Playground or breakthrough?
… whatever the headline for the “new” skills, prerequisites, challenges or competencies of a management team, the ability to change is consistently cited as a fundamental characteristic. Leaders are needed to show our society and our companies the way into the new world of digitalization. But where do we stand today in this evolution towards agility, new work and collaboration on the one hand, and innovation, digitalization and artificial intelligence on the other?
What does agile leadership need?
The increasing flexibility of networks and interdisciplinary team structures require strong teamwork skills in leadership. Developing teams and providing a guardrail is not new territory in the field of leadership. But what is required much more today is increased empathy and sensitivity to different experiences, ways of acting, and ways of thinking.
Self-awareness instead of teaching concepts
Nowadays, the focus on one’s own person can no longer be achieved only through classic methods such as lectures, courses or books, but must take place in an experience-led manner.
Next Leadership means empowerment
In the debate about the right leadership style or method, the concept of transformational leadership has often been emphasized in recent years, which, in contrast to transactional leadership, relies more on inspiration, intellectual stimulation and individual care than on a classic reward system. Above all, it is about offering the employee orientation and meaning so that he or she is self-motivated to perform better.
Book: New Work – Between Next Work and Society 4.0
Between “Next Work” and Society 4.0 – Drivers, Paradigms, Solutions and Approach
5 obstacles of self-leadership and how you can overcome them
Self-leadership is a prerequisite for successful leadership – this realization has now reached the management floors. But what are the internal obstacles that leaders must overcome?
The nextleader does not lead alone
Often, you can’t shake the feeling that managers are expected to fulfill an incredible number of roles and tasks at the same time. This makes it all the more important for the nextleader to get to grips with his team and also use it for his leadership tasks. Either the nextleader succeeds in being the eierlegende Wollmilchsau, or he lets leadership tasks be solved by a dynamic and interactive influencing process in the team. In today’s article, you will find out which requirements must be met.
The nextleader leads healthy – himself and others
Can managers and their leadership behavior be the cause of increased sick days and conspicuous absenteeism? Can leadership actually make people sick? Yes, it can. Managers have a significant impact on maintaining and promoting the mental health of their employees. And mental health in turn affects physical health. A large number of studies prove the connection between leadership and employee health. Employees who receive little support from their supervisors suffer more from neck and shoulder complaints as well as cardiovascular diseases. Employees who receive support from their supervisors, on the other hand, are more stress-resistant and their mood is significantly less affected. Studies have also shown that social support from the next level up, increases job satisfaction. Irritability, work-related anxiety, and fatigue depression are less common among employees who feel socially supported. They have higher self-esteem and exhibit more significant life satisfaction.
Accordingly, the nextleader should do one thing above all: lead healthily and, with his personal leadership style, make a contribution to keeping his own employees mentally and physically healthy.
The nextleader 25 years ago
What did nextleader look like 25 years ago? In a guest article, Dr. Winfried Felser summarizes his own experience, which he made in a small village in Spain in Lab 2000 in 1991. While it may not have seemed particularly exciting at first glance, even then there was the nextleader who won the hearts of his team, was authentic, created a sense of “we” through shared purpose, empowered new leaders and fostered autonomy, all while pursuing and achieving clear goals. Of course, the world has changed in the last quarter century, and yet these aspects are still just as relevant to leadership today, finding new application in the context of digitalization, the network economy, and other values.
The nextleader wins through trust
Far too often, executives still live by the motto “trust is good, control is better.” This completely overlooks the need to build trust in the leader-employee relationship in our dynamic and complex world. In today’s article, you can read how the interplay of integrity and trust makes it possible to build a trusting relationship.