Today’s businesses face unprecedented challenges operating in a global environment that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). The explosion of data and unprecedented advances in computer processing power globally have dramatically increased the capacity to support decision making within various functional operations in organizations across industries. The world has moved well beyond basic and enhanced process automation and is entering into an era of cognitive automation leveraging on artificial intelligence and robotics. The World Economic Forum is calling this the “Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
The impact of advanced technologies touches virtually every industry and organization on many levels, from strategic planning and marketing to supply chain management and customer service. Today, many individuals and organizations across the globe are exploiting this change to disrupt every industry. Uber, Alibaba, Airbnb, Netflix, and Tesla are just a few famous examples of companies that have transformed lifestyles, including the way people travel, shop, and stay, and there are many more.
Leaders in organizations are also confronted with increased competition, globalization, demand for growing social responsibilities, and a stream of technological revolutions causing disruption in the marketplace. Hence, leaders need to challenge their mental models in their efforts to build and sustain a high-performance organization. Effective leadership is the process of impacting and influencing people to achieve the desired results and prepare for the future. Leading in today’s highly disruptive and increasingly VUCA-driven world is becoming much more challenging. There is no easy path to becoming a highly effective leader, and the challenge of being one seems almost insurmountable.
One of the biggest challenges facing organizations today is that they are facing greater pressure to develop future or next generation of leaders faster, in response to the dramatically changing digital and highly disruptive business landscape. Who are the next generation of leaders? What makes them great? What do business and HR leaders need to know about developing the next generation of leaders? What are the competencies and best practices tools that can be leveraged upon to lead successfully in today’s fast-paced, highly disruptive, and VUCA-driven business environment?
Talent management represents an organization’s efforts to attract, develop, and retain skilled and valuable employees. The goal is to have people with the capabilities and commitment needed for current and future organizational success. This includes the high potentials who are the “NextGen” or future leaders. An organization’s talent pool, particularly its high-potential managerial talent, is often referred to as the leadership pipeline. A leadership pipeline is expected to deliver the “next generation” of leaders. The payoff is a supply of leadership talent that simultaneously achieves targets, strengthens and protects ethical reputation, and navigates transformational change in pursuit of a bright, competitive future.
In a highly disruptive, digital, and VUCA-driven era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (also known as Industry 4.0), these upcoming leaders need to have a broader skillset, one that equips them to think and act globally. It is evident that conventional leadership development practices are no longer adequate. Organizations globally need to incorporate the next-generation leadership competencies in order to address the development needs of their upcoming leaders.
What is the role of leaders in transforming the organization to succeed in the digital world? How do organizations develop the next generation of leaders?
This book seeks to guide leaders to succeed in the highly disruptive, digital, and increasingly VUCA-driven era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), by:
- providing insights into the role of leaders in transforming the organization to succeed in the digital world;
- understanding the best practices and contemporary approaches to developing the next generation of leaders;
- developing and implementing appropriate programs to lead and engage their people to achieve desired results.