As in all things, the future promises an array of new ways and new understanding in the practice of leadership and leadership development. These are important, scenarios which will play an increasingly important role in leadership development. Several trends will rise to prominence in the days to come, changing our outlook and perspective on leadership development. These rapidly occurring changes may require future human resources professionals to obtain a masters in organizational leadership. Following are several important trends.
Leadership competencies
First, leadership competencies or requirements will still be significant. However, this will be altered as the competitive landscape changes. A major study identifies five critical forces that will shape leadership in the future including, global competition, understanding of cultural and business norms in different parts of the world, information technology, the need for rapid and flexible groups, and varying employee needs based on location and culture.
Globalization
Future leaders will have to be familiar and fluid in doing business on a global basis. Globalization, in effect, will require leaders to deal with more and more complex groups outside the realm of their organizations. There will be additional components involving global markets, global economic trends, and a concentration on fast growing regions of the world like the Asia Pacific rim. There will be an extensive use of internet video technology in marketing products and services. In addition globalization will require an increased awareness of currency markets and exchange rates and foreign exchange trends. The effects of globalization cannot be overemphasized as a result this phenomenon is fully analyzed when you study for a masters degree organizational leadership.
Technology
The revolution in technology has drastically altered organizational life. It has changed the ways information and knowledge are obtained and disseminated. One of the most important changes is in the methods of communication that are utilized. This has crucial implications in terms of effective leadership. As the future unfolds, technology will play a key role in leadership development. The use of Skype, across the globe, as a video conferencing tool renders global communication, cost effective and widely available. Leaders will have to keep abreast of rapid technological changes and adapt accordingly.
Character and integrity
The decade of the 1990's particularly the late 1990's produced some of the most egregious corporate scandals of the twentieth century. The resulting response has included increased oversight and control of corporate officers. The trend among the new breed of corporate leaders is to behave in a modest and humble manner. This contrasts with the pompous and arrogant styles of well known business leaders of the past who have had a negative impact of their orgainizations.
Return on investment
The strongest pressure of leadership practitioners in the future will be to demonstrate return on investment for leadership training. This is very difficult to quantify. Development of leaders is of strategic import, but it is also very costly. Numerous organizations have been trying to quantify the benefits of leadership training with varying results. As we progress, it will be likely that leadership development investments will be a high priority for many businesses. However, plans are in place to maximize the return on investment for leadership development efforts by way of effective planning, implementation and evaluation.
For some time now, the thinking has been that leadership and leadership development are going to be inherently collaborative, social and relational processes. It is conceptualized as the collective capability of all members of the organization. This type of leadership development is much harder to design and implement. This is because it is in direct contrast to the popular notion of past decades where the focus was to train individual leaders.
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