Careers Club at Coca-Cola – Futureproof your leadership
Careers Club at Coca-Cola – Futureproof your leadership
We had the great honour and pleasure of talking at the WATC Careers Club earlier this week – on the subject of futureproofing your leadership.
We were at the fabulous Coca-Cola offices in central London – great place for it! The room was full of engaged, formal and informal leaders at different stages of their career. It was great to watch and hear their (or your – as we do hope that some of you are reading this today) awareness and commitment to becoming the best leader they can be.
Because there is not just one way of being a great leader – the best leaders we have ever come across are clever in seeing that they have a unique recipe for leadership, made up by strengths, knowledge, skills, experience, personality and EQ – and then making the most of that mixture in the particular leadership role they are in.
However, time doesn’t stand still and neither should we, as leaders – so even authentic leadership needs to continuously develop to meet the challenges of the future.
Education is the passport to the future,
for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
Malcolm X
The world and our reality in which we are operating, is changing continuously and so does our leadership. Factors like globalisation, the expectations of new generations as well as sustainability goals, push and encourage a new type of leadership.
Future leaders need to be authentic, strengths-focused, inclusive, flexible, great listeners, curious and open-minded – to capture others interest and engagement, to be able to create dialogue and cross-pollination of ideas that can solve the challenges of the future.
This can sound big and over-whelming, but it really doesn’t have to be.
Just remember that great leadership is about influencing others and enabling others to do a great job.
And with that in mind, think about what behaviour(s) you can further develop to make that happen. Maybe you want to practice your listening, your feedback skills or your open-mindedness (=listening without having to be “right”) – or something entirely different. Only you know what’s going to be most useful for you.
Whatever it is, make the commitment to do it and notice the strides you take to futureproof your leadership. And with that kind of commitment, we know you’ll do great!
About the authors
Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, award-winning authors of ”The Team Formula”.
Their latest book ”Leading Teams – 10 Challenges: 10 Solutions” is out now, published by Financial Times International. You can download a free chapter of the book at www.leadingteamsbook.com
Praise for ”Leading Teams: ”This book is a 21st-century guide on how to build a world-class team. I highly recommend it” Steve Siebold, Founder, Mental Toughness University, Florida USA.
