Is leadership changing?

I like to characterize the current environment as a tsunami of trends and forces fundamentally reshaping the work world. The major trends we think are fundamentally changing our world are:

1. The "Loch Ness Monster" Economy as it has been called
2. Globalization
3. Technology
4. Workforce and demographic changes (Net Gen, 5 generations, etc)

Welcome to the new normal!

Don Tapscott elaborates on this in his book, Wikinomics, "when technology, demographics, and global economics collide, you are faced with a category six (6) business revolution."

Like a category six storm, nothing is without impact, including fundamental roles like leadership. Which gets to our question, Is leadership changing? If so, how and what can you do about it as a leader?

I had a chance to sit down and interview international consultant and author, Emmanuel Gobillot who shares his thoughts about leadership in this "new normal".

My major takeaways from my time with Emmanuel are as follows:

1. Business is social - I like how he suggest leaders learn how to channel the "social networks" inside (and outside) their organizations and channel the informal energy toward the organization's purpose.
2.  It is about meaning & purpose - Job one of the leader is to define reality and find (and connect) meaning and purpose for their organization and people
3. It's not about you - Leadership is more about your followers, understanding their needs and how you can support them
4. Leadership is building capacity - I love Emmanuel's # 1 suggestion for leaders at the end of this interview where he says, the leaders should always ask himself, "Have I made them feel stronger and more capable."

Where do you start? What do you do Monday morning?

He says, start with your followers. Sit them down and check to see what are they dealing with and what do they need, then start from there.

Want the handbook for the new leadership model?

Buy Emmanuel's book, Leadershift: Reinventing Leadership for the Age of Mass Collaboration

Follow Emmanuel on Twitter - @egobillot or www.twitter.com/egobillot and follow us @bizlearn www.twitter.com/bizlearn and @tomhood or www.twitter.com/tomhood

More from Emmanuel Gobillot from MACPA's blog, CPA Success:

Leadership: What got you here won't get you there!

Good leaders just won't shut up by Bill Sheridan

The best leadership style? Yours. By Bill Sheridan

See a post from MACPA's CPA Success blog about Leadership and Emmanuel Gobillot

Want to schedule a session with Emmanuel (live or via webcast)?

Contact Pam Devine at the Business Learning Institute pam@bizlearning.net

Comments

[Emmanuel gobillot]

Hi Tom I guess the challenge for all of us involved in this exciting field in these exciting times is to work out what are the enduring truths and what are the changing elements. On the basis that human beings evolve at an incrediy slow rate I would agree with anyone who says past leadership models are still relevant to today's challenges but given that most were developed pre Internet (computers even) and pre global interconnected economies I would also challenge anyone who argues they should not be contextualized. Whatever the final answer there's a great deal to be learnt through the discussion. So thanks as usual to you and your team for starting and continuing the dialogue.

[Tom Hood]

Emmanuel,

Thanks for weighing in on the conversation. I agree totally with you. What leadership does is not changing but how it does it is changing with the changing context (the age of mass collaboration as your book suggests). This is a fascinating dialogue that started in class at MACPA's Beach Retreat in Ocean City, continued on twitter as you, Tom Peters, and a few more weighed in, and moved back to this blog also referenced by our Beach Retreat blog post:

http://www.cpasuccess.com/2011/07/reflections-from-the-beach-beach-retreat-that-is.html

This actually makes my point about leaders using new tools (like socmed - blogs, twitter, etc) to engage people, increase their rate of learning, and help mobilize that discretionary effort you elaborate so well.

Your point about context is also spot on. A good friend of mine says while content may be king, context is the kingdom!

Thanks for joining in...