Leaders of Future!

Thousands of quotes are there that define a leader in different ways. However, the literal meaning of a leader remains the same. According to me, leadership is a perfect blend of minerals that a plant needs to grow. It gets absorbed in roots and lets the plant keep on producing juicy  fruits with time. 

“Leadership is a thought that automates the mindset of people which lets them walk on success pathways. And a leader is a person who works silently and lets the world see what he sowed.”

“A leader is an ever-ready person who has the guts to hold the helm while unexpected sea storms.”

Being a leader is not as easy as it seems, and not as difficult as it tends to be. Some of the major qualities which distinguishes a normal human being from a leader are here:

Integrity

Integrity is the top most essential quality of a great leader. A leader is a man of his words. He never let go of it easily. He makes decisions and paves the way to walk on it by hook or by crook. 

Problem-solving and decision-making skills

Leaders can solve problems on their own. They research, try and work out solutions for their team or guide the team on how to make it possible. 

They are also the best decision makers. Based on the research they have done, they decide whether to go for a specific thing or not. And if they find it worth going through, they just take decisions and start making it possible consistently day by day.

Innovative

Not all but most leaders bring in an innovative approach to the way they work. They innovate processes or things to work smart. 

Self-belief and motivation

Leaders are strongly motivated people who have the self-belief to accomplish their goals. Through this factor, they can drive thousands of people along with them as well. These two things cultivate self-confidence as well. So keep yourself motivated and let your success shout out. 

Active Listening

Active listening makes a person aware of current affairs and burning questions all the time. Only an attentive person can have this quality and trust me, it will never let you down in gatherings as well. So start taking good care of your health and be an active listener all the time. Therefore, this ability does not let you miss an opportunity.

Vision

Leaders are not born with a vision but they develop it with time. They hold the power to visualize things and work harder and consistently to achieve that vision someday. 

Delegation

As mentioned earlier, only leaders can hold the helm while being in an unexpected sea storm. They never hesitate to delegate what they want to. They can delegate on behalf of their team if needed.

Justice

Justice is a must-to-have part when it comes to the qualities of a leader. A true leader never does injustice in any case. When we talk about justice in case of leaders it covers overall aspects including rights of their followers regarding their job, relations etc. So, leaders should have 360 degree knowledge of ongoing scenarios when it comes to justice. 

Curious

People with leadership qualities are always curious about learning and understanding new concepts. They are eager to learn new things. 

Humility and care for others

Leaders know the art of putting themselves into others’ shoes. This develops caring trait in them. However, they keep their emotions balanced to make the right decisions. 

Well disciplined

Organized behavior and discipline are a part of a leader’s personality because people follow same path considering their leader’s example. Like waking up at 6 am in morning. 

Resilience and Agility

Leaders never keep on crying over spilt milk. They just let it go if something bad or unwanted happens. They even do not let their team keep on thinking about the failures. They recover swiftly and help their teams recover easily as well. In addition to that, they are agile; who welcome change and upgrade themselves according to it. 

Support and Strong communication 

Leaders know how to support their team and themselves in difficult situations. Their strong communication skills never let their team down. Their communication power can bring out the person who got stuck in quicksand. 

Empowerment and Accountability

Great leaders always keep a behavior of empowering their team. If something wrong happens they hold themselves accountable for that. The factor of accountability is not an easy characteristic to have. However, strong leaders empower others and consider themselves accountable to raise morals in all situations.

Ever-walking time is diversifying the way people think and act. So Leaders of today have to look for more diverse ways to come up to the mark. As competition is increasing, people are finding newer ways to come up. The future of leadership development is not the same as was proposed a decade ago, however, the qualities of a leader will remain the same. 

To understand thoroughly about how the leaders of the future seem to be, we now need to understand the top skills and mindsets that future leaders must possess. A survey of “questioning over 150 CEOs around the globe” conducted by Jacob Morgan has shown that a future leader must master the following 4 mindsets and top 5 skills to stay successful.

Mindsets to master by leaders of future

Leaders of the Future must read and master the mindsets of a chef, a servant, a global citizen and an explorer. 

Things to learn from a mindset of:

1. A chef – The chef keeps the perfect balance of ingredients which makes the food tastier than any other. A future leader must know how to balance the two ingredients: technology and humanity. These two factors cannot replace each other ever. Undoubtedly, technology is advancing with the speed of light but still, it is being operated by a human to some end. So, the right use of technology with the right human resources is what is needed right now. The one who understands it will start showing good results in an organization. 
2. A servant – People who sit on the top and just command are called bosses. However, leaders keep the mindset of a servant as they are serving their seniors, teammates, customers and themselves. Bossy nature brings nothing but a mindset of a servant that can bring change in the attitude of everyone, encouraging the growth of a company. 
3. A global citizen – Companies are becoming more globalized with advancing time-&-tech. A future leader’s mindset must be so agile and diversified that he/she can learn new things on the go. They must learn to work with diverse mindsets and environments to keep teams aligned all the time. 
4. An explorer – Curiosity characteristic can help out in this regard. A future leader must be so curious about learning new things that he should not leave any chance. Staying behind in learning new things can throw back decades. So keep the mindset of an explorer if you want to be a future leader. 

Skillset to master by leaders of future

Not only tech is advancing but the nature of people is changing with time as well. Future leaders must have the following skillset to bring success in house. 

Skillset to acquire to become a future leader:

1. Future-oriented – According to the survey done, 140 out of 150 CEOs admitted a futuristic approach to be the topmost skill set a leader must have. A leader with a futuristic approach holds the ability to judge the future and take steps beforehand to overcome flaws. Not everyone has this ability, only a few with a focused mind and the right judgements can be future-oriented. 
2. A coach – Future leaders must be like a coach who trains, motivates and inspires their team. A coach is the only person who can lead his team to the top by appreciating their hard work. He shows empathy, humility and a careful attitude while dealing with teammates. He held himself accountable if the team loses and appreciates his team if they succeed. 
3. Tech savvy – As technology is advancing with moments, a future leader must accept that change on a daily basis and keep himself updated with newer technologies. Not to be an expert but know-how of new technologies is enough to guide teams and assign duties accordingly. So a future leader will be the person who will be agile and never lose a chance to learn about new tech in any way. 
4. Great communicator – As people are getting exceptionally good at communication, a future leader can be a person who holds the ability to listen actively even within a crowd. He must be able to communicate what exactly he means. He must be a good translator as well to understand languages, and emotions and reply accordingly.
5. Emotional – Being emotional was considered bad for an organization for decades. However, emotional attachment with the company brings in better results than emotionless attachments. Future leaders must know how to respect people’s emotions and take care of them. In return, people will surely get emotionally attached to the organization and will work honestly more than ever.

Final Note:

Environment, mindset, skillset and technology are directly proportional to time. As time is advancing we can see a clear change in these aspects as well. It is becoming hard to compete in this tech era because the young generation is bringing more amazing facts and figures in-game. Therefore, we recommend up-to-date knowledge of tech and implementation of the right concepts for businesses if you want to be a future leader.