Executive Leadership in the 21st Century

As the final years of the 20th century wind down, corporate America is facing challenges unparalleled in our economic history. Technology is dramatically affecting business operations at every organizational level and has altered the rules of capitalism forever.

These advancements are placing demands on senior management to find new and more effective ways to lead. Having consulted with senior management in some of the largest mergers, acquisitions and change management initiatives in the Puget Sound area, we are amazed at the number of “supposed” leaders running their company with a closed door management policy, using memos and e-mail as their primary forms of communication. 

Why are so many highly intelligent, experienced managers having such difficulty adjusting to the changes in the workplace and becoming less effective? Up until the past decade, the decision-making model was command and control and the flow of information was top-down. Most managers never had to develop their interpersonal skills because they never really needed them. You were either managed by someone or managed someone, and there was a very clear and distinct line of communications and responsibilities. Information is now flowing rapidly throughout the organization. More people have access to critical data used in the decision making process.

With open lines of communication, roles and responsibilities are less clearly defined and the corporate playing field is being leveled. Managers now need the interpersonal skills to communicate and relate to a much broader and more diversified workforce. Figuring out “how” to effectively lead is changing because “who” we are leading is dramatically changing. Women make up almost 40% of the American workforce. According to a recent issue of Working Woman magazine, approximately 15.5 million people in the U.S. are employed by women-owned businesses. Sometime in the next decade it’s estimated that more than 3 out of 5 people entering the workplace will be non-native born Americans.

These changes are raising the bar for leaders as never before. Effective leadership styles are becoming less autocratic and responsibility is being driven down to the lowest level in the organization. The new management model is moving from an exclusive win-lose mentality to a more inclusive and cooperative philosophy. However, hierarchies are always going to be part of corporate America. They are often the most effective and efficient especially models for critical decision making. It is when these systems become closed, rigid and inflexible that they get into trouble.

The key ingredients for successful leadership will be the ability to use different management styles, know when to control and trust, and choose appropriate action for each situation. Leaders will be judged not by how many followers they have, but by how many leaders they create. 

The new rules of the leadership game will provide tremendous opportunities for those who have the insight and awareness to take advantage of them. Authentic leadership is about integrity, character and trust, which require courage, personal growth and persistence. Understanding how to humanize the hard skills and operationalize the soft will be essential to organizational success. Integrating the analytical with the interpersonal, the aggressive with the sensitive, and the intellectual with the intuitive will be critical.

The possibilities are exciting and scary. Organizations have heard the mandate: innovate, change, grow or die. Leaders who are up to the challenge will survive and thrive. Those that can’t or won’t are in for difficult times. 

For the foreseeable future, volatility in the marketplace will intensify. Good luck and fasten your seat belt. No matter the outcome, we’re all in for the ride of our economic lives.

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