Helena Strauss - Sustainable Leadership

Helena Strauss

Sustainable Leadership in the 21st Century

THE Covid-19 pandemic has once again highlighted the importance of leadership and the impact leaders’ actions can have on a micro and macro level. Leadership is a major responsibility, and our actions have consequences. William Shakespear wrote “Love all, trust few and do wrong to none”. I believe that the time has come for honest and authentic leaders to rise and help mend a broken world. Without focussing too much on the academic side of leadership, this article focuses on the “heart knowledge” of sustainable and successful leadership. Leadership can take many forms and inevitably, we are all leaders, irrespective of whether we are in leadership positions or not. A short summary of important characteristics of successful and sustainable leaders in the 21st Century follows.

Honesty and Integrity: It’s not only what you say, but also what you don’t say

Authenticity: Be yourself

Digitalisation enables leaders to communicate (and infl uence) freely and in real-time. Various platforms such as e-mail, social media, YouTube, mainstream news outlets, journals, and blogs can be used to communicate and infl uence. Honest communication is, however, key to any leaders’ success irrespective whether it forms part of her/his set of personal values. Integrity and honest communication include, however, not only what is said, but also what is not said. The omission of important facts that infl uence others’ behaviours and decisions are as important indicators of integrity and honesty as is transparent and honest communication. An excellent example demonstrating the use of the media to infl uence and the link to integrity and honesty are well demonstrated in a documentary called The Great Hack.

Humanity evolved with digitalisation and some create digital “alter egos” of themselves. These are based on what people think society needs or expect of them and does not necessarily refl ect who they really are. This also pertains to leaders. Building rapport is an important element of any leader – so is being true to oneself. Rapport is built when someone can, amongst others, relate to you as a person and your personal values. It has, however, become quite easy to manipulate this picture by creating digital “alter egos”. William Shakespeare wrote: “If we are true to ourselves, we cannot be false to anyone”. I believe history shows that the authentic leader will enjoy long-term success.

Collaboration: Use quality data and value the opinions of others

The 21st century allows leaders to collect, analyse and convert information from a large pool of data into knowledge and wisdom. This is an asset that historical leaders did not necessarily have. We also fi nd ourselves in a world where people have specialised in various fi elds which enables leaders to obtain detailed and specialised knowledge and wisdom. Real-life interaction and collaboration to enhance decision-making and strategic alignment, however, remains imperative in a digital world. Collaboration and informed decision-making, however, requires leaders to manage their biases. “Confi rmation bias” which inclines leaders to surround him/her with those that agree with her/his opinion is one of these biases to manage when collaborating and analysing data as it impacts on the benefi ts of data analysis and collaboration.

Agility: Continuously re-evaluate decisions and intended outcomes

Agility is described in the Oxford dictionary as the ability to move quickly and easily and ability to think and understand quickly. Although this is a requirement for leadership in the 21st Century, it is important to highlight that agile leadership also includes the continuous evaluation of one’s decisions and whether it is resulting in the intended outcome. The 21st century is associated with rapid change that is, in turn, associated with rapid decision-making. The risk of this phenomenon is incorrect decision-making and strategic alignment. Leaders need to be able to identify, admit and correct their mistakes to ensure a positive outcome for those she/he is responsible for and accountable to. An agile approach which continuously evaluates the impact of, and possible revision of decisions is thus imperative to sustainable and successful leadership.

Trust has become currency

People have never been as thirsty for trustworthy leaders as now. People have also never been empowered to identify untrustworthiness as now. Ultimately a leader’s success is based on her/his trust relationship with her/his followers and stakeholders. As we know, trust is something that is built over time, but can be shattered in a blink of an eye. Digitalisation has made the process of building and breaking trust even easier. Although all the characteristics discussed above enhance the trust relationship between followers, stakeholders and leaders, the correlation between what we say and what we do also provide great insight into a leader’s trustworthiness. A correlation between words and actions builds trust while the opposite destroys trust relationships and negatively impacts on successful and sustainable leadership. One tool to demonstrate trustworthiness is transparency.

21st Century leaders in the accounting profession As accountants, auditors, tax professionals and consultants, we have insight into the heart of organisations, government institutions and global companies. We interact daily with leaders, fellow professionals, and others. We thus have a great sphere of infl uence that can be used to infl uence people to a better and sustainable future. Let trust be your currency as a sustainable and successful leader within the 21st Century.