We aren’t living in an age of change, but in a change of age. The command and control paradigm of leadership is losing ground. A new paradigm is emerging but its characteristics are still hazy. Elements like self-management, trust and a human-centered approach seem to be part of it. Soft skills are becoming the core of leadership.
The paradigm change requires from leaders a fundamental shift in how they look at and interact with the world around them. They can’t keep doing what they always did because what got them there won’t get them into the future. For that they need to navigate in uncharted territory.
Because the new paradigm is still evolving, leaders and employees need to map their road into the uncertain future by casting their net inside and outside of the organization, spending time with a wide diversity of people to enrich their ideas and insights and make sense of all the complex information and data that they are receiving. This requires more listening than talking, keeping their curiosity channels wide open and postponing their judgements. Modern leaders have bigger ears than mouths.