“The new CEO’s secret weapon? Yell less.”
https://forbesindia.com/article/forbes-global-2000/satya-nadella-no-more-mr-mean-guy/37956/2
The days of blowhard, judgmental,”my-way-or-the-highway” management style, I feel, are on their way out…across the world.
Integrative, engaging, curiosity-led management is on its way in. What were considered essential leadership qualities a generation ago of strong-willed, unidirectional leadership, simply won’t fly in the coming years as stakeholders including clients, employees, partners, and even competitors and adversaries will come to assert that their perspectives are heard, respected, and taken into account…not trampled upon, hushed or marginalized.
This transition I feel is taking place across all fields. Without predicting how things eventually progress, Microsoft’s new CEO’s style and initial success certainly seem to be a testament to this, with US President Obama in my opinion a (mostly faltered) prelude. We haven’t reached the tipping point yet in 2014 — but I anticipate in the next decade, a whole new set of qualities we look to, in both business and personal spheres, will be cherished in our leaders.
Leadership I feel will more and more be defined not by how dogged we are with pushing forward our individual agenda, but by how many alternative, especially conflicting, perspectives we can interface and evolve with. Up-until-now intractable conflicts in business, politics, and religion will start emerging as top human priorities that will be up to the coming generation of leaders to navigate us through — not just to thrive, but even to simply survive.
Ranjeeth Thunga
rkt@perspectivemapper.com