Today’s leaders are required to develop a broad and inclusive vision to guide collective action towards both immediate and long-term goals, while lending significance to the work of the entire team. They are required to interpret their operational context, make decisions at critical times and stay firmly anchored in the real world, all while having the ability to generate trust.
Empathy and humanity are not mere “nice-to-haves” but strategic levers to create healthy and productive workplaces where people can express their potential. Effective leadership is built through care for other people’s wellbeing, the integration of different viewpoints and the art of listening, while giving all voices, even critical ones, their due weight. Open discussion and the recognition of legitimate interests are vital tools to prevent conflict and build constructive dialogue.
Knowledge plays a crucial role: continuing learning and development are vital if leaders are to tackle today’s challenges. An increasingly complex world requires an in-depth understanding of the phenomena involved, as well as considerable adaptability. It is vital to cultivate personal growth and that of the group, and to foster innovation and competitiveness. Knowing also means dynamically interpreting reality, and picking up weak signals and hidden opportunities.
Accountability and humility are the moral pillars of good leaders. Taking responsibility for their decisions means recognizing human fallibility and accepting mistakes as part of their and others’ development process. This is not a matter of relinquishing their authoritativeness but of admitting their limitations in a spirit of transparency and nurturing an organizational culture based on respect and mutual trust. This approach actively involves people who do not hold senior positions as well, by encouraging informed and autonomous participation.
Leaders often have to bear the weight of difficult and unpopular decisions, but they must not cut themselves off from others. The ability to gather a range of opinions and then choose with balance and determination is one of the highest virtues of leadership. In an era in which courage seems to be lacking, the strength to decide and assume risk for the greater good is a value to be preserved and cultivated.
Networks – understood as connections between different people, competences and realities – is a vital tool to amplify the effectiveness of leaders and their leadership. When this is authentic and rooted in sound principles, values are propagated through relationships, thus generating consensus, cohesion and the drive to meet ambitious goals. Leadership thus becomes distributed and collective, with the ability to build bridges between different worlds and to guide sustainable, agreed transformations.
Being a leader in today’s world means, in short, embodying vision and humanity, strength and vulnerability, rigor and openness. And that is the biggest challenge: guiding without imposing, including without confounding, deciding without excluding.