By Marisol Garcia Fuentes – Entrepreneur

When we hear the word water, an image immediately comes to mind, we know what we are talking about. The same does not happen with the term leadership or when we want to refer to the leader. However, this character plays a fundamental role in cultures and organizations.

Jacob Morgan, a futurist who explores leadership, the future of work, and the experience of employees, participated in INCmty where he pointed out the nine skills and mindsets that the leader of the future must have, whom he referred to as “the leader of today”.

Also, the founder of FutureOfWorkUniversity.com, an online education, and training platform that helps individuals and organizations thrive in the changing world of work, made a comparison between leaders and beacons.

In this regard, he said that the lighthouses have served as a pillar to guide sailors and explorers to their destinations safely. “When I think of a leader I think [of a lighthouse] and that I want you to have in your mind for yourself,” he said.

“Your job as a leader is not only to become that lighthouse but to shine your light on others in your organization and direct it to success,” he added, clarifying that a lighthouse without ships at sea is useless, the same as building yourself. as a leader, if you don’t have people to guide.

In this changing world, in the same way, that businesses and organizations change, leadership will experience several changes. How do you lead in a rapidly changing world where it is clear that what worked in the past will not work in the present or the future?

To answer this question, Jacob interviewed more than 140 of the world’s top CEOs and interviewed 14,000 employees in partnership with LinkedIn. With this research, he was able to identify a new arsenal of nine skills and mindsets that leaders must possess if they want to guide themselves, their people, and their organizations to success.

The 4 mentalities

Jacob identified four mentalities or mindsets for the leader of the future.

1. The global citizen. Leaders must get used to the idea that they are citizens of the world, capable of surrounding themselves and learning from people of other cultures, with different customs, styles, and ways of thinking than his or her own. That will expand your mind and make decisions that come out of the box that is truly innovative.
2. The servant.   For years leaders have been seen as at the top of the pyramid, from where they move processes and people. The future leader must be at the service of his people, help them break their own paradigms and learning barriers, to get all the best they can become. This is in line with the trend of “don’t hire people for what they have done but for what they can become/be”.
3. The chef.   The secret of chefs is that they know how to balance certain ingredients to achieve dishes with the perfect flavor. In the same way, leaders must balance between teams, processes, mindsets, backgrounds. Jacob emphasizes the balance of two ingredients: Humanity and Technology, which he calls “HumanIT.”
4. The Explorer.   Citing as an example the Antarctic expeditions of the explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, Jacob Morgan emphasized the need for leaders to open their minds and explore new ideas, always be open to new ways of thinking.

  5 skills for the future leader

On the other hand, Jacob emphasized the skills   that leaders must develop in line with these four mindsets, and that will help unleash the full potential for their teams and organizations:

1. The coach. You must become a coach, the best version of you, that will make you more successful and be better than the coach. Two words to keep in mind:   “Than you”   (that you) are key because you must always be more successful than your previous self.
2. The futurist.   We must ask ourselves: why would something happen or not? What else can happen? What should I do before what may happen? It is important to develop a strategic mindset and do scenarios of situations to anticipate change.
3. Yoda   Two qualities that Jacob highlights of the Star Wars character are Empathy and self-awareness. It is important that at each stop along the way you ask yourself: What motivates you? What makes you happy? And that these questions help you to illuminate the path to your goals.
4. The technology teenager.   We live in a world where forms of communication and of connecting with everyone are growing, such as augmented reality, social networks, and so on. A leader of the future has to be aware of what technology tools can do, to find the best solutions for their organizations.
5. The translator.   Listening and communicating are ancient concepts, however, today we must revalue them more than ever. A leader is one who can mediate between his people, through effective listening and agile and empathetic communication.

Jacob emphasized that leaders must step out of the box and break paradigms, as they can no longer see themselves as individual beings at the top; they are a vital gear for teams to function and deliver results.

He also asked INCmty attendees to participate in the FutureLeaderSurvey.com survey.