership is marked by a dynamic blend of adaptability, emotional intelligence, and the ability to navigate complexity. The world is changing rapidly, with many things evolving and adopting new dimensions. Effective leaders must remain flexible in their decision-making, embrace technology, and adopt an inclusive approach toward both teams and stakeholders.
Modern leaders are more servants than the bosses we were accustomed to in the past. This shift stems from numerous factors, including the “how” and “when” aspects of societal expectations. Leadership has been reshaped to emphasize humility, and the demands and expectations placed on leaders by their teams are too high. This makes it challenging for leaders to navigate effectively.
Leadership today is a comprehensive process that requires critical thinking and highly refined emotional intelligence.
Some of the trends currently shaping Leadership include but are not limited to:
Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Leaders are increasingly expected to manage their own emotions while understanding and influencing the feelings of others. Empathy, communication, and building relationships are crucial for leading diverse teams and fostering a positive workplace culture. The leaders are expected to listen more and talk less to balance workplace life and maintain their family lives. It’s indeed a delicate balance in embracing dialogue and performance in the workplace, whereas the rights of individuals are more pronounced than the rights of the leader; Leadership is becoming more of a science than a subject of art.
Agility and Adaptability
The rate of change driven by technology, globalization, and societal shifts requires leaders to be agile. Leaders must respond to unforeseen challenges, pivot strategies quickly, and inspire their teams to remain resilient in uncertainty. Uncertainties are rampant and an impediment to work-related performance; mental health has taken Centre stage and become a monster to derail individual health, rendering performance unbearable. Thus, leaders have to make informed judgmental opinions. Leaders have to adapt to any situation and condition, apply intellectual skills to navigate through any unforeseen situation, and use parameters that balance humanity; leaders are forced to make extraordinary decisions to sort out or give a solution to a problem at hand.
Collaboration and Inclusivity
Leadership is no longer about a singular vision or top-down decision-making. Successful leaders today foster collaboration, encourage diverse perspectives, and build teams that can work together across boundaries. Inclusivity is not just a value but a critical business imperative. Dialogue has taken Centre stage; every item done in public life must be subject to public participation. This puts leaders in the mix to negotiate for an aspect or a process of interest or include and work the journey with the interested parties for effective results. In this case, leaders have to be proactive and analytical and know in advance the needs and interests of the concerned teams to address them amicably to avoid any resistance. Leaders must foster diverse, equitable and inclusive environments where team members feel valued and supported, recognizing the power of diverse perspectives in driving innovation and Growth.
Driven Leadership
Organizations and leaders are now expected to stand for more than just profit in the case of businesses or dividends in the case of shareholder investments. Social responsibility, sustainability, and ethical considerations have become central to leadership, emphasizing the creation of value for society, not just shareholders.
In this era of well-informed societies, people demand solutions from leaders that align with their needs, rather than passively accepting plans devised by the leaders alone. As a result, modern leaders prioritize collecting data from their teams to understand their needs and rank them by priority. They are then tasked with delivering on these within a specified time frame, often regulated by legal frameworks.
Today’s leaders are more servants than bosses, chosen or elected to fulfill a purpose and address the expectations of those they represent.
Technological Proficiency
Technology is reshaping industries, Organizations, associations, and institutions in both the public and private sectors. Leaders must stay informed and adaptive to every situation at any given time and be ready to provide informed opinions to address the condition. This includes embracing digital transformation, data analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) while managing the human side of technological change to ensure a balance between innovation and employee wellbeing. Employees in every organization are an asset; technology changes too fast; therefore, leaders need to give support to ensure their employees are trained and updated on technological advancement.
Remote and Hybrid Work Leadership
The shift to remote and hybrid work models has challenged traditional leadership approaches. Leaders must manage dispersed teams effectively, ensuring productivity and engagement while supporting employees’ work-life balance. This aspect of leadership took Centre stage during COVID-19 when all the institutions adopted and changed to the online working environment, interacting electronically and meeting in the air through which decisions and work-related issues were made and other crucial communications delivered; leaders had no options other than to adopt. Today, leadership requires a blend of traditional skills such as vision, decision-making, and integrity alongside new competencies such as emotional intelligence, technological awareness, and the ability to navigate societal changes. Leaders who blend these elements successfully will likely thrive in today’s complex and interconnected world.
Ethical Leadership and Integrity
With the increase in calls for transparency and accountability from all quotas, Modern leaders must be ethically grounded, ensuring that their actions and decisions align with core values and corporate responsibility. With the increasing social media communications in which information thrives too fast in an extensive network, leaders are careful with their actions and become answerable to them at any given time. Therefore, today’s leaders must be versatile, empathetic, and forward-thinking, maintain a strong ethical foundation and focus on teamwork and innovation.
Resilience and Stress Management
In the current situation, to succeed in leadership, leaders must embrace resilience and demonstrate calm and confidence while working under pressure, supporting others and helping the team navigate stress, Workload, and setbacks, maintaining morale and productivity, and recognizing the importance of mental health and physical wellbeing for sustainable, effective leadership. A healthy society leads to a healthy nation, which results in healthy economic Growth.
The author is an Expert in Finance and Accounts in Kenya Urban Roads Authority
