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Top 5 Business Leadership Trends for the New Age
Rapidly changing technology, ever-evolving shifts in the workforce demographics, and emerging global economic trends, all call for a leader that is agile and flexible enough to account for these changes. Today’s leaders must be all awake in the face of new challenges and opportunities that will inevitably come their way. Today, leadership does not stop at just strategizing a profit-winning business plan. It encompasses everything from ensuring inclusivity and being tech-savvy to accounting for the sustainability of the business and having good emotional intelligence.
5 Best Business Leadership Trends
Let's discuss the emerging leadership trends that will shape the future of work. A modern leader needs to come to terms with these trends to stay ahead of the curve.
Diversity and Inclusion
The concept of DE&I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) has garnered much attention. Companies have realized the importance of a diverse workforce to foster innovation and growth. According to McKinsey’s report, companies with a diverse workforce and an inclusive environment have clearly outperformed their counterparts who do not focus on DE&I. A direct relationship between representation and performance has been observed. Greater representation of the employees, better their performance in the company.
There can be various ways to promote diversity and inclusion in the company. However, it has to start with tweaking the company's culture to one where employees feel respected and included irrespective of their race, gender, or sexual orientation. The other ways include hiring a diverse workforce, investing in the training and development of the employees, and dismantling the systemic barriers and biases within the company.
The triple bottom line
Sustainability as a concept surfaced a few decades ago in corporate strategy. Back then, the shareholders of the businesses were skeptical about the concept, and the concept was considered extraneous. The primary motive of the businesses was to produce profits. Hence the concept remained in books and didn’t translate into tangible corporate actions. Recent years saw increasing temperatures, a vicious pandemic, rising income inequality, and increased geopolitical tensions. All this has caused an increased demand for incorporating sustainability into the business from all its four key stakeholders, the investors, the industry peers, the consumers, and the government. Followings are some of the prevalent trends in the market that says so −
The ESG metric (environmental, social, and governance) of the companies is one of the most important metrics investors look at before investing today.
Studies show that 50 percent of consumers are willing to pay a premium price for products that positively affect the environment and society.
More than 60 percent of US companies have committed to operating completely on renewable energy in the near future.
Hence, leaders of businesses today must take up the Triple Bottom Line approach which ensures that businesses cater to all three dimensions- People, Planet and Profit. It is no longer optional but an important ingredient for businesses to exist in today’s highly conscious world.
Ability to lead remote teams
The existence of remote teams in the workplace has undergone a historic transformation. It changed from being a convenient alternative for a sick employee to an absolutely essential means of conducting business in situations like a pandemic. Thanks to the Covid-19 era. But surprisingly, even after the pandemic subsided, the urge for the employee to remote work has not subsided. A Gartner report says that nearly 40 percent of employees across the world would leave their organization if they were made to work onsite. 55 percent of the employees are in favor of a hybrid working model. The numbers prove enough that the concept of remote work is going to stay which calls for leaders who are able to lead these remote teams.
Leaders of today must be able to deal with poor online behaviors like virtual microaggressions and cyberbullying that can have a lasting impact on an employee.
If not dealt with, it can lead to cyber-ostracism where an individual is excluded from all virtual communications be it, group chats or work emails. Hence, in the future, only those leaders will stand out who, despite the distance, are able to foster a sense of unity in their employees and keep them motivated to work.
Digital Transformation
New developments in the technology domain with every passing day have made it imperative for leaders to embrace digital transformation and keep pace with the changes. In fact, just being aware would not suffice. They need to come up with ways to integrate these latest technologies into their business and transform the way their business delivers value. After all, digital transformation is not just about being aware of the latest technologies. It is about changing the entire way an organization thinks and works with improvement and innovation being the central focus. When executed properly, digital transformation will not only drive the bottom line of the business but also improve its operational efficiency, competitiveness, and customer satisfaction.
Hence, leaders of today need to be visionary enough to drive digital transformation.
Well-being Leadership
The covid-19 pandemic taught the world the importance of mental and emotional well-being, as workers across the domains faced additional anxiety and stress. Gone are the days when solely focusing on profits would drive the organization off the shore. Today, a strong focus on the well-being of the employees is equally important. At a time, when mental stress is at an all-time high, guiding employees about how to maintain a work-life balance becomes crucial for an efficient leader. Empathy and compassion are most expected of leaders today. The advantages of efficient well-being leadership include increased productivity, better employee retention, and a healthy happiness index of the organization.
Conclusion
The rapidly evolving business landscape demands a fresh approach to leadership. Today, the world needs leaders who can navigate through these changes and help their organizations stand out. Additionally, leaders of today, need to be more humane, and, besides focusing on profit-making, also focus on diversity, equity, sustainability, and mental stability of the stakeholders.
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