Survey responses stressed the need for leaders and coaches to be more culturally attuned to the differences in the workplace globally, culturally, and generationally. “That will mean learning to maximize connections over virtual channels,” several coaches indicated. One comment summed up several responses: “Managing through VUCA [volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity] will continue to be important, as well as managing teams in a matrix and global organization. Leading in a virtual environment will be huge, as there will be less and less face-to-face interaction.” The respondent added, “Coaches will need to develop skill and credibility in these areas of virtual communication.” Comments that echoed this view suggested building those competencies in both leaders and coaches with increased use of voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) systems and other real-time virtual connection tools and a greater effort to understand cultural diversity.
Coaches offered differing perspectives on what it takes to support leaders with their global challenges. Some respondents suggested that they themselves need to gain a deeper understanding of firsthand experience with global business and cultural realities; others said that they need to hone their fundamental coaching competencies of open, unbiased inquiry and in-the-moment presence. Both approaches are apt, depending on the client, coach, and context. That being said, the wide range of responses suggests that, just as leaders must expand their repertoire of approaches and understanding, coaches must “model learning agility,” as one coach notes in the survey.
Coaching the 21st-century leader.
To integrate a common vision and build successful scale across multiple lines of business, leaders must rely on their teams’ capabilities for spanning networks, collecting information, tapping experience, and sharing intelligence. Leaders will need to go beyond their individual skills to build the relationships, team effectiveness, and transparency that enable shared ownership and accountability. Indeed, the Oxford Economics (2012) global talent study identified the ability to co-create and brainstorm as a top skill for talent.
The coaches we surveyed supported this finding. Two top coaching needs for those working in complex and uncertain conditions include: (1) the ability to work more collectively and collaboratively; and (2) to manage highly distributed networks of knowledge and teams.
Specifically, coaches identified these approaches and skills as valuable for supporting clients in building more effective integration, collaboration, and communication across networks and systems: systems thinking, the ability to toggle between the big picture and pragmatic realities of how things work on the ground, and improved mastery of technologies that enable real-time coaching in a fast-paced world.
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