By Jeff Johnson, PhD
I was recently at a seminar where a well-known speaker and acclaimed guru of organizational effectiveness vehemently declared that there is a potentially catastrophic leadership shortage looming. As the speaker confidently chanted the now familiar verses of “an impending leadership vacuum” and the upcoming “leadership talent shortage”, I noticed the crowd nodding in tacit agreement. Many people in the audience looked to each other as if reassured, or even thrilled, by the dangerous prospect of inferior leadership lurking in organizations around every corner and even around the globe. This got me thinking more about understanding and defining “leadership”, “leadership talent”, and those leadership competencies most relevant to this 21st century economy. Perhaps “effective leadership” as it has been defined in the past is no longer relevant as a result of our increasingly knowledge-based economy, rapid technological innovations, people-based productivity, and so on.
Through my work in leadership development and building leadership competency models, I have heard a new chorus, and it basically goes like this: “effective leadership in the 21st Century is not the same as what it was in previous centuries” and outlines the change in leadership competencies required to “lead” in today’s world effectively. In other words, more people coming up in the workforce today generally define leadership differently than people did in the past. This might indicate that people from past generations believe there is a lack of leadership “coming up” because they don’t define effective leadership the same way as newer generations. In other words, there may well be bountiful leadership talent in the up-and-coming workforce, it just looks so different from historical leadership paradigms that many current executives and tenured business leaders simply don’t recognize this new leadership talent.
It may just be that this new leadership talent is best fit for the 21st Century leadership imperatives – not for the 20th Century. For example, leading in previous centuries was characterized more by “bold heroism” – akin to the tough John Wayne approach to rallying the troops (or kicking them out!). In today’s competitive talent acquisition market (and given the new complex competencies required for excellent customer service, innovation, etc.), effective leadership for many organizations is becoming more like “strategic collaboration” and “inclusive decision-making” – more akin to highly professional teams and even many modern marriages.
For now, it might be advantageous to consider examining our definitions of, and assumptions about, leadership. As new generations take over the reigns of leadership, a new way of leading is emerging – though it may depend on one’s leadership paradigm. In the near future, time will reveal the truth about leadership and its abundance – or paucity – and we will all breathe a sigh of relief … or grimace in horror!
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