Leadership has nothing to do with seniority or one’s position in the hierarchy of a company. Too many talks about a company’s leadership referring to the senior-most executives in the organisation. They are just that, senior executives. Leadership doesn’t automatically happen when you reach a certain pay grade. Leadership has nothing to do with titles and personal attributes. It isn’t management but it is the capacity to translate visions into realities. It is influence. As we look ahead into these coming centuries with vast technologies, leaders will be those people who empower others. These are people who have followers and good examples of these include Bill Gates, Elon Musk, John Maxwell, Warren Bennis, Peter Drucker etc. the list is almost endless.
Technology transforms business and helps us to do more than we have ever done before. New developers are being created through coding boot camps and online programming courses, and policymakers are introducing initiatives to get more students to learn STEM subjects. But innovations are nothing but blunt hammers without strong leadership. Many organisations are becoming dismissive of the basic human intelligence it takes to develop an enterprise in the search for coding abilities. Future leaders certainly need to grasp this fact and understand the concepts of the best leadership qualities and attributes. Every great leader always looks for ways to improve their ability to improve their leadership qualities and attributes. This is what technology has been doing for us, always improving the way we do things. But what are the leadership lessons we can learn from technology to take into the future and why?
Leadership lessons
Technological developments have made it easier for organisations to operate their duties smoothly and perform better than ever before. In the office, technology is like a facilitator that encourages an event or procedure to keep the whole workflow smooth and on track. Not long ago, companies were in a mess as they had to deal with a lot of paperwork, meetings had to be held in rooms, travel expenses were incurred on client meetings and communication across the organisation was not so easy. From the ways of communication to the methods of solution, technology has helped businesses come a long way. All the operational and communication issues have now been simplified and streamlined with the help of new technology. Businesses no longer need to pause any of their tasks.
Whatever barriers that used to be there a long time back, like the communication barrier, task-performing barriers, management barriers, or outsourcing barriers, have been overcome by the invention of technology. Internet and various software and applications have made it possible for the businesses to remain focused on their goals with no or negligible disruption by the day-to-day operational procedures. Now the most critical ingredient of success for managers who strive to be leaders are embracing technology. It is very easy for leaders to direct workers and accomplish organisational objectives with the use of new technology resources. But how you can use technology to your advantage and be approached as a cool leader as well? The following are 17 leadership lessons we can learn from technology which we all need to take into the future:
Communication
Advertisment
If it is written or oral, language is the most important tool of a leader. Leaders may possess all the other characteristics without the ability to connect and yet struggle to affect. The way people used to interact in the modern workplace has been changed by technology. Communication has been taken to a new level with the arrival of smartphones, social networking sites and chat apps. Communication has become simple, fast, more deliberate, collaborative and cohesive between employees, or management to subordinates, or management to management. Via social networking apps like WhatsApp, Skype, etc., you can send emails, text or video chats or even video conferences with subordinates or superiors. You no longer need to be present at your office at all times, with the aid of technology. Outside the workplace, you can participate in other significant works and stay in contact even face-to-face with your colleagues in the workplace via video chats and conferences.
Continuous learning
An increasing emphasis on continuous and self-motivated learning has contributed to the demands of today's ever-changing workplace. Technology can encourage workers to pick up new knowledge and skills quickly and easily. Future learning allows workers to accept responsibility for achieving learning goals and promoting their career growth. Leaders must be good learners. They have got to learn from their faults. Leaders must identify, consider, and strengthen their weaknesses to be most effective. And they have to inspire their team to concentrate on continuous learning as well.
A modern leader is a servant
Employees and customers are the leader's customers. Their success and happiness are the greatest concern of a leader. For the organisation, staff, community, and customer satisfaction, the leader takes the most responsibility in the room. The leader is then rewarded based on what differentiation he or she has created for individuals to secure their professional and personal development. If there is nothing to mention, then it is necessary to dismiss the chief. To create tomorrow's solutions, leadership needs an ability to look to the future and consider broad trends in a given sector. Technology workers are still grappling with what is coming next.
Keeping work fully organised
Advertisment
Technology aids with having the organisation completely organised. Systems such as Software for Project Management help to create, assign, review and analyse a mission. Employers and executives can easily supervise practices in the workplace that help keep things on track. It fixes the obligation, transparency, effectiveness, and timed output of tasks assigned to individuals. To improve workflow and raise productivity, the new workplace now has many creative products and applications. Project Management Software helps to enhance the quality and amount of work and also helps to measure risk by offering a red flag if a job gets off track that might lead to a failure of the project.
Building connections
Leadership is about creating plenty of ties. The most successful leaders make people feel like they have an interest in common issues. Technology is a part of today's life. The way we do business and live our lives is an important part of it. Some have said we have so much technology because of its abundance and we need to eradicate it. Use social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter etc. to build relationships. Technology does not need to get in the way of relationship building. Technology can give you a decisive advantage when used correctly and strengthen relationships more than ever.
Build partnerships
Significant responsibilities and attention to partners require successful partnerships. Even the smallest of information, pay careful attention. All businesses need strategies for growth that mitigate risk while strengthening their competitive positions. When the need to react rapidly to business opportunities accelerates, so does the threat and risk. And for a quick response, many businesses do not have the requisite resources and assets available. Partnerships can minimize costs and improve flexibility, thus reducing risk.
Timing is everything
Timing is (nearly) that, isn't it? It's a vital skill to know when to enact an initiative or improvement, when to go to your team, and when to hold off. Time, as we all know, is (along with death and taxes) one of the few things that are certain in life. As leaders and executives, time is always essential. With meetings and project deadlines, our long days are always full to the brim.
Share success
Think of it this way; if you share the glory, anything is possible. It is a simple, and effective, way to magnify results and give others a chance and claim the credit. Sharing gives you the energy to inspire and gives meaning and purpose to what you are doing as a cohesive group; it also keeps your vision alive as a leader. The vision not only keeps in mind, but it also gives value to those concerned by sharing the achievements along the journey.
Be talent brokers
Talent hounds and brokers are one of a leader's primary work. A key skill is the ability to find, recruit, create, and handle the best and brightest people efficiently, even those with different talent sets than yours. It could be the most important, maybe.
Building and maintaining trust
Trust is rarely restored to its original state, once destroyed. It is the most fragile and critical characteristic of management. No leader can afford to lightly take his speech.
Deliver confidence
Getting and being able to deliver confidence counts. Many leaders, even to a fault, are self-confident. The true desire and capacity to extend confidence to others, however. They must be excellent at understanding others' strengths and trusting in them.
Complacency
Effective tech companies take calculated chances daily and try new stuff. Most businesses say their businesses had pursued billboards, sponsorships for racing cars and other far-fetched promotions. Some worked well, and they dismissed others that didn't. You cannot develop without risk.
Be a multiplier
The representatives of multipliers realize that the lone genius is NOT at the top of the intelligence hierarchy. Instead, it is the genius who realizes the value of bringing out the smarts and talents of everyone in the squad.
Increasing collaboration
The way businesses communicate has been changed by technology. Technology has allowed us to communicate everywhere and at any time with individuals. This increased cooperation has introduced a high degree of contact versatility that makes it easier for staff, co-workers, and managers to communicate with each other. This has helped to foster cooperation, shared understanding, and collaboration between workers, as workers can now interact and communicate no matter where they are. Improved levels of cooperation often encourage leaders and managers to keep in contact with and better manage their employees. Increased project coordination has helped businesses to keep their customers up to date with their projects.
Giving customising options
Technology has allowed any program to be tailored according to variable business requirements. Businesses are now using such technologies to conduct their day-to-day activities. Facility management software is one such software that is becoming popular in the modern workplace. Whether big or small, every workplace in an organisation has its way of doing things to achieve its objectives. For that, they need a kind of technical support that fits their working style and can provide those services with customized apps.
Helping in cost management
The overarching objective of any business is to increase profitability. Companies are also becoming fiscally stable because of advanced technical software, as these developments tend to be more cost-effective. Every workplace has many chore activities that need to be performed by committed individuals.
Be differentiators
All in the company needs to recognise and build on the one thing that separates and hones the company. You want to be recognised for this differentiation in the market.
Leaders are masters of simplicity who bring order by conquering confusion in the minds and actions of people, bringing people together, and building future trust. Thus, when people need them and their unique qualities to complement and grow their own, great leaders are always in demand. In the office, the effect of technology is amazing. The way conventional workplaces used to work has changed. Most successfully, it is up to business leaders to keep up with their changing pace.
Business owners cannot afford to risk the efficiency, profitability, and protection of their business. Business leaders can ensure optimum profitability and efficiency in their modern workplace by introducing innovative technical solutions and facility management software. Technology will help future leaders to be the very best versions of themselves if fully implemented and integrated into their everyday work using the leadership lessons mentioned in this article.
Kudzai Derera is a Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a management and human resources consulting firm.
LinkedIn: https://zw.linkedin.com/in/kudzaiderera
Phone: +263 242 481946-48/481950
Email: kudsai@ipcconsultants.com
Main Website: www.ipcconsultants.com