21st Century Leadership

From managing economic crises, tackling environmental issues, to combating

poverty and inequality, solving the challenges facing us in the 21st century requires
a paradigm shift in our current leadership thinking.

In our globally connected world characterized by unprecedented social, economic

and technological change, we cannot continue working with a leadership mindset
that is still deeply rooted in the Industrial Age of the 20th century.

Therefore I have developed a set of 10 core leadership competencies required for

the 21st century.
1. Developing a vision & strategy

Following the principles of Transformational

Leadership, 21st century leaders point the way and
develop a strategic vision that describes where their
organization wants to go.

This vision must be communicated and explained to

all stakeholders to create a shared purpose and
“translated” into different strategic initiatives.
Image courtesy of ratch0013 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

With a clear vision leaders provide a framework that

sets the direction, inspires people and drives
collaboration.
2. Focusing on results

21st century leaders have a bias for action and are

relentless about getting things done.

In our digitized world of the 21st century the speed of

execution is one of the key success factors in
business.

The phrase “Done is better than perfect”, cited

frequently in business circles, stresses the importance
of this competency.

Image courtesy of ratch0013 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

3. Managing diverse workforces

21st century leaders hire great diverse talent.

To achieve the best results, a leader needs to find out

what each team member can do best and what
he/she is passionate about. Then he must give each
member the freedom to work and to grow within
his/her unique area of competence.

Thus, a 21st century leader has to be both an

investigator (to find that area together with the team
member) and a companion who provides support (if
needed) and feedback on a regular basis. Image courtesy of ratch0013 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
4. Communicating effectively

We are living a global, IT-driven, networked world

where information can be stored and exchanged
within milliseconds.

Organizations and its leaders need to make sure that

they keep up with the latest technological
developments. By using social intranets, specific
networks or apps, 21st century leaders utilize the new
technology to communicate faster with their
employees, customers etc. in a bidirectional way.

In our digitized world of radical transparency the

speed and the quality of communication will be key
Image courtesy of ratch0013 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

business drivers.
5. Embracing innovation

People cannot be creative if they are working under

constant pressure and the fear of making mistakes.

They can only be innovative if they are living in a

collaborative working culture that surmounts self-
interest and bossiness.

To foster innovation, a 21st century leader, by

following the ideas of Authentic Leadership,
establishes both the working environment and culture
that facilitate openness, collaboration, constant
learning and innovative thinking. Image courtesy of ratch0013 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
6. Shaping corporate culture

Shaping corporate culture and managing cultural

change are one of the most important tasks for a 21st
century leader.

Culture is the "background music" in every

organization that determines how things are done
and how people work together.

Understanding the culture of an organization means

understanding its belief system and understanding the
belief system is a prerequisite for leading successful
change and transformation processes.
Image courtesy of ratch0013 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
7. Maintaining ethics, professionalism and integrity

As the work of a global leader is not just impacting a

company's employees but also its partners,
stakeholders and society in general, leaders should
maintain a very high standard of ethics,
professionalism and integrity.

This means that 21st century leaders permanently

need to reflect themselves and put their work, their
behavior and their private life to the test.

Image courtesy of ratch0013 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

8. Cultivating a global mindset

21st century leaders have a global business acumen

and a high level of global mindset.

They need to be open-minded and embrace diversity

to better understand cultural differences.

This enables them to work and communicate more

effectively with employees, customers, partners and
vendors from other countries.

Image courtesy of ratch0013 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

9. Practicing systems thinking

Systems thinking is one of the most important

competencies for 21st century leaders. The discipline
of systems thinking is useful for seeing and
understanding wholes, interrelations and change
patterns.

This will not just help leaders to utilize the diverse

organizational functions for generating innovative
products or services for their customers but also to
utilize the diverse talents of employees into a
productive whole.
Image courtesy of ratch0013 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
10. Living agile

Leaders in today’s complex and fast-moving business

world must be agile to be able to respond to the
constantly changing needs of the employees,
customers and markets.

In a broader sense, being an agile 21st century leader

refers to remaining flexible, innovative, growing from
your own mistakes and being bold enough to abandon
unsuccessful strategies, products, methods or Image courtesy of ratch0013 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

processes.