Three Competencies for 2023 and Beyond!

January 2023 has started with layoffs across some very admired businesses. This is indeed distressing, but is a marker of our times, that are filled with both uncertainty and promise.

So much promise.

To reach that promise, one central problem is this.

The skills needed for the future are different. And too few people have them.

And organizations are struggling to both recognise and articulate what these skills are, and build learning pathways for these.

This is not a trivial task, as the World Economic Forum predicts that about 40% of the content of people's jobs will change between 2020 and 2025 across functions. And a massive 50% change in skills needed for businesses.

Technology still leads the wave of change as businesses and industries prepare for disruption. It is now about a decade since the Klaus Schwab first coined the term 4th Industrial Revolution, and the it seems clear that we are already riding the waves of disruption in Jan 2023.

Yet sustainability and climate change is not far behind. In fact the the decisions that have been taken just over the last two years (COP 26, Nov 2021; COP 15, Dec 2022) will change the way we do business in many vital ways. 'Net-zero' by 2050 is a complete game-changer. There are huge implications for supply chains, manufacturing, products and innovation.

Once again, the battle will be for skills, as businesses try and live upto the pressure of doing business in ways that are new.

(As a personal side-note: I am thrilled to finally see so much action on sustainability across the world)

So in all of this, what can we say are critical emerging competencies for leaders? Well there are several but let me start with 3 big ones.

Three Competencies for 2023 and Beyond:

I. Embracing Uncertainty:

As the year opens out with uncertainty (and yet optimism), one thing is clear 2023 is about embracing uncertainty. Shifts in geo-politics, the Ukraine war, inflation, anticipated recession and trends towards 'de-globalization', are creating waves of change that will be hard to predict. Reports from Davos just a few days ago reflect an almost identical sentiment.

II. Creative Intelligence:

Creative intelligence is the ability to discover new paths when older ones are no longer the best. This is not always about doing something completely new (though it can be). It is as much about searching for inspiration from the past or from what is happening in some other industry. Or it can be about re-combining past solutions in a different way.

Creative intelligence is about being able to examine a problem from many different angles and then building a solution that works. It is about not getting stuck with the past, and yet incorporating it where helpful.

It is in many ways about bringing in the right brain imagination to work with the left brain analytics. Where the engineer meets the artist!

Why is this even more important this year? Because shifts like technology disruption and change in businesses towards sustainability will require many creative solutions. Add to that the fundamental uncertainty of 2023, and the tried and tested will simply not be enough.

III. Collaboration Agility

One of the biggest trends over the past few years has been the move from 'the organization as a fixed well-defined entity' to an 'an organization as an ecosystem'.

There are many reasons for this.

Part of this is the changing nature of employment contracts. Today you could be an employee, or a consultant, or a gig-worker. Similarly your competitors in one field can be your collaborators in another way.

When the world outside is more uncertain, it is more efficient for an organization to stay fluid and nimble. Fluidity and nimbleness however needs specific skills. Collaboration agility helps build partnerships that solve challenges as they emerge, for however long.

Collaboration agility is the ability to build partnerships with others using a shared interest as a guiding factor. It requires interpersonal skills as well as the ability to build quick partnerships.

Why is this even more important this year? Because employment contracts are changing. If you are laid off today, there are many different ways to earn a living, but most of them require skills of collaboration. If you are a business, the same holds true. Collaboration agility gives you nimbleness.

2023 has started off with a mix of uncertainty and promise.

Personally, I think the years ahead will be marked by more of each.

Those of us who navigate these years skilfully will need to keep building new competencies.

Several of which are about navigating both uncertainty and promise.

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And, for our take on layoffs, read our last newsletter here:

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(About me: I lead Unqbe, a think-tank and advisory firm around building future organisations. We track change through commissioned and primary research. We help leadership teams build Workplace 2.0 with a current focus on building level 3 cultures; building future-ready competencies; and future-oriented people practices.)