Leading in the 21st century

“Mummy, did you have TV in your days?”
“Of course, we did, but they were not flat screen. They were black and white. Well later, we had the coloured screen which had remote control but TV was not 24 hrs like you have now.

TV started at around 4pm, with the national anthem and the national flag on the screen. And we had limited channels, with NTA channel 5 as the most popular. He chuckled and started laughing.

“National Anthem, NTA, why??” I looked away and remembered with Nostalgia my own childhood and all its features.
“Ok, did you have cartoons?”
“Yes, we had many of them, Tom & Jerry, Voltron, Scooby-Doo and we had Sesame street. Voltron was my favourite”
“Did you have games, computer games, like Mario?”
“Yes o, we had Nintendos but I was already at the university when those became popular. I played a lot of Mario, with all the turbos. It was not on PS3 like you have now”
‘What about phones?”
“Yes we had phones, but they were not mobile phones. They were landlines. They were fixed. And because we use to tap it, my parents used padlocks to lock it”
“Ah! Mummy….”
“Yes, and now I don’t need a padlock but a password to lock it away from you……”.

These types of conversations are regular between my kids and me. Just as the tiny little cassettes and gramophones and other lifestyles of the baby-boomers shocked us, so does our large cassette, to the millennials (the microwave generation who are total non-conformist) a bunch of ancient antics or relics.

Leadership could be effectively defined as a process of social Influence, which maximises the constructive efforts of others, towards achieving a common goal. However, the 21st century, in which we are just on the second decade, has ushered in a barrage of change which has redefined leadership. People, technology and innovation are pivotal stand on which this change takes it stance. The 21st century environment is very volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA).The every second disruption of technology sets everyone on a rollercoaster.

So who is a 21st century leader? Becoming a 21st century leader requires beyond the book knowledge, technical know-how or a university degree. 21st century leadership is multidimensional, inclusive, creative and collaborative. This leader is a lifelong learner who is generous, compassionate and an amazing storyteller. He/She is driven by a shared purpose, which is bigger than their personal or organizational ego, bringing people together to build social community, to co-create solutions. 21st century leaders anticipate and embrace uncertainty, and treats change as a simple everyday reality, with a flexible disposition that requires a proactive and positive reaction. These leaders rely on trust and relationship because of the virtual nature of exchange, which are mostly information and ideas, which cannot be touched or felt. They thrive and succeed in the unpredictable domain of emerging technology and its disruptive nature. The plus factor for any 21st century leader is the ability to doubt and challenge existing solutions, in order to create opportunities that will bring forth newer ways of thinking – this is what we see as “disruption”.

Secondly, these leaders must take a market decline as an opportunity to create exponential profit margins. Recessions are not period of despair, but times to prosper amidst the turmoil – Understanding the power of decline and interpreting losses. It is not in the regret of what we don’t have but how best we have utilised what we have. The last plus factor for the 21st century leader is the ability to rest or bring to death what is existing – Innovation, killing the old (therefore experiencing a decline) to bring forth a new solution – Nokia 3310 vs. Blackberry; Blackberry vs. Iphone/smartphones. And the new one, Iphone7 vs. Iphone8.

In the manufacturing world, products have gone from mega packaging to mini and micro packages – Peak vs. Cowbell. The new entrants demystified the market and challenged the status quo. Today, sachet has come to stay; the market below the middle class is a large opportunity which they have leveraged. Brands have lost their superficial class and boundaries. The new money has no tribe! The data war between telecoms organization is fierce and hot. Any organization coming into that space must have something really different up their sleeves.
Anyone who is willing to lead at this time must be adaptable, flexible and open to learning. The question “What is your 5 year plan/strategy?” is no longer relevant. Organisations (or individuals) must have an incremental outlook and fortify their organisation with a proactive posture and the ability to mitigate risk as the disruption arises. However, there are other differential factors which are very physical as well as divine. These include the following;

1) The size of your stage, your sphere of influence or space of operations can be a function of grace and favour (Esther and Daniel)
2) You require extreme wisdom given by God to bring about ideas that knocks down borders, and impacts generations (Joseph and his food storage solution)
3) You must have cavernous understanding of the time and seasons to take bold business decisions (Like the children of Issachar)
4.) You must see the opportunities in the whitespaces and uncharted areas, without cognizance for the giants that are occupying (Like Joshua and Caleb)
5.) You must be readily available, here and now; you can’t afford to be offline (Be available like Rebecca at the Well. She was not just moping; she was ready to share and was extremely helpful. Join the communities).

Lastly you must be authentic; you must be genuine, yes! You must know and have a firm understanding of God. Shhhhhhh… no ifs or buts, I know what you are thinking. Remember it is not about perfection, Be genuine!