2020 Leadership

Vision, the ability to see a way ahead whatever the current circumstances, is the essence and basis of leadership.

But it is not sufficient to have a vision of what could be. I could envision the future and keep it to myself and be just a dreamer of dreams. Or, I could write about it and become a popular journalist, a critic of our time or prophet of a tomorrow that is, conveniently, someone else's responsibility.
Or, I could take courage and move to make the future happen, talking to those around me of what the future could be, what they could be and how they could be part of it. -Painting pictures in words of the possibilities and daring to speak the future into existence.

This takes courage in today's cynical world. Few leaders seem prepared to risk the derision of others in pursuit of their beliefs. Even to say 'I believe...' risks being categorised as slightly crazy and not to be taken really seriously.

And yet, vision shared with others is exciting and inspirational. It captures our hearts and minds, frees us to bring all of our creativity to work and gives us purpose in a way that maximising shareholder profit never could. Lighting up this enthusiasm is the true vocation of leaders, today and every day.

And yet, as the recent research by IPD and Demos reveals, leaders at work today are failing to win the hearts and minds of their people. The focus on short-term tactics to improve the bottom is failing to deliver year on year.

People at work are becoming increasingly de-motivated and many regard the sterile and meaningless activity of turning up every day as mere wage slavery.

One of the most striking results of the research, and the most serious for UK Plc, is what it reveals about the opinions of young people at work. They want more than just a job. They want to be involved and to have their contribution respected. And these aspirations are not being met.

That is backed up by my straw poll of local teenagers. When talking about their expectations of work they are all clear that employers must behave well for them to continue in the job. The highest priorities are that the business should be ethical, the work should have a sense of purpose and value, all those in the organisation should be equally respected and contribution should be valued and rewarded.

I gave them the choice between a high wage in a profit focussed business with stated aims of maximising shareholder value and a lower wage in one which 'aims to do some good.' They all said that the wage differential would have to be very great to induce them to work for the former and, even If they did so, it would be just until they had built up enough money to leave.

Those I spoke to fell into two broad categories, either seeing work as something to be undertaken for substantial pay for short periods or, being more moderate in their income expectations, those who were prepared to stay in a job for a longer period.

The first group intended to work very hard, long hours and so on, provided the package was lucrative, in order to take long periods away from work to travel the world. The second group was more interested in having time every day for friends and family and a good social life. To them the idea of long hours, commuting etc. is anathema. They want to go on holidays but not year-long treks.

Both groups reacted with disbelief to the idea that 4 weeks a year is a usual or reasonable holiday allowance.

'You'd just have to go sick' was the universal reaction.

None of them understood the notion of loyalty to a single organisation. None were attracted by the idea of remaining with one organisation for a lifetime, most citing boredom as the main reason to move on. Equally, the idea of remaining in a job where they were bullied, harassed or otherwise undervalued was treated with derision. 'Just leave and get something else on the web' was the immediate reaction.

It is likely that these young people, living in middle class families in the affluent South East of England, are more confident and articulate than many. And it is certain that they have (almost) grown up in a period of economic stability and very low unemployment. But that does not invalidate the message.

Before long, businesses will be hoping to recruit them and their peers into specialist and junior management positions.

Organisations that have as their vision some form of contribution to the greater good, whether in the public, private or voluntary sector, will have a head start in the attractiveness stakes and will be more likely to be successful in recruiting the ablest people. But retaining them may be even more of a problem.

Recognising that worker power means employees voting with their feet is suddenly a real dilemma for traditional organisations. Command and control managers are likely to find their commands falling on absent ears and controls vanishing with the P45. Senior directors and CEOs who to fail to involve all their people in what is intended are likely to face having to make the organisation work without staff.

Employees are becoming 'consumers of leadership' and the rise of this consumerism will have the same impact on badly led organisations as it has already had on High Street stores - they will be forced to change, or fail. This paradigm, in which leaders are accountable for their leadership and not just for bottom line performance, is profoundly different to today and will usher in changes to every aspect of organisational life.

So let me hazard a guess at what the organisation of 2020 might look like.

The kids of today are the middle managers. Most have been with the organisation for less than 5 years, few plan to remain for another 5. If a better job offer or the opportunity for a sabbatical comes along, most will seize it.

Working hours are entirely flexible, teams getting together when the work demands it and for regular brainstorms.

Information is freely available to all on the web. Much work is done from home and via video conferences and videophones. The daily commute is now an oddity, practised mainly in the public sector owing to ties to the unreformed parliamentary system.

If that is so then the basic assumptions on which much of UK Plc is currently founded will be largely invalid.

'Jam tomorrow', promotion in 5 years, long periods doing much the same job without any real responsibility will serve only to drive talent away. Staff will not work longer for love of the job or loyalty to the organisation they will either refuse or expect pay or perks in return. Those organisations that have thought about and implemented reward packages that give a lot more than just pay to their people will be most successful.

Even today large organisations are finding that young talented people do not want to commit themselves on an open-ended basis. They are quite open about their intention to move on, travel and keep looking around for what else may be on offer.

By 2020, continuous recruitment and development of people will be one of the largest single concentrations of effort in the organisation. On the job training will be taken for granted and staff will be encouraged, funded and given time to pursue higher education and extended professional, management and leadership development.

Managers will spend most of their time bringing on talent because most teams will be widely dispersed and self managed in respect of business performance goals. So those who are skilled business coaches will be most highly prized and paid.

Advances in IT will mean that very few people will handle raw data, it will be fed directly between systems, and the rapid turnaround of people implies that business critical information will be openly available to all.

Information that is important to the organisation can no longer be locked into individuals who are likely to leave at any time. Key people in the organisation will spend a lot of time understanding world trends and thinking about and discussing the future. And most of those discussions will be open to all who want to contribute, inside and outside the organisation. Those organisations that are known to lead the thinking, create ideas, host discussions, contribute to the common weal and who are seen to be positive about the future will be the brand names that customers trust. Building a brand will still be important but being a key player will be the main marketing advantage.

Ridiculous? Impossible to maintain market share and a lead over the competition if everything is open?
I don't think so.

Today, information may be power but even now the time during which that information is 'secret' is getting ever shorter. Journalists tell us what the news will be before it happens, commentators and analysts predict the markets, company results, take-overs and so on, well in advance of the facts. And increasingly, those predictions distort or become the facts. We have all seen examples of the press talking shares down. Strategic leaks of government information to test the likely public reaction are now commonplace. As technology gets faster and its use becomes more widespread, all of that will speed up until the only smart move an organisation can make will be to beat the prediction - give the information away all the time.

That means leaders will have to think hard about what the organisation stands for and whether the public at large will think it worthwhile. A primary aim of making the rich richer will not suffice. But, for example, making clean energy available to all, (which will result in great rewards to the shareholders) will capture public imagination and fire the enthusiasm of bright young talent. Having a clear vision of the relevance of work to life and sharing it enthusiastically is the key.

Trust will be a bankable commodity. If I can trust you I will buy your services, work for you for a time, believe you when you explain your difficulties and, crucially, share my ideas with you. So the job of the leader will be to make work relevant and to inspire others with the possibilities of their contribution. 'Together we can....'. Trustworthy leaders will be those who know what their personal values are and how they align with the aims of the organisation. They are good communicators who are, or can always appear, honest.

Increasingly, with a transient workforce, virtual teams and research and development carried out in public, communication will be much more than a polished performance at the AGM, or the clever outwitting of a rottweiler interviewer or parliamentary watchdog. It will be the ability to make the organisation matter in the world, to demonstrate the wider contribution to society and to paint the future in a way that the listener can see, feel and wish for.

This ability to inspire and energise, to share openly and honestly, to be brave, is the ability to lead.

It is 2020, clear sighted, leadership.

Margaret Lloyd © Walking with Leaders