SHAPING TOMMOROW’S LEADERS / LEADING IN A BOUNDARY-LESS WORLD

by Rukhsana Pervez
Workforce Transformation Executive Director
Deloitte Consulting Southeast Asia

Paviter Kaur Autar Singh
Workforce Transformation Senior Manager
Deloitte Consulting Southeast Asia

Kah Hoong Liew
Workforce Transformation Senior Consultant
Deloitte Consulting Southeast Asia

Sasha Grafil
Workforce Transformation Consultant
Deloitte Consulting Southeast Asia

Janice Tan Ying
Workforce Transformation Consultant
Deloitte Consulting Southeast Asia

Ashley Baluyot
Workforce Transformation Analyst
Deloitte Consulting Southeast Asia

Leading in a boundaryless world: The multiple roles of Today’s Leaders ?

In an increasingly interconnected, globalised and unpredictable world, organisations face the challenge of operating in a boundaryless environment. Deloitte’s latest report titled “Leading in a Boundary-less World” presents a new brand of leadership to support today’s leaders in tackling these challenges as they lead the modern workforce.

This article showcases proposed strategies from the report and highlights the various leadership roles that are essential in navigating the modern workforce.

The current business landscape

The current business landscape is constantly in flux, characterised by swift changes, disruption, and unpredictability. Some of these business and societal shifts have accelerated and some are emerging. “Work” as we know it today is vastly different from what it was a few years ago. Leaders must deal with growing anxiety, ambiguity and uncertainty in their decision-making process and constantly make trade-offs based on limited and changing information.

Navigating challenges and capturing opportunities

Deloitte proposes several strategies to convert the challenges in this current business landscape into opportunities.

First, to manage a multigenerational workforce, organisations should focus on inspiring the different generations of employees through a shared purpose and have a deeper focus on the “why”. A multigenerational workforce has numerous benefits if leveraged well.

Secondly, the pandemic served as the right nudge for talents who may have been eager to leave the organisation pre-pandemic. Many employees are opting to leave unsupportive employers and transition to jobs where they feel like they have better resources and are more cared for. This calls for a need to create a path for the ‘Great Reimagination’ – to allow leaders to reflect and re-engineer their workforce strategy by upskilling and reskilling talents through robust learning and development programs, and to relook into new ways of working and employee experience.

Thirdly, leaders currently face the challenge of balancing the many expectations for different employees as preferences for remote, hybrid and on-site are ever-changing. To transition to these new working models calls for a need to reimagine the workplace and work models aligned to the shift in employees’ values and motivations. Leaders who can empathise and understand employees’ needs can proactively take action to help employees focus on the work that matters.

Finally, empathy and authenticity are crucial in restoring trust and rebuilding confidence in the global workforce. With the multiple shocks in the global political, economic, and social arenas, empathetic leaders are uniting employees through the current shifts in the business landscape by demonstrating curiosity and authenticity in the workplace.

The multiple roles of Leaders in a boundaryless world

In our boundary-less world, leaders are presented with a multitude of complex challenges to navigate. However, within every challenge lies an opportunity for leaders to seize. To build a bridge between challenges and opportunities, leaders must adopt multiple roles that enable them to drive productivity, hack growth, navigate change, foster resilient teams, and achieve outstanding results.

Over the last decade, building innovative and entrepreneurial leaders was the name of the game. Now, we must build holistic leaders who are equipped with these multiple roles that they can activate when they need to double down and focus on the right ideas. In doing so, they can execute intended results with quantifiable outcomes.

In this report, Leadership roles are segmented into 2 broad categories:

Customer & Business-focused roles: Leaders need to play a role in transforming big ideas into small actions, whilst holding parties accountable to the right measures when driving execution excellence. They must also stay on top of technological trends to find fit-for purpose tools to increase work efficiencies to stay competitive amid digital disruption. Further, leaders also play a role in thinking strategically to create value for their organisation, team, and stakeholders by

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identifying and pursuing opportunities for growth, success, and innovation.

People & Workforce-focused roles: Leaders need to lead with empathy to have a deeper understanding of their people’s motivations, abilities, and aspirations. Effective leaders appreciate what great performance looks like, what drives it and can craft high-impact and authentic communication that rallies others around a common purpose to achieve greater results. In addition, the modern leader needs to be able to navigate today’s highly complex landscape by championing an inclusive environment where everyone can bring their best selves to work and celebrate diversity.

By embracing these diverse roles, leaders can effectively navigate the complexities of the modern business landscape. Through adapting and embodying these multifaceted roles, leaders can position their organisations for success in an ever evolving and boundaryless world.

Conclusion: Embracing the boundaryless future

Leading in a boundaryless world brings to light the importance of embracing the opportunities and challenges presented by a boundaryless environment. By developing the right leadership competencies, fostering a boundaryless organisational culture, and implementing effective strategies, organisations can thrive and excel in this interconnected era. Deloitte’s insights and expertise can help provide valuable guidance for leaders seeking to navigate and lead in a boundaryless and ever-evolving landscape with confidence and success. The full report is downloadable here.

Deloitte provides industry-leading audit and assurance, tax and legal, consulting, financial advisory, and risk advisory services to nearly 90% of the Fortune Global 500® and thousands of private companies. Our professionals deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in capital markets, enable clients to transform and thrive, and lead the way toward a stronger economy, a more equitable society and a sustainable world. Building on its 175-plus year history, Deloitte spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte’s approximately 415,000 people worldwide make an impact that matters at www.deloitte.com