Leadership: New rules of the game

I’ve led organizations, built them from the ground up, turned them around, advised private equity and business owners, and led boards in determining their next strategies. However, never has there been a time like this in the history of business where we are teaching machines to think and do our work. And that changes everything about leading and competing. And yes, the workplace and work.

Leadership is a concept that is changing; nothing is new about that, except that today, technology, more specifically AI and robotics, is going to change the rules whether we like it or not. There are five changes that will reshape how leaders behave across all sectors, including business, government, and institutions. Much of it has to do with competing in a landscape of uncertainty and shifts that need to be managed.  But these five organizational attributes will serve as a foundational staple for leaders across all organizations. The ability to adapt quickly and effectively is an attribute of great leadership. And the number one obstacle to effectively leading change is organizational bureaucracy, which exists across all organizational archetypes, from business to government.

Leadership: New Rules Of The Game

Organizational Intelligence: There is no need to rehash the past; however, let’s be clear: our ability to have information to act on has never been more important, especially as our competitors will be pursuing the same. In fact, an organization and its leadership will only be as good as the intelligence it has. Intelligence must be timely, specific, relevant, and actionable. There can be no silos in these organizations.  They must be alive and actively pursuing what comes next. Their actions, along with those of their competitors in the market, will dictate a great deal as these intelligence machines collect all kinds of data. And I remain very adamant, as I did in my book ” Predictive Leadership, How Humans and AI Will Transform Organizations, Innovation and Competition,”  that leaders from all functions need to be thought of as intelligence officers.

Highly Responsive: It is one thing to know what might come next, and it is another to have the competencies and capabilities to deliver that next move in the market. Organizations and their leaders will have to monitor their competitive landscape and be highly responsive to changes, whether they are economic, technological, or political.

Continuous Reinvention and Innovation: Of course, what we should expect from this new world of intelligence is that there will be continuous reinventions and innovations, a relentless path of continuous change that will be entering from all angles of the competitive environment.  Organizations will only be limited by their own intelligence capabilities, and where innovation and reinvention need vision and inspiration that comes from intuitive human capabilities who act on the intelligence they have access to internally and externally.

Learning organization: We hear a lot about up-skilling and increasing the organization’s capabilities and competencies. However, all of this needs to be the nature of the new organizations. Over the last two decades, companies have largely abandoned internal training and development. That is about to change, especially if they want to survive.

Leading in real-time: Leadership as a concept will be challenged. From CEOs to middle managers, they will need to learn to work faster and smarter, and to respond to market dynamics and customers in real time. This is a game-changer. If you can imagine looking for the next opportunity, overseeing current initiatives, their performance, making decisions and relying on everyone in the organization being able to make the right decisions in real time without negatively impacting the business and their next move. It’s a high stakes, high speed chess game on five levels and few will be able to play.

This is where the organizations are made and broken. At the human leadership level.

Leadership: New Rules of the game

George Minakakis

George Minakakis is a proven leader, having held senior roles within Fortune 500 companies. CEO of Inception Retail Group Inc. Served on for-profit and not-for-profit boards as a director and chair. He’s the author of four books on leadership and AI. And is also a Municipal Councillor in the Town of Milton.