10 Trend-right Leadership Skills for Today

1. Leadership … balanced with authenticity, respect for others, intentionally building trust … “strategic leadership.”
2. Visionary leadership is frequently mentioned when a company is on a new path, adopting a new strategy, or at a tipping point in its growth … all very important.
3. Strategic thinking and execution. “Strategic foresight”- the ability to think strategically in a visionary Only a small percentage of executives have this innate talent.
4. Technology Knowledge. Need to understand how technology is impacting organizations and how to utilize and exploit technology with common sense based on wherewithal of company. This takes a thinkingtype executive who can envision, implement, and execute. A very powerful skill … and necessary for today’s leaders.
5. Financial acumen and industry savvy/knowledge. This is important for those who want to have that “visionary” trait.
6. Team- and relationship-building … be able to hire and develop an exceptionally strong leadership team. You cannot succeed as a one-person player in a mid size or larger organization, and it can be a struggle in a small company. It takes a team … a constantly improving team. And teams require leaders and doers. (Good new book Team of Team by General Stanley McChrystal)
7. Ability to communicate and present (verbally, written, by example) … at three levels … first with peers (team members); second with indirect reports (the DOERs); and third, above (with the organizations’ top leaders; the board, etc.).
8. Change-management. Leading transformation … motivated by a continuous-improvement mindset, a sense of always upgrading the organization, building better processes and systems, improving relationships, increasing market share, and developing others (leadership).
9. Integrity and a reputation for ethical conduct. Although not a skill per se, these attributes are highly valued. Today personal integrity and ethical behavior are important … as well as being authentic in everything you seek to accomplish.
10. Seek EXCELLENCE … in everything! We cannot be perfect, but we can try to excel at everything you are doing … especially leadership.

What would you add or take away?

© Phil Hoffman 2016. All rights reserved