On the 6th November 2015, TTS hosted a networking and interactive information session focused on the challenges faced by senior and executive leaders in the prevailing market turbulence and disruption. Among the leaders present were HR Executives from leading business and academic institutes. During the session delegates shared insights on how the leaders in their respective organisations were responding to the current reality and the actions they were taking to prepare future leaders for the challenges ahead.
The following key themes emerged from the session:
- Business challenges faced by leaders have changed significantly over the past 3-5 years, with senior and executive leaders being impacted the most.
- Today’s business environment requires leaders to possess complex and adaptive thinking abilities beyond what has been needed in the past.
- Digital disruption is resulting in an increasing number of leadership skill-sets becoming obsolete.
- Very few leaders have been formally prepared to deal with the realities of leading or responding to the type of disruption we are experiencing today.
- To be successful in the future, leaders need to become more contextually agile and have the ability to both conceptualise and lead change across increasingly diverse and sometimes virtual workforces.
- Represented organisations are investing significant resources into building leadership bench-strength to assure a supply of future leaders capable of executing strategic plans in a rapidly changing environment.
The session revealed that the combination of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) being experienced today is profoundly changing how business is conducted as well as how business leaders are required to lead. A consequence of this is that in order to remain competitive and sustainable, organisations are being forced to re-evaluate their criteria for leadership success, and review their existing approaches to leadership selection and development. Overall the session yielded valuable insights on the current business environment and its implications for leaders.
For more information on optimising leadership effectiveness contact us at info@tts-talent.com