Leadership is tough. Not only is it one of the toughest challenges in today’s organisations; it’s about to get tougher. Tech breakthroughs, shifting socio-political landscapes and evolving generational trends mean that leaders will need to constantly learn and adapt to stay ahead.
Leadership has always evolved, but today the pace is relentless.
In the past, leadership meant retaining power and sharing your knowledge. Recent evolution of leadership style has moved us to become more engaging leaders who harness and focus collective knowledge and empower teams.
This connected and facilitative style of leadership has brought the focus through to Enterprise Leaders. They understand that their role is to operate across the business. They break silos, connecting the right people with the right skills at the right time. They ensure the business works in a seamless and networked way.
Enterprise Leaders recognise that the true power of organisation comes through connectedness. This demands fluid, dynamic organisations. Leaders must keep pace, or fall behind.
Doing this effectively requires four domains of connectedness to be insightfully understood and empathically managed.
four domains of connection
- Connected to Self – High self-awareness, openly recognising strengths and development areas, and bringing their authentic selves to work to build trusting and productive relationships.
- Connected to Team – Understanding team strengths and needs, purposefully driving a supportive culture, and living the shared values in a consistent and strategically aligned manner.
- Connected to Stakeholders – Building strong trusting relationships with stakeholders and customers, developing insights, and engaging in co-creative processes that create shared value.
- Connected to Strategy & Values – Ensuring a deep understanding of organisational strategy and values, ensuring alignment, and sharing experiences to build strategic capability.
These domain connections prove that Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and strategic thinking are dominant attributes in successful leaders who need to be able to seamlessly support connections simultaneously across all four levels.
EQ and strategic thinking are non-negotiable. EQ fuels collaborative, co-creative and productive relationships; strategic thinking connects the dots and cuts through uncertainty.
As the leadership shift evolves, we can future-proof leadership now, by targeting these five critical areas:
leadership development agenda
The leadership journey is transforming rapidly. Vmax foresees a dynamic, connected world which demands leaders who tackle challenges and seize opportunities with boldness and clarity.
The ability to collaborate adaptively in networked, co-creative teams has never been more critical. Vmax predicts this trend will accelerate, shaping the future of leadership in the years ahead.
This shift is electrifying. It pushes us to master self-awareness, empathise deeply with others, and forge meaningful connections across the value chain, building relationships that drive real impact.
