OUR FUTURE LEADERS WILL NEED TO BE COMPASSIONATE AND EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT

Are You Rethinking Leadership in this New Reality in the Right Way?

If there is one thing that you will have discovered from the magnitude of the events in 2020 so far, it is how significantly interconnected and vulnerable our systems are.

In the face of the pandemic ‘business as normal’ has been challenged head-on and doesn’t exist anymore. We already refer to a ‘New Normal’. The events have tested our businesses as well as political systems more so than anything else in recent memory. A deadly infection gets triggered in one part of the world and rapidly spreads across the rest of the world without knowing any borders.

It has shown us how increasingly interconnected our businesses are and how dependent on technology, communication tools, and supply chains these systems have become.

We all had to adapt to lockdown, social distancing, and other obstacles in recent months. Those in a position to do so have adapted – working remotely and adopted new technologies to speed up digital transformation in their day-to-day rapidly. 

For this global interconnectedness to function as effectively as it should, a particular type of leadership is needed; leadership with a clear vision, a single future in mind, and the ability to inspire and guide this increasingly complex and uncertain world into this envisioned future.

Now is the time to stand up and demand more from our leaders and leadership principles as a whole. In this surreal transitional period, we need to start asking ourselves:

What type of leaders do we want and need for our tomorrow?

What skillset should such leadership possess?

Evidently, politicians and business leaders alike have struggled to respond effectively to the current climate. Which leads me to believe, conclusively, we should not prize the same kinds of leadership qualities that we have in the past. We no longer require hero leadership figures like “the big tough guy”, “the smart guy who says he knows it all.”

These leaders led us in the direction of absolution. Our fate, both in societal and business systems, has been in the hands of the few, and it hasn’t been exactly successful. The problem with this kind of leadership is that it doesn’t work for the vast majority. Those kinds of leaders are fallible because they’re prone to mistakes, ego and other flaws. 

And when someone disagrees with them, too many react out of emotion, ego, and uninformed opinion than that of informed intellect and sound judgment. It is this shortsighted perspective we need to move away from, and we need to do it fast. It is no longer just about your organization or community. It’s the other systems that interact with them, the interconnectedness. We have now seen this play-out in real-time. 

The world; beautifully made up of mostly similar, but different cultures, traditions and behaviors demands; tolerance, respect, collaboration and fairness among its citizens across the board, something I call the etiquette of global citizenship.

Now that we know what we don’t want, what is it that we need?

I genuinely believe we need to start to prioritize the following six leadership qualities going forward to drive a more compassionate and emotionally intelligent leadership culture:

Passion

The leaders of tomorrow’s ‘New Normal’ will be genuinely passionate. They will harness an intense enthusiasm. This strong desire enhances commitment, efficiency, productivity and ultimate team success.

Passionate leaders inspire their teams and those around them. It is this intense enthusiasm that explains why the majority of successful leaders regard their work as a passion, not a job. In being passionate, you’re also exposing a level of vulnerability which again builds trust and hence leads to stronger interpersonal relationships.

Persistence

‘New Normal’ leaders will need to persevere in the face of opposing obstacles and challenges. 

Persistence is about continuing with a course of action despite the difficulty and opposition—the courage and ability to continue pursuing a goal, in spite of greater challenges along the way.

With all facts on the table and a vision in mind, a leader driving change should be ready to face stakeholders and engage them in candid discussions that may probably not please everybody.

Systems-Thinkers

Leaders of the ‘New Normal’ will need to understand how the big picture works and how everything is interconnected. How individuals fit within their functions and where they overlap for teamwork and engagement. 

This type of ‘systems thinking’ will be required in two ways:

First, they will understand that everything is connected and that their choices and priorities should articulate that. Future outcomes are a reflection of today’s decisions and actions.

Business systems are combinations of things that should exceed the sum of their parts. A business is more than its products and people; the interconnection between these helps the company thrive. Leaders of tomorrow will need the capacity to connect the dots—the ability to observe the links and understand their broader implications carefully. The actions of a leader almost always have second-order effects on the whole system. So the ‘New Normal’ leaders will be aware of that and make decisions based upon that of the greater system, not just short-term results.

The second point is that leaders will understand that ‘systems thinking’ applies to their teams. The team they lead will be smarter than them. This means they will need to be both intellectually honest & humble. The leaders of the ‘new normal’ will unlock the potential of the team, instead of being the one who has all the ideas and calls the shots. This means that they will need to be both intellectually honest & humble.

Intellectual Honesty

Leaders of the ‘New Normal’ will be intellectually honest. They will not attempt to navigate the murky waters of intellectual dishonesty where one finds them peddling misinformation. 

Leaders will instead be providers of truth, useful and correct information. As industries become more complex and connected – a reliance on collaboration is needed to make business systems work. At the heart of cooperation are transparency and honesty.

Intellectual humbleness

Leaders of the ‘New Normal’ will need to be humble. Leaders can only facilitate and draw new connections if they are open to it. This requires the leader to have a level of humility to help a team of people who will be smarter than them to unlock its full potential. 

What is meant here is that they will need self-awareness to the extent of their knowledge. They will need to be open and willing to change their minds when new information is presented and humble enough, open and receptive to different views as well as new sources of evidence. 

We need adaptable leaders. When it comes to leadership, flexibility is the new strong.

Empathy

Leaders of the ‘New Normal’ will need to be empathetic. 

It’s increasingly becoming impossible for one to isolate him or herself from those who look, speak or behave differently. You will need to look outward for unique and diverse inspiration or collaboration than limit yourself to inward sources only.

Leaders of the ‘New Normal’ will need to be kind, and understanding of other’s situations and feelings – empathetic. Leaders who are trustworthy, respectful and respected by an overwhelming majority.

Leaders of the ‘New Normal’ will not only be required to solve problems by confronting them but will need to address the root causes of such issues, be it problems caused by; systematic injustice, inequality or any other societal challenge that usually triggers unrest.

The ‘New Normal’ Leaders will Influence

When leaders demonstrate the six qualities above, they can motivate individuals and teams to behave in a certain way. Unlike managers, influencers can inspire their followers into taking action; to win people’s trust through inspiration rather than compulsion. However, for influence to last, it needs genuine integrity and authenticity.

The ‘New Normal’ Leaders will inspire teamwork

A common goal is one of the ways these new leaders should be judged upon, unifying different functions around a shared objective. It is through the collaborative effort of the group that teamwork comes alive in lasting form.

Being a compassionate and emotionally intelligent leader for a team entails; having the capacity to ensure that interdependence among team members – towards a single destiny is created and preserved. This style of leadership challenges preconceptions about those in positions of influence and authority. This ends the need for an all-knowing, all-powerful, omnipotent leader. This dated and flawed concept of leadership will be replaced in time.

The leaders of tomorrow, who will establish themselves in the ‘New Normal’, will be connectors and facilitators, they will need to be an active listener, excellent communicator, conflict manager, better at delegating, consensus-driven, inspiring and a leader by example. It will be through their empathetic strength, that their teams will align with them by default.

It will be systems-thinking leaders that see the ‘bigger picture’ of the business system, the sum of its parts, how each individual or its department’s contribution affects the operational flow of its system.

These leaders will ally themselves to their team; compelled to know what makes their team tick from building rapport with their highly skilled team to acknowledging the full extent of each individual’s capabilities. Thus, replacing the need for micromanagement. It will be through facilitation leaders will motivate their teams toward their shared objective.

Leadership will become more about inspiring, uniting and ensuring that their team functions together as a unit. It will be empathetic leaders that provide a sense of direction and purpose, understanding that indeed; “In the absence of reason visions collapse”. It is a vision that gives direction.

Imagine if every leader of every company was a systems thinker who was intellectually honest, humble, practiced empathy, and charitable.

It is these ‘What If’ scenarios in profound times as we are currently witnessing that will challenge and change our perspectives on leadership as we know it. This may sound like a fantasy to some, but to those of you that resonate with this let it shine. Speak of this desire for change, share it, or be the change for it is only then that we can shape the future together. 

The ‘New Normal’ is for those that can dream it, and it will be together that we will make it. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”.

This is the kind of leadership that’s needed now and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.