Developing the 21st Leadership
Developing the 21st-Century Leader
A multi-level analysis of global trends in leadership challenges and practices
Contributors: Craig Perrin Sharon Daniels Chris Blauth Mark Marone, Ph.D. East Apthorp Joyce Thompsen, Ph.D. Kathleen Clancy Jefferson, Ph.D. Colleen O’Sullivan Linda Moran, Ed.D.
Executive Summary
To succeed in the shifting business landscape of the 21stcentury, leaders must rethink their historical views and cultivate a new configuration of attitudes and abilities. That is the crux of AchieveGlobal’s multi-phased, multi-level study of how leadership is changing to keep pace with today’s business challenges. The research began by identifying leadership trends documented in peer-reviewed academic and industry journals over a two-year period. Later focus-group sessions supported development of a survey completed by 971 business and government leaders and employees in Europe, Asia, and North America. Survey results in turn facilitated development of a comprehensive new model of leadership today and a related individual assessment instrument. The literature review, focus groups, and survey painted a detailed picture of the business challenges and required practices for leaders at multiple levels in organizations worldwide. Among the key research findings and conclusions: • Leadership in the 21st-century is more than ever a complex matrix of practices, which vary by geography, organizational level, and individual circumstances. • In all global regions, modern leadership may be distilled into six “zones,” or categories of best practices, which the study identified as Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business. • Effective leaders recognize their own leadership strengths and liabilities, adjust current strategies, adopt new strategies, and recognize strengths and liabilities in other people. • Leaders strong in the Reflection zone are better equipped to leverage their strengths and reduce their liabilities in other zones. •
A multi-level analysis of global trends in leadership challenges and practices
Contributors: Craig Perrin Sharon Daniels Chris Blauth Mark Marone, Ph.D. East Apthorp Joyce Thompsen, Ph.D. Kathleen Clancy Jefferson, Ph.D. Colleen O’Sullivan Linda Moran, Ed.D.
Executive Summary
To succeed in the shifting business landscape of the 21stcentury, leaders must rethink their historical views and cultivate a new configuration of attitudes and abilities. That is the crux of AchieveGlobal’s multi-phased, multi-level study of how leadership is changing to keep pace with today’s business challenges. The research began by identifying leadership trends documented in peer-reviewed academic and industry journals over a two-year period. Later focus-group sessions supported development of a survey completed by 971 business and government leaders and employees in Europe, Asia, and North America. Survey results in turn facilitated development of a comprehensive new model of leadership today and a related individual assessment instrument. The literature review, focus groups, and survey painted a detailed picture of the business challenges and required practices for leaders at multiple levels in organizations worldwide. Among the key research findings and conclusions: • Leadership in the 21st-century is more than ever a complex matrix of practices, which vary by geography, organizational level, and individual circumstances. • In all global regions, modern leadership may be distilled into six “zones,” or categories of best practices, which the study identified as Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business. • Effective leaders recognize their own leadership strengths and liabilities, adjust current strategies, adopt new strategies, and recognize strengths and liabilities in other people. • Leaders strong in the Reflection zone are better equipped to leverage their strengths and reduce their liabilities in other zones. •