Recently I was invited in a seminar to present a paper on Leadership Styles in 21st century. While working on it I realized it was not as simple as it sounds. The changes in our society in last few years have been rapid and have changed the texture of our world, the attitudes, and the thinking patterns. The divide is not only rich and poor, rural and urban but also digital now. It demands a different set of leadership styles and competence suiting to the context of 21st century. The text of my presentation is as follows:
The Perspective-Radically changing environment- Information Technology will be instrumental in influencing decision making process. Today’s mindset are shaped or oriented through exchange of information, views or opinions through emails, twitters and blogs. The horizons of knowledge and sharing are unlimited. Changing business paradigms, culture and social changes will be important challenges, the leader of 21st century will face. It s changing world with constant uncertainties including those posed by increasing conflicts between countries, war such as Sudan, Somalia, Egypt, Israel etc and peace disrupting elements including terrorists, insurgency etc
Leading Young and brilliant-It is estimated that In 10 years time India will have 550 million young people under the age of 25, It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan; and, by 2030. While India will be looked upon as a source to fill the resource gap for the world, the leader of 21 st century need to be competent and acceptable to the youth of 21st century who will be an active citizen of a knowledge society having a different life style culture and value system.The brain drain has been a challenge for India as the Indians have been known for their contribution to various sectors in the world. We remember that the inestimable contributions of thousands of highly trained Indian migrants in every area of American scientific and technological achievement culminated with the information technology revolution most associated with California’s Silicon Valley in the 1980s and 1990s
Deal with not only social and economic divide but also the digital divide -Despite six decades of independence India continues to be the home of a large number of poor having a very high rate of malnutrition in the world. Of the 1 billion illiterates in the world (a sixth of the total world population), about 300 million are in India – larger than the population of the US, and twice the population of Brazil or Russia. Sex Ratio of 0-6 year’s age group is on decline continuously. On social and economic parameters there is urban and rural divide. But with evolving knowledge society, there is a digital divide now that need to be addressed by technology advancement to bridge this gap especially to bring those rural Indians to 21st century that constitute about 70% of India.
Handling the unrest, frustration due to loss of trust of a common man in leadership- “It simply makes no difference how good the rhetoric is or even how good the intentions are; if there is little or no trust, there is no foundation for permanent success.”-Stephen Covey. While 21st century will be globally connected world with ever changing knowledge requiring innovations, creativity proactive approach, loss of trust among the citizens in leadership may motivate brain drain, frustration, corruption, unrest. The existing leadership crisis will impose high expectations on the leadership of 21st century.
Brand Leader 21st CenturyØ Dynamic & capable of leading youth of 21st century, Trust Worthy, Courage Committed, Accountable, Competent, Free Will, Creative
Laws of Leadership for 21st Century-Leadership in any century requires some features that are universal in nature but changing styles and competence contextual and appropriate.In this regard I ll quote Laws of leadership by JC Maxwell that I read in a blog recently (www.vidyanandgarg.com)
Ø Law of explosive growth- To add growth Lead followers, TO MULTILY GROWTH, LEAD LEADERS
Ø Law of Solid Ground -Trust is the Foundation of Leadership and character is the foundation of trust
Ø Law of Sacrifice-A Leader must give up to go up
Ø Law of connecting-Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand
Leadership competencies for 21st Century Requires a new mindset. 21 st century demands value articulation and value constancy. Adapting with change with readiness to embrace the unknown and handle crisis, finding order in chaos, facilitating and dealing with diversity and complexity would demand specific competencies and leadership styles.Right to information will be treated as right to freedom by the citizens. leaders can not afford to mis in form or disinform or not inform the people about their move. A participation encouraging or community action leadership will be required. In an increasingly connected and interacting world the ability to create alliances will be extremely important as the problems will be intrinsically multi dimensional and complex. Relationship building ability will be essential for a leader of 21st century. Cybercitizenship, eg., massification of connectivity and digital access; and building new forms of socio-economic, entrepreneurial and governance organization where innovation and talent leadership play a key role. Multi-tasking. knowledge of how the new technologies function. Leaders must also know what they do not know, and know how to get that missing knowledge by mobilizing their own social networks.Higher emotional intelligence and authenticity will be essential to deal with ever changing realities. Ability to encourage innovations to bridge knowledge and digital divide that exists between urban and rural communities effectively and speedily. Education that empowers innovative thinking must be adopted. Technology that enables transformation must be extended. Our rural society must be brought into the 21st Century. Innovation can only take place in places where there is encouragement for new ideas. IMR must be drastically reduced. It survives best when it becomes part of a country’s culture and is woven into its educational system, its industrial infrastructure and its political leadership. Urgency to address the need build our competencies and competitiveness – our human capital. Leaders must be able to think and live outside the box, people who are prepared to challenge the status quo and change the rules if the rules have become stumbling blocks.Building of infrastructures that encourage and promote experimentation, creativity and innovation. Encouragement to Research & Development in various sectors as in a knowledge society process of generating knowledge, disseminating and using it aptly will be crucial
21st century leaders must pay attention to-Environments rather than rules, coach rather than tell, ask the right questions rather than provide the right answers. The result is a more distributed decision-making system, in which all members can and must participate. Innovations demand flat hierarchy in generating and contributing idea. Shift from command and control principles to collaborate and competitive approach
Transformational Leadership-Make change happen in self, others, groups, and organizations. Charisma is a special leadership style commonly associated with transformational leadership; extremely powerful, extremely hard to teach.
Transactional Leadership-Emphasizes on getting things done within the umbrella of the status quo, which is directly in opposition of transformational leadership. Using a “by the book” approach, this leader works within the rules and is commonly seen in large, bureaucratic organizations.
Creative Leadership-Ability to uniquely inspire people, generating shared innovative responses and solutions to complex and readily-changing situations.
Multicultural Leadership-Fosters team and individual effectiveness, drives for innovation by leveraging multicultural differences. Teams are able to work more effectively in the atmosphere of understanding and mutual respect
mohdaslam on 16 Mar, 2012