Leadership is one of the essential human qualities, without which progress in any area would be impossible. However, although its essence does not change, the way leadership is realized changes with society. While many centuries ago, the strongest member of society was chosen as a leader, today, leaders are valued for their social skills. The purpose of this essay is to analyze an article looking at the evolution of leadership and its components that will be needed in the near future.
An article contributed by Grand Thornton focuses on global business and the factors that influence it the most. According to the experts, the current economy is on the brink of a new industrial revolution, caused, for the most part, by a whole series of new technologies (“The future of leadership,” 2019). Among all others, three key factors stand out in the article: the creation of a digitally connected world, the active development of artificial intelligence technologies, and the increase in the use of automation and robots. However, technology is not the only driving force, as changes in demographics and shifts in social and moral values also affect how people interact with each other.
All this leads to the formation of a new set of qualities necessary for modern leaders. They must be innovative, adaptive, and capable of collaboration (“The future of leadership,” 2019). Nevertheless, the need for leaders to formulate a clear plan of action and a clear understanding of the situation is still relevant. In addition, a strong emphasis should be placed on educating their followers. Future leaders must train people to work with new technologies and conditions in which diversity, inclusion, and culture are highly valued. According to the experts, talent and competition are starting to appear not where the industry expects them at the moment. Hence, adaptation is one of the most important tasks of a leader.
This article discusses many expert opinions on how the industry will change shortly under the influence of modern trends. However, because business is closely related to leadership figures, the text touches on many of the issues associated with leadership. For example, due to the spread of technology, it is necessary to move from old types of leadership to new ones that integrate modern features. While old practices have often been centered around personality, modern leadership requires a high degree of innovation and collaboration to be successful (Vlok et al., 2019). Consequently, there is a problem with educating a new generation of leaders who will be able to implement modern technologies effectively in the work of a team. In addition, the very principle of interaction with people is changing due to increasing globalization.
Finally, the principles described in the article are aimed at the near future, for 2030. However, they do not consider the changes that have occurred in the world due to COVID-19. Nevertheless, even without considering the context of the pandemic, the problems and areas of work described are relevant to the needs of modern society. For example, the principle of adaptation includes, among other things, adjusting to changing external conditions, in the role of which various large-scale disasters can act. Therefore, although the article is not directly related to COVID-19 due to its release date, the tips and techniques described in it can be applied to resolve even such problematic situations efficiently.
Thus, from my point of view, this text very accurately describes current trends both in the field of business in general and in the concept of leadership. This concept is indeed evolving, and approaches that were used even several decades ago cannot be practical at the moment. To be an effective leader requires more than just getting along well with people. In addition, one needs to understand the global picture, quickly adapt to all changes and manage to introduce innovations and trends into work to achieve maximum results. Therefore, in my opinion, this article can be used as a starting point for further research on the role of leaders in modern society and the ingredients of leadership necessary for success in modern economics.
References
The future of leadership: Anticipating 2030. (2019). Grand Thornton. Web.
Vlok, A., Ungerer, M., & Malan, J. (2019). Integrative leadership for technology innovation. International Journal of Technology Management, 79(3-4), 247-273. Web.