Episode Details

In this week's Leadership Today podcast we take a step back to explore five key leadership challenges for 2020 and beyond. We explore the daily practices that help us tackle these challenges head-on.

Hello and welcome to episode 69 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we tackle one of today's biggest leadership challenges. This week we take a step back to explore five key leadership challenges for 2020 and beyond.

You only have to read the paper or watch the news to appreciate there are lots of challenges in the world at the moment. Whether it's extreme climate conditions, global trade challenges, the refugee crisis, or the expanding virus pandemic, it feels like there is a lot to be worried about.

There are always pressing challenges in the broader national and global context. Being born in the early 1970s I remember growing up with the imminent threat of nuclear war. That was followed by the devastating AIDs epidemic. Then there was a national economic recession, global terrorism, and the global financial crisis. It's almost like we skip from one existential crisis to the next.

Upon that backdrop there are always challenges for leaders. As we continue through 2020 and into a new decade, I believe there are five challenges for leaders in particular. These are based on research literature and reinforced through my own experiences.

1. Reflection deficit. The leaders I work with talk about back to back meetings, and too much work to complete in a day. They bounce from crisis to crisis with very little time to think or plan. As a result they're reactive and struggle to be fully present. The old example of working 'in the business' very much applies, with few working 'on the business' let alone considering whether this is the right business in the first place.

2. Flatlining trust. When it comes to organisations, the trust bank account is empty. People have seen how organisations have treated them, their friends and their relatives. Based on experiences over the past 12 years post the global financial crisis they've been taught that organisations can't be trusted to look after their best interests. We feel like we're on our own and that it's every person for themselves.

3. Internal competition. With the backdrop of flatlining trust, many people have based their work identity and community around their team rather than the organisation. The context might change, but the comments are remarkably similar between organisations. "My team is great - we support each other to deliver great work. Unfortunately we can't depend on other teams to do the same". It ends up being team versus team, us versus the world, or even us versus the organisation. While that creates identity for the team, it also discourages collaboration and loyalty to the organisation. If anything it amplifies the lack of trust towards the organisation. After all, even my leader is acting as if the organisation can't be trusted.

4. Reluctant leaders. Leadership is often seen as an onerous addition and, as such, many people don't want to become leaders. They see it as an additional burden on top of the regular job. When I ask people in leadership roles how many hours in their week should be spent leading, very few think it is more than four.

5. Transactional engagement. Within all of that context employees are naturally focused on what they can get in the short term. Their relationship with the organisation becomes transactional. Working for an organisation ends up looking remarkably like working within the gig economy. When I'm getting what I need I'll stay, but I'm always watching out for the next opportunity just in case. Leaders end up focusing on trying to get a short term