According to last year's Learning for growth report from the CBI, more firms in 2010 (48%) than 2009 (39%) say improving leadership and management skills is a key priority for them, and this is even higher for the public sector (73%). The same report also highlights that over two thirds of organisations are looking for more targetted and cost effective routes for training. The IOD's Skills Crunch highlights a different challenge as leadership and management skills are at the top of the list for organisations reporting skills gaps in their current staff.
As we enter the 21st century, the role of "alpha persons" is very much in question. No doubt traditional leadership (and traditionally minded books on how to lead) will continue. But the following seem the best predictions as to how the concept of leadership will develop:
Leadership is for everyone. No doubt some people are better flutists than others, but almost everyone can learn to play the flute. In the modern organization, everyone is a team member and every one is a project manager. So everyone needs to learn and to exhibit leadership.
Leadership involves learning. The leader is one who uncovers new knowledge and knows how to share it with others. More than ever before, knowledge is truly power. More than ever before, leadership will be shown by spreading learning.
15 Years, 50 Classics
To celebrate a decade and a half of publication, we asked the s+b editors to look back and choose the articles that have had the greatest impact.
by Art Kleiner
Framing the Trust Paradox
A couple of weeks ago at a gathering in Paris sponsored by the Orange Institute, I explored a paradox that is central to the challenges and opportunities we face as individuals and institutions in the Big Shift. I call it the Trust Paradox.
CHARGE Take charge.COACH Coach. STRESS De-stress.TIME Leverage time. ACT Don't hesitate.CHANGE Embrace change.LEARN Learn voraciously. MISTAKE Make mistakes.TRUST Trust.COLLABORATE Collaborate.COMMUNE Commune. FLOURISH Help people flourish.STORIES Tell great stories.MEETINGS Conduct kick-ass meetings. ENTHUSIASM Generate enthusiasm.RESULTS Focus on results.AGILE Manage agilely. CUSTOMERS Delight customers. INNOVATE Innovate. SERENDIPITY Nurture serendipity.NET-WORK Net-Work.
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ADMIN AdministrationINTRO Big-picture vision of changing behavior, advent of 21st century practicesALTERNATIVES Competition, general info on apps, etc.
We live in a world of ever more change and choice, a world where we have far more opportunity than ever to achieve our potential. That kind of world is enormously exciting, and full of options. But it is also highly disorienting, threatening to overwhelm us with sensory and mental overload.
In that kind of world, the ability to provide persistent context becomes paradoxically ever more valuable. Persistent context helps to orient us and connect us in ways that can accelerate our efforts to achieve our potential.
We are on the cusp of another major shift in the focus of experience design, one that moves far beyond the impact of individual products and services. What if, instead of pulling out the full potential of our products and services, we focused instead on pulling out the full potential of ourselves?
It would be far too ambitious to try to summarize this book in the space of a blog posting (even my long blog postings). So let me attempt to tease the reader with a few key messages from the book that I would summarize as follows:
We are in need of a fundamental reassessment of our learning models
New learning models will embrace and institutionalize tension
Imagination and play are the fuel that will sustain learning
Willpower, self-regulation, impulse control - these are the ingredients for a successful career. A successful life. I don't think so.
Because one time doesn't really matter.
A dieter chooses to eat a salad. A smoker decides to skip a cigarette. A sex-addict stops calling adult hotlines. A teen passes the joint without taking a drag. A family buried in debt decides to not take a summer vacation. A manager who makes a resolution to not project his/her stress onto employees. - Bravo! But what happens tomorrow?
IBM Software Blog
This blog promotes thoughtful discussions and perspectives on how software is changing the way we live and do business.
IBM's social business transformation journey
jaycross on 15 Aug 11According to last year's Learning for growth report from the CBI, more firms in 2010 (48%) than 2009 (39%) say improving leadership and management skills is a key priority for them, and this is even higher for the public sector (73%). The same report also highlights that over two thirds of organisations are looking for more targetted and cost effective routes for training. The IOD's Skills Crunch highlights a different challenge as leadership and management skills are at the top of the list for organisations reporting skills gaps in their current staff.
