Novel Challenges of Leadership Development
Home 9 Leader's Digest 9 Novel Challenges of Leadership Development

by | Dec 5, 2013 | Leader's Digest

As technology continues to evolve rapidly in the telecommunications sector, aspects such as mobility and social media have had profound impacts on business operations. Aside from technology, a younger, more diverse workforce has surfaced in virtually every industry in North America and abroad, forcing enterprises to rethink their approaches to leadership development and talent management.

Leaders are often the glue that holds a firm’s personnel, processes and brand image together, and as such need to be prepared through extensive and advanced training programs. Organizations that focus on developing exceptional managers, supervisors and executives will likely experience fewer disruptions that often come with shifting market and workforce landscapes.

Fresh disrupter
New communications methods have already started to force managers and executives to become far more fluent in the languages of social media, email and instant messaging-based discussions. CLO Media recently described some of the unique challenges companies are facing when trying to identify and train leadership-level staff members in light of the increasing prevalence of social media.

The source asserted that managers need to be able to maintain a consistent and effective persona when communicating with employees through a variety of channels. What’s more, the news provider explained that leaders need to be able to perpetuate charisma, confidence, persuasion and creativity through these channels to truly engage their staff members.

This is not the first time that experts have suggested enterprises adjust their leadership training programs because of disruptive technology. Strategies that have been in place for more than a few years, especially those that have not even been reviewed, will likely not help new managers achieve stronger performances or respect in their positions.

Companies need to evaluate their approaches to training through the lens of corporate objectives and market research, then use the information garnered to create more modernized development programs for managers.

Future considerations
The Guardian recently listed several lessons and topics that companies should integrate into leadership development programs to boost their operational sustainability. Agility, flexibility and sustainability have become more than just buzzwords in the public and private sectors, and are now instead attributes of some of the most resilient and successful organizations.

This begins at the leadership level, as managers need to be able to align their projects with long-term corporate sustainability goals. To remain relevant in a rapidly evolving economic landscape, businesses will need to better prepare their leaders for the road ahead.

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