Omar Najjar is the Chief Programmes Officer at Misk Foundation
A year ago, the business transformation agenda was dominated by the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution with the rapid rate of change in the workplace driven by the adoption of technology and adapting to new ways of working.
Leaders today face new challenges that have been accelerated by the global pandemic, including how to manage ambiguity, communicate virtually, and navigate complexity. Now, in an age of remote working and economic uncertainty, it is increasingly clear that leaders will not be able to meet future challenges with current know-how and practices.
What is less clear is the knowledge and skills that will be relevant in the future. A starting point would be to define what leadership for the future would look like.
Leadership gurus have been redefining leadership since the First Industrial Revolution. What they have thought and what they have taught have defined today’s leaders.
– Peter Drucker brought to us “culture eats strategy for breakfast” thinking, providing us with food for thought on ‘what’ drives performance.
– Simon Sinek got leaders thinking about purpose before profit by introducing his golden circle, starting with ‘why’.
– Vineet Nayar helped leaders rethink ‘who’ is important, putting employees first and customers second and turning conventional management upside down.
The Misk Foundation puts the principles of know, be and do at the heart of their leadership philosophy
Yet, future leadership will not just be defined by ‘what’ leaders do, ‘why’ they do it, or ‘who’ they do it for. More importantly, it will be defined by ‘how’ leaders think, shifting between mindsets and perspectives.
Thinking about how to think’ embraces the notion of ‘metathinking’, through which leaders gain awareness of their assumptions and develop the ability to see situations in different ways.
Having a flexible command of their psyche so they can let go of limiting beliefs. Knowing how and when to think like a scientist, an artist, an entrepreneur, or a consultant, they can start to lean into ambiguity with the confidence to adapt their behaviour to any given context or situation.
It is the critical thinkers and creative minds that will lead us in a VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous – world, helping us navigate change and transformation.
Leadership development has mainly been dominated by academic programmes advocating best practices through historical case studies. This is like driving with the rear-view mirror, focussed on the road that got us here rather than the future destination.
The future of leadership development is to bring thinking from multiple disciplines and practices to create a truly holistic and experiential learning journey that equips leaders with these new mindsets. Learning that focusses less on conventional knowledge transfer and more on paradigm shift, providing a blueprint for leaders to rethink what they need to know, do, and be to create the next level of impact.
The future of leadership development is to bring thinking from multiple disciplines and practices
The Misk Foundation puts the principles of know, be and do at the heart of their leadership philosophy which is intrinsically linked to leading the change required to deliver Vision 2030.
– KNOW: Understand ideal leadership traits and have the know-how and skills to adapt your behavior to match circumstances.
– BE: Have a high degree of self-awareness and empathy while remaining true to your authentic self.
– DO: Seek new possibilities and be bold and determined to create an impact and leave a legacy.
To help future leaders master multiple perspectives, Misk have developed Misk 2030 Leaders, a new leadership development programme built on best-in-class leadership development principles but focused specifically on meeting the challenge of transformational change in Saudi Arabia.
The modular programme design helps participants explore distinct mindsets throughout the learning journey:
– Scientific Mindset: Experimental methodology for business application
– Consulting Mindset: Logical strategic problem solving
Written by Staff Writer
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Redefining leadership in a fast-changing world
It is important for the region’s business leaders to transform from conventional thinking to adapting different mindsets, says Omar Najjar
Omar Najjar is the Chief Programmes Officer at Misk Foundation
A year ago, the business transformation agenda was dominated by the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution with the rapid rate of change in the workplace driven by the adoption of technology and adapting to new ways of working.
Leaders today face new challenges that have been accelerated by the global pandemic, including how to manage ambiguity, communicate virtually, and navigate complexity. Now, in an age of remote working and economic uncertainty, it is increasingly clear that leaders will not be able to meet future challenges with current know-how and practices.
What is less clear is the knowledge and skills that will be relevant in the future. A starting point would be to define what leadership for the future would look like.
Leadership gurus have been redefining leadership since the First Industrial Revolution. What they have thought and what they have taught have defined today’s leaders.
– Peter Drucker brought to us “culture eats strategy for breakfast” thinking, providing us with food for thought on ‘what’ drives performance.
– Simon Sinek got leaders thinking about purpose before profit by introducing his golden circle, starting with ‘why’.
– Vineet Nayar helped leaders rethink ‘who’ is important, putting employees first and customers second and turning conventional management upside down.
Yet, future leadership will not just be defined by ‘what’ leaders do, ‘why’ they do it, or ‘who’ they do it for. More importantly, it will be defined by ‘how’ leaders think, shifting between mindsets and perspectives.
Thinking about how to think’ embraces the notion of ‘metathinking’, through which leaders gain awareness of their assumptions and develop the ability to see situations in different ways.
Having a flexible command of their psyche so they can let go of limiting beliefs. Knowing how and when to think like a scientist, an artist, an entrepreneur, or a consultant, they can start to lean into ambiguity with the confidence to adapt their behaviour to any given context or situation.
It is the critical thinkers and creative minds that will lead us in a VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous – world, helping us navigate change and transformation.
Leadership development has mainly been dominated by academic programmes advocating best practices through historical case studies. This is like driving with the rear-view mirror, focussed on the road that got us here rather than the future destination.
The future of leadership development is to bring thinking from multiple disciplines and practices to create a truly holistic and experiential learning journey that equips leaders with these new mindsets. Learning that focusses less on conventional knowledge transfer and more on paradigm shift, providing a blueprint for leaders to rethink what they need to know, do, and be to create the next level of impact.
The Misk Foundation puts the principles of know, be and do at the heart of their leadership philosophy which is intrinsically linked to leading the change required to deliver Vision 2030.
– KNOW: Understand ideal leadership traits and have the know-how and skills to adapt your behavior to match circumstances.
– BE: Have a high degree of self-awareness and empathy while remaining true to your authentic self.
– DO: Seek new possibilities and be bold and determined to create an impact and leave a legacy.
To help future leaders master multiple perspectives, Misk have developed Misk 2030 Leaders, a new leadership development programme built on best-in-class leadership development principles but focused specifically on meeting the challenge of transformational change in Saudi Arabia.
The modular programme design helps participants explore distinct mindsets throughout the learning journey:
– Scientific Mindset: Experimental methodology for business application
– Consulting Mindset: Logical strategic problem solving
– Innovative Mindset: Creative out-of-the-box thinking
– Entrepreneurial Mindset: Opportunity recognition and rapid response
– Leadership Mindset: Big picture thinking and driving impact through influence.
Omar Najjar is the Chief Programmes Officer at Misk Foundation
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