The Seven Secrets of Leadership - Secret #1

Secret #1 - Maintain, adapt and share your vision

What makes a great global leader? Page Executive interviewed over forty business leaders across Asia Pacific and Australia, Europe and the Americas for their views on leadership. The result of this work is a series of short articles on the topic of leadership that we are pleased to share with you. These articles encapsulate the opinions of the global leaders we interviewed, who generously shared their views on what constitutes success in a global leader, as well as offering advice to the next generation of leaders.

The business environment of today is undoubtedly highly complex, not least because of the impact of technology and globalisation on business as a whole and on the individual workplace.

A new type of leadership is needed...

Today’s leaders face multiple levels of change: business trends come and go more rapidly, while economic conditions continually fluctuate. In this context, organisations must focus on both their short-term and long-term goals simultaneously and be prepared to adapt their strategies accordingly.

Great leaders anticipate the future

To deliver on their business objectives, a new type of leadership is needed: 21st century leaders must be able to read the signs and adapt quickly to changing business environments, all the while contending with difficult trading conditions. This multi-focus vision must be complemented by an ability to embrace the diversity arising from the globalisation of markets, as well as the diversity inherent within their own workforce.

While today’s leaders must combine a clear strategic vision with the identification of future trends, they also must be ready to meet opportunities and risks by setting a combination of long and short-term goals.

To succeed, leaders must constantly anticipate fresh changes and have the flexibility to be reactive – and even proactive – to market conditions, should the original long-term plan need realignment. As the hockey player Wayne Gretzky put it: “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player is where the puck will be.”

Communicating the vision

In such a context, engagement of the workforce is a key component of success – yet it might be the most difficult thing to achieve. While leaders must be able to conceptualise short and long-term changes, their biggest challenge is probably to ensure that their teams are ready to fully engage with the vision.

Leaders must reduce complexity for the group and ensure they have a master plan, which they communicate and make meaningful to all the key players. Making others feel part of a bigger plan leads to stronger emotional engagement, greater mental focus on achieving the mission and heightened team stability.

Our clients say…

Global leaders have to be able to take a leap forward and stand in the future, create a vision from what they see there, and bring an entire organisation along with them in wanting to go there.

- Country director of a world's leading premium drinks business, Benelux