Effective Leadership for the Digital Age with No Fear
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With leaders and organisations having experienced the first
wave of globalisation,
the mobile revolution and the consumer-driven economy, the next
economic cycle (2012-2016) will be one where digital technology
develops further and the pace of change accelerates. Leadership
styles will need to develop - and without fear.
A Global Approach To Leadership
Development
The ‘No Fear’ project and subsequent book examines the
changing nature of leadership with the goal of finding tools for
leading what the author, Pekka
Viljakainen calls the Playstation generation - those born
after 1985. Global economic growth is dependant upon emerging markets
and the values and rapid globalisation of this generation will impact
on the management of successful organisations.
Viljakainen is a globally renowned executive, strategist,
entrepreneur and former President of Tieto International, one of the
worlds leading IT consulting firms operating in 24 countries.
Viljakainen is the driving force behind ‘No Fear’ with high profile
participants including Arkady
Dvorkovich (assistant to the President of Russia) and Bill
Fischer (professor at IMD Business School). This work was underpinned
at a world economic forum where 3400 executives and politicians
participated, including the Presidents of Russia and China and the ‘No
Fear’ project has been distributed to 100 countries.
Viljakainen outlined his vision: "For years I’ve dreamt about
facing the challenge of putting my thoughts on leading, leadership and
creating a new generation of services in writing. I’ve been privileged
to be able to face this challenge with a real global team willing to
put their time and energy into this project. I’ve also been moved by
the show of support from an extensive network of corporate leaders.
There seems to be a genuine need to deal with this subject matter”.
The Challenges Facing All Leaders
Fear is the biggest factor preventing the growth of business
leaders claims Viljakainen, despite the world being more open to
competition and growth than ever before. Leadership is all about
learning and developing corporate strategies to address the demands of
globalization and the rapid change of technology. This informs six key
changing business fundamentals:
- Leaders often ignore the value of people development and
risk losing their best people and reducing productivity.
- Globalisation impacts on competitiveness and leadership
styles with its cultural implications. Asian leadership typically
adopts the “top-down” approach, in contrast to approaches used in
western organisations.
- Capital is flowing in different directions with China,
India and South America becoming key investors, bringing new demands to
bear on western businesses and economies.
- Consumer behavior is changing with better education,
improved communication and more international outlook. Informed
consumers and more demanding consumers.
- The network
economy is now in full flow with social media and mobile
technologies.
- To encourage innovation organisations must embrace
diversity within management. They cannot lead by hanging onto old
process driven methodologies and should be thinking about global market
penetration.
Leading Into The Future
In conclusion, Viljakainen argues that leaders must be
inspiring, responsible, responsive and open. Traditional leadership
approaches must evolve to utilize the younger generation’s methods and
tools. This requires a change in attitude and approach - removing the
fear of failure - to develop a sucessful working culture.
Source: ‘No
Fear’ by Pekka Viljakainen, published by Marshall Cavendish
Business.
About the Author
Keith
Appleton JP, BA(Hons), N.Dip.M, MInstLM has extensive experience within
a managerial and strategic leadership role. This is underpinned by his
academic background and membership of the UK Institute of Leadership
& Management. Keith
can be contacted at KeithAppleton@Hotmail.co.uk and you can follow him
on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/WritingRightNow
More
information on the published sources cited within the articles can be
found at www.business-bookshop.co.uk
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2012-04-24 15:00:28 in Personal Articles
