For this to make sense we have to look at the history of leadership a bit.

• The leader in the cave

The strongest and the fittest ruled. They were the supplier of food, because of their superior hunting skills and cunning. They were the bravest of the brave and the most feared of the feared. When they got older the young took over, almost like the animal kingdom. The lost loyal became their friends and they were the privilege ones. Empathy and sympathy did not exist, because that could kill you and your reign. What they said were law and if you dared go against that, how do you think that worked out for you?

• The royalty

Here the king or queen was the sole leader and he/she appointed knights, etc. Mostly a family members became the leader should the current leader perish. There was a definite hierarchy as well. Princes and princesses, knights and then the military commanders. It did not matter if you had leadership skills or not, it was driven by power. Did you dare go against that power? I don’t think so.

• The military

They were appointed by the kings and queens and solely delivered on their command. A definite hierarchy existed and even exist today in the military. The General is superior to the private! You also obey orders or else!

• The church

You became the leader through your connection with God and your leadership was determined by your position in the church, i.e. Bishop, Priest or Pope. The Pope is superior to the Priest. (Please note at this point that we are only using this as an example to explain leadership and recognize all other churches, religions and denominations)

• The academy

Leadership through superior knowledge and education. The hierarchy was based upon selection and rank. So, the professor was superior to the student.

• The guild

Leadership though superior skills. If you are the best artisan in the company, you surely must be the best foreman. People look up to you, because you possess these superior skills. The master was superior to the apprentice.

• The private company

Leadership through superior wealth and ownership. I own this company and you will listen to what I tell you. I am at risk here, should you fail. Hierarchy is determined by the owners’ selection. The owner was superior to the manager and staff.

    –   The CEO (Public Company)

Leadership through superior position as determined and judged by the representatives of the company. Hierarchy base upon selection by upper management who represents the company owners and shareholders. The leader was superior to the manager.

Let’s assume the following realities of leadership in the past:

• The workforce was local
• The culture was uniform
• The technology changed slowly
• The leadership was top-down
• Differing opinions were discouraged
• The leader was the boss
•  

The one consistent assumption is:

“The Leader was somehow superior to the others who was led”

What does the Global Leader of the future look like?

• Global thinking
• Cross cultural diversity
• Technological savvy
• Building alliances and partnerships
• Encouraging differing opinions
• Shared leadership, the leader as facilitator
• From leader as knower to leader as learner

Change in the workplace is not just for the Leader, but also the follower, who needs to learn how to adapt to the new way of leadership and that is exactly what Stakeholder Centered Leadership Training and Coaching® does. Our methodology involves both the leader and the follower and we can prove our success.

In the wise words of Peter Drucker:

“The leader of the future will manage knowledge workers. Knowledge workers are professionals who knows more about what they are doing than what their boss does”

“The leader of the past knew how to tell – the leader of the future knows how to ask”

*** For more on how to prepare you and your team for the future, please be so kind as to DM me or check out my profile for my contact details ***

Thank you for reading!!