2020 will make leaders sharper

No one had imagined how dramatic and historical 2020 would be. This also applies to leaders around the world. At a fast and impressive pace, companies adapted to the new Corona reality. No one knows the end date yet. We have witnessed an unprecedented power of transformation in which command and control, organizational hierarchies and silos have been challenged. In fact, we've seen several elements of ‘agile operating models’ in play even in large global, well-established companies who didn’t think this was possible. Stakeholder capitalism also proved to be a powerful concept.

Now the question is, will the changes we have seen in 2020 be anything other than a parenthesis in the history of leadership? No, I believe several are long-lasting. I see several clear trends that I believe will be defining for leaders also on the other side of the pandemic. Here are five strong leadership trends in 2020 which I observed.

Purpose driven, human and frequent communication

The first trend relates to communication. Leaders need to communicate frequently, empathetic and authentic grounded in a strong purpose. Like others, I have experienced that Corona – despite the difficult circumstances – has brought my teams and I closer together. I have not previously had the opportunity to be in such frequent and direct contact with my colleagues and teams. Seeing each other’s homes, kids and pets virtually also made many of the interactions so much more personal. It's a great privilege as a leader as it provides a unique opportunity to listen and get a clear picture of what is top of mind. Frequent feedback from your organization is also a prerequisite for being relevant. In addition, the crisis has confirmed the value of authentic, human leadership communication. My experience is that employees reciprocate humanity with greater confidence in their leader. Trust and employee engagement are nurtured by a strong purpose, which helps create meaningfulness for the individual. And purpose is indeed high on the corporate agenda for many companies around the world right now. In fact, many are in the process of revisiting, defining or activating their purpose.

A stronger and empowered frontline 

A larger mandate to the frontline is leadership trend number two. Top-down, centralised decision-making has proven difficult during the Covid-19 crisis. Resilience has been critical which requires rapid adaptability. As conditions have been so different across markets and regions, decision-making power have moved to the frontline allowing the leaders and functions who are closest to the customers to take the required decisions. In other words, we have seen empowerment on a grand scale of the frontline.  

Goodbye to the silos

The third trend – goodbye to silos – is closely linked to decentralisation, empowerment and frontline focus. For decisions to be made at high speed and close to customers, depends on bringing the right capabilities and skills into play. Without delays and distinction to existing silos and hierarchies. During Covid many companies have set up cross-functional teams to solve customer specific and urgent problems. In combination with the required decision-making power, cross functional teams have created the desired speed, strong results and at times new innovative solutions. I think we will see more cross-disciplinary leadership going forward – which is also a core part of agile operating models.

Remote working calls for a new leadership paradigm

Fourthly, the massive increase in remote working creates the need for a new leadership paradigm. Leadership principles designed for physical presence in an office do not work when the general rule is that employees work remotely and digitally. It requires a completely different kind of leadership. Both in creating and maintaining motivation, building strong digital communities and securing engagement, as well as ensuring productivity. The productivity of virtual teams can be fostered by daily stand-up meetings, clarity on desired outcomes, role-sharing and clear accountabilities between the team members. Needless to say the right technological set-up, and training is a pre-requisite to succeed with remote working.

Multi stakeholder leadership

Multi stakeholder leadership is perhaps the strongest global trend I see here on the step into 2021. Way back in January, ‘stakeholder capitalism’ was the theme of the World Economic Forum. Shortly afterwards, the phenomenon unfolded in full bloom in the context of aid packages, the development of vaccines, restart of economies, and strong cooperation between the public and private sectors on testing and treatment, etc. Who would have thought that when we were in Davos in January earlier this year? The pandemic has reminded us of the interdependence between all sections in the society and the amazing things we can achieve together by working together. The future leader must be able to lead an eco-system of different stakeholders. This is very uplifting for, among other things, how we handle the global climate challenge we all face.

To sum up, I am optimistic as we enter 2021. Vaccinations will hopefully displace Covid-19 from our everyday lives halfway into the new year, and on the leadership front many companies will enter the New Year with confidence. We must leverage this in favour of growth, jobs and higher employee engagement. Let's continue this leadership momentum after a good holiday season with time to recharge our batteries.