2024 Belongs to Those Who Can 'Marry the Hard With the Soft'

A quiet revolution has been on for the last several years.

The greatest rewards have gone to those brands who have been able to marry the soft arts of creativity, story-telling, styling, empathy with the very concrete nuts and bolts of working at the cutting edge of technology, rock hard sensible data based decision making.

While we recognise this in brands such as Apple, Nike, or Titan, we sometimes don't realise that this is becoming equally true of the most valued leaders in the world.

A Changing Set of Competencies

In 2023, Unqbe helped some of India's most valued technology companies evaluate the skills it would need at senior leadership levels.

One of our biggest discoveries was the entry of a whole new category of competencies that would marry what was traditionally regarded as soft skills (creativity, collaboration, empathy) with very hard skills (technology, data, AI).

Just to give you an example of what these look like, I am picking three competencies that we believe are now entering senior leadership competency lexicon.

Each of these combines an understanding of data, technology, or economics (often regarded as the hard sciences), with an understanding of people, creativity or opportunity.

(Side Note: At their core these competencies are more complex than the older leadership competencies, simply because we believe that our times need a more complex response).

1. Creative Intelligence: Creative Intelligence is the ability to solve problems as they arise by finding solutions that are specifically applicable here. This combines creative ideation with a firm hold on data that gives insights into understanding what is at play here.For instance a leader who is very data centric has access to insights that others do not have. Access to data can provide a sharpness to understanding with the right tools. This grounded-ness in 'what is at play here', then allows for innovation and creativity that is sharp and focused on the most useful set of problems.This combination of data, and creativity is at the heart of creative intelligence.
2. Entrepreneurial DNA:Entrepreneurial DNA is all about spotting opportunities that are emerging. We are surrounded by change. For instance, there are changes in technology that are fundamentally altering business models and products. There are changes in technology that can drive efficiency and productivity. There are changes in technology that can provide a far better experience to the customer.And technology is just one of the factors creating change. Shifting cultural preferences, changing industry landscapes, and geo-political shifts each leads to a shifting landscape of opportunities.Entrepreneurial DNA is about being able to track the opportunities that are becoming available and then being able to place bets on the changing landscape that will enable you to be at the edge of emerging opportunity.
3. Collaborative Intensity:Collaborative intensity is both a mindset and a set of skills. At its core it is about building partnerships that benefit. This could be about collaboration within your organisation (for instance among different teams), or between your organisation and other organisations (suppliers, clients, consultants), so that you are able to achieve goals that otherwise would be very difficult alone. It is about seeking better solutions through collaboration. If one were to look behind the curtain a little bit, it is about building win-win solutions that focus on gains. It is about conviction and influence. It is also about building trust with partners.Like the other competencies, this one is also about being able to imagine what might be possible, and then building the people infrastructure needed to make this a reality.

One Foot in the Present, the Other in the Future

Just as each of these competencies combine several soft skills with several hard skills, they also combine more than one time orientation.

They are about focusing very sharply on 'What Is'. (This is where an understanding of data, technology, geo-politics, economics is helpful). They are also about focusing as sharply on 'What Can Be". (This is where collaboration, creativity, innovation come to play).

Key to each of these is a mindset that believes that the future can be written by us pro-actively. But in order to do this we need a sharp understanding of what is. And the support of others.

We believe more is possible, and we feel we can make that happen when we put our collective heads down to it.

In the end future skills require tapping into science and art equally.

It is this marriage of the 'hard' and 'soft'; the 'what is' and 'what can be'; and 'pragmatism' and 'courage', that we wish for you in 2024!

Our very warmest wishes.

Unqbe , and my partner Papiya Banerjee , work with leadership teams to identify competencies that are specifically oriented to a fast changing world.

DM us if you would like to find out more.

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(About me: I lead Unqbe, a think-tank and advisory firm around building future organisations, and building future careers. We track change through commissioned and primary research. We help leadership teams build the new workplace through a culture that supports change and people practices for the future.)