In my first post on topic of leadership, I proposed a need of radical changes, and I hope that what I have described gives you a little more plastic insight into why we operate differently today – and why we need different leadership now and for the future.
At this point, I am now introducing the new paradigm of leadership. Being a leader today means something different than it used to mean. Role is focused on new and different challenges and goals. A leader’s performance today is measured by new and different criteria. So, let’s take a look.
- Leader is no longer a stabiliser, but a manager of change. Today, an organisation is successful when it follows events and developments in the environment in which it operates, when it is able to anticipate and respond well to change. Skill emphasised is not stabilisation (e.g. sticking to a set plan) but change management. It is important that plan we have allows for novelty, possibility and sufficient flexibility. It is important to detect important innovations and to introduce them appropriately (at the right scale, pace, etc.).
- Leader is no longer a controller but an enabler. Control is emphasised in situations where a leader on one hand and a followers on another work together as near adversaries. In a situation where a mission is shared or is common, where the organisation is really a group of people working towards a common goal, control must be replaced by enabling and helping. Leader helps followers with challenges, removes obstacles to their work, provides clarity of direction, and builds a relationship primarily on trust.
- A leader does not compete, but emphasises cooperation. Creating real value means bringing together a wide range of skills and perspectives. Collaboration, and thus the integration of different skills, must take place both inside and outside the organisation, without setting unnecessary boundaries.
- A leader does not promote equality, but diversity. Equality in core values (and mission) and diversity in skills, knowledge, life experiences and backgrounds. This is a kind of norm in the functioning of organisations today. We need versatile approaches and new perspectives on problem solving and we need a work environment that not only allows but encourages it.
- Leader is no longer a hero, but a humble person. A leader is not a superhuman, but an individual with a clear role in an organisation. A leader is interchangeable and is an equal to others. He or she plays a role that holds responsibility to an organisation to create good conditions to work and to perform well. For development of all members of an organisation. Quality of decisions is determined by knowledge and experience (not innate excellence), so the leader should make decisions and be decisive when he has the knowledge and consult or delegate when he does not have the necessary knowledge.
Conclusion
In learning what leadership should be today, and what really brings value and success to organisations today, I have had to challenge myself and change my views and perceptions about it. When you are exposed to stories growing up or when you observe the world around you, you can learn a lot of wrong things.
The new paradigm of leadership is a response to changes in society and to needs of society. It is also a response to problems we face in our working lives. It brings us many positive things, but it requires us to address our beliefs and to reframe some of our views on what it means to be a leader – and therefore a follower as well.
Paradim 