1. BIOSS
Southern
Africa
DNA of the leader of the future:
what competencies do we look for, how to
assess these and how do we develop them
March
2015
Lisa
Ashton

3. THE
FUTURE:
MANAGING
THE
UNEXPECTED
Kenneth
Boulding:
“the
human
condi.on
can
almost
be
summed
up
in
the
observa.on
that,
whereas
all
experience
are
of
the
past,
all
decisions
are
about
the
future.
The
image
of
the
future,
therefore,
is
the
key
to
all
choice-­‐
orientated
behaviour.
The
character
and
quality
of
the
images
of
the
future
which
prevail
in
a
society
are
therefore
the
most
important
clue
to
its
overall
dynamics”.
Alan
Kay:
“the
best
way
to
predict
the
future,”
Kay
said,
“is
to
create
it.”

4. LEADERSHIP
AND
THE
NEXT
GENERATION
QUESTION
1
1. What
is
understood
by
“next
generaQon”
?
2. What
would
their
needs
be?

5. CONSIDER
THE
“NEXT
GENERATION”
AS
A
DIFFERENT
PARADIGM
FOR
LEADERSHIP
THINKING
QUESTION
2
1. Will
our
prevailing
paradigms
or
mental
models
of
thinking
about
leadership
and
organisaQons
remain
relevant
or
will
they
be
replaced
by
others?
2. What
would
these
be?

6. WHAT
LEADERSHIP
COMPETENCIES
DO
WE
NEED
TO
DEVELOP
AND
INCUBATE?
QUESTION
3
How
should
we
change
or
what
should
be
different?
What
Challenges
will
leaders
face
What
skills
or
competencies
will
they
require?

7. Some
Thoughts
on
Above
QuesQons
THE
LEADER
OF
THE
FUTURE
March
2015

8. CHALLENGES
OF
THE
FUTURE
The
‘leadership’
challenge
will
not
be
about
knowledge
as
knowledge
is
easily
available.
It
will
be
about
the
capacity
to
move
people
towards
co-­‐created
and
shared
vision
The
challenge
will
be
to
manage
the
dissonance
between
the
generaQons
in
the
workplace
Leadership
challenges
will
be
culture,
values
and
ethics
and
how
to
bring
these
together

9. CHALLENGES
OF
THE
FUTURE
Authority
as
we
know
it
will
not
be
a
moQvaQonal
lever
Coaching
and
mentoring
will
become
increasingly
important
Leaders
of
the
future
may
be
well
qualified
but
may
lack
experience
/
depth
and
leadership
skills
The
future
will
be
more
compeQQve
and
aggressive
The
future
will
be
more
about
sustainability,
values,
collaboraQon
and
co-­‐creaQon
and
developing
scalable
soluQons
for
the
world

10. CHALLENGES
OF
THE
FUTURE
Conscious
Capitalism
will
be
required
The
future
will
be
a
playing
field
with
a
limited
and
bounded
environment
with
depleted
resources
Leadership
will
be
needed
to
create
value
in
a
sustainable
way
within
a
limited
framework.

11. LEADERSHIP
COMPETENCIES
WE
NEED
TO
DEVELOP
-­‐
SOME
SUGGESTIONS
InnovaQon
and
creaQvity
CollaboraQon
&
co-­‐creaQon
Crading
a
shared
vision
of
the
future;
Ability
to
Inspire
and
create
Hope
Comfortable
with
RevoluQon
and
Risk
Integrity
Conscious
Capitalism
Comfortable
with
complexity
and
uncertainty
EffecQve
communicaQon
Ability
to
relate,
understand
and
interact
Comfortable
with
complexity
and
uncertainty
CollecQve
mind-­‐set
Mindfulness
JusQce,
fairness,
equity,
taking
a
stand;
Stewardship
and
statesmanship
AppreciaQon

12. GIVEN
THE
UNCERTAINTY…WHAT
CAN
WE
DO
NOW?
WORKABLE
SOLUTIONS
Start
NOW!
Take
a
slice
of
employees
across
the
different
func6ons,
and
call
them
the
“next
genera6on”
leaders;
Guard
against
developing
a
patronising
understanding
of
what
“develop”
in
“developing
the
next
genera6on
of
leaders”
means
Increase
the
dialogue.
Think
and
talk
more
about
the
environment
and
resources,
managing
them
in
a
sustainable
manner
and
iden6fy
what
innova6on
needs
to
be
established;
Encourage
more
collaboraQon
Encourage
more
engagement

13. WORKABLE
SOLUTIONS
Nurture
more
understanding
amidst
diversity;
Do
more
coaching.
Coaching
is
the
leadership
of
tomorrow.
In
crea6ng
collabora6on
plaCorms,
leaders
must
listen,
have
meaningful
conversa6ons
and
give
the
opportunity
to
collaborate.
In
doing
so,
they
are
giving
over
ownership
and
responsibility.
Exercise
conversaQon
and
co-­‐creaQon
extensively;
Empower
staff.
It
is
crucial
to
iden6fy
people
at
an
entry
level
and
find
a
way
of
empowering
them
with
the
skills
and
competencies
that
will
build
the
future
in
terms
of
the
challenges
we
are
currently
facing.
Coach
them
inside
ins6tu6ons
of
other
societal
challenges
to
broaden
their
skills
and
knowledge;
Encourage
research
and
creaQve
thinking.
There
will
be
a
lot
of
research
discussion
and
crea6ve
thinking
that
will
need
to
take
place;

14. WORKABLE
SOLUTIONS
Move
the
‘non-­‐movers’
Create
a
new
company
culture.
There
needs
to
be
a
cri6cal
mass
of
next
genera6on
leaders
in
order
to
influence
the
culture.
Baby
Boomers
alone
cannot
design
the
incubator.
It
is
important
to
give
the
next
genera6on
the
freedom
to
develop
the
answers
themselves
Introduce
more
flexibility.
Flexibility
will
be
needed
and
it
is
crucial
to
understand
that
there
is
no
‘one
size
fits
all’
in
this
process;
Combine
a
‘business
orientated’
focus
with
a
‘society
orientated’
focus.
Next
genera6on
leaders
need
to
assimilate
this
fundamental
change
into
the
business
culture
of
the
company

15. WORKABLE
SOLUTIONS
Use
sustainability
of
the
company
to
uplid
society.
There
needs
to
be
a
great
deal
of
aLen6on
placed
on
the
challenges
the
country
faces.
Start
an
introduc6on
of
a
thought
process
away
from
‘self-­‐enrichment’
towards
focusing
on
real
upliOment
of
the
community.
Ul6mately,
this
will
shiO
thinking
to
focus
on
how
we
sustain
the
company
and
yet
s6ll
upliO
society;
Reduce
management,
increase
leadership.
Next
genera6on
leaders
might
mould
themselves
and
make
use
of
the
approach
of
less
management
and
more
leadership
and,
by
doing
so,
inspire
people
to
take
responsibility
and
make
a
meaningful
contribu6on
within
the
company
and
society;
Challenge
the
capitalist
model
as
the
ONLY
way.
We
might
have
to
add
to
this
model
as
this
is
possibly
disempowering
us
due
to
the
profit
making
drive;

16. IMPLICATIONS
FOR
LEADERSHIP:
WHAT
HAVE
I
LEARNT?
Whole
Person
v Reflec6veness,
good
judgement
and
meta-­‐cogni6on
v Ability
to
deal
with
complexity
and
uncertainty
v Listening
skills,
ques6oning
skills,
observa6on
skills
v Empathy,
compassion
v Openness,
respect,
authen6city,
open
eyes
/
open
mind
v Percep6ve
v Rela6vis6c
thinking,
non-­‐judgemental,
detachment
v Knowledge
of
limits
(humility)
Strategies
to
cope
with
v Collabora6ve
Strategies
v Skills
of
collabora6on
are
limited!

17. • Appreciative conversations
• In appreciation of Slowness
• Collaborative skills
• Collective capability
LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT?