The Future of Leadership
I have been researching emerging leadership paradigms for years, and it is apparent that traditional, mechanistic, command-and-control based leadership approaches cannot work in interconnected, complex and global business environments. I have found a lot of evidence for this in extensive literature research and practical examples (two practical examples were included in our AOM presentation in Anaheim this summer). I recently read an article reporting on a survey on the future of leadership conducted by the Centre for Creative Leadership (Colorado, USA). The survey included more that 350 managers and 85% of them believe that the definition of leadership has changed in the last five years, and majority of survey participants agree that leaders face challenges beyond their individual capabilities.
Shared and team-based leadership are emerging as one of the more popular forms of leadership, especially in the context of knowledge workers. This is echoed by Professor Jay Light, the current Dean of Harvard Business School (HBS), who in his speech given at HBS centennial summit, said that what we most urgently need now (when faced with global financial crisis) is leadership. In a reply to his question “Who will lead?”, his answer was that HBS graduates will, but they will have to ensure that future leaders are team players and not heroic soloist.
