21st Century Leadership
I am currently in the process of attempting to hone what it is that impacts on the way leaders manage. Obviously this is informed by the context in which they lead. But it is no longer a context which can just be cut and pasted. I have been working with my partner, Dave Duarte on identifying and understanding what the issues are which will inform and drive a new leadership style. These have been my BETA conclusions and I would love the input from others especially as we have to present these findings next week to a bunch of senior executives of a not insignificant organisation. They relate to five arenas:
- Community Based Economies – the articulation from commodity to product to service to experience as the base of a community driven experience
- Beta Testing – the realisation that consumers are forgiving and that we are Allowed to play in the arenas that may not immediately yield the Perfect but at least there is an allowance for the exciting which with their input may well become the important – God gets in through the cracks.
- Social Networks – Getting away from the old adage which says we need to know everyone and instead focusing on those nodes of a network which really influence well and with the least effort
- Ecological Innovation – Drawing on lessons from the environment which not only make us feel good but which genuinely harness profit in a way which does not strip mine the environment
- Attention – The realization that the exhausting attempt to keep up with everything serves no one and attempting to use tools which hone our understanding of what value really means for our significant engagement in the world.
We are attempting to use these five places as a way to harness a different and important 21st century sensibility. I would welcome your insights.
