164 / DEVELOPING LEADERS
Adopting new
leadership patterns
Profiting from change
In business today, leaders need to manage and
inspire not just their core teams but groups of
freelancers, temporary staff, and outsourcers.
Engaging such potentially disparate groups to
align them with the vision and values of the
organization is the new leadership challenge.
Leaders today may be heading up a virtual
team—with members based globally—
formed around a customer problem that
needs solving or an innovative idea rather
than a group of people physically working
together for the same employer. Leaders
with the ability to be agile, to build virtual
networks, teams, and alliances quickly,
will be the long-term winners.
In the coming years, leaders will look
less and less to their employers to provide
a framework or support system for their
life—they will need to develop it themselves.
As an individual aiming to survive in this rapidly
changing environment, you will need to be
excellent at understanding customer needs
and have supreme confidence in your ability
to deliver, and market, yourself. Thinking
creatively and with vision, both about your
career and personal mission, should become
a life-long process and a central theme in
your continued success.
The 20th-century idea of a job for life is rapidly being superseded by
the concept of the portfolio career. Today’s leaders need to be skilled
in change management because their own careers are almost certain
to be characterized by frequent transition. The emphasis has shifted
from excelling in a particular corporate position to excelling in one
vital project—leading your own life based on consistent principles.
Practice new
skills and
behaviors
Refine your brand
Identify your next
direction for
development
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ADOPTING NEW LEADERSHIP PATTERNS / 165
Branding yourself
So how exactly do you develop yourself
as a leader for the 21st century? One way
of answering this question is to think of
what you can deliver to your customers
as a brand. Your brand signals your
professional, technical, and functional
knowledge and skills, and also your
position in the market. Aim to develop
yourself much as you would steer a
brand. Shape your product (what you
offer) to anticipate customer demand,
and develop your identity to make the
best fit with desirable clients. For
example, should your next client be a
small enterprise where you can work
closely on your entrepreneurial acumen,
or should it be a large corporation where
you can refresh process management
knowledge? Carefully consider your next
steps; how will they shape your brand?
How to develop
continuously
Assess your
competencies
and match with
customer needs
Recognize your
potential for
development
Listen to customers;
engage with others;
join networks;
initiate alliances
Take an
assignment
to stretch you
Learn from
best practice
Leaders with the ability
to be agile, to build
virtual networks and
alliances quickly, will be
the long-term winners
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