Bob Johansen, a professional Forecaster, authored a book called “Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World”.  He wrote about the VUCA forces operating in the world today, referring to the increasing amount of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, that individuals and organizations face every day.  He  identified ten emerging skills he believes critical for leaders in the next decade.  They also have relevance for individuals seeking to reassert some leadership in their own lives whether they are searching for a job or just seeking to live a more fulfilled life.

Here is my interpretation of the ten skills:

1. The “Maker Instinct”. This comprises both a “can-do” and “can-make” attitude.  Gone are the days when we can rely on an endless supply of resources such as oil, credit or employer beneficence.  Learning resourcefulness — to make-do and to put creativity to work, to invent, to innovate and make things up, to make things last and to make things happen — are the keys to a successful future.

2. Clarity. This is essential in confusing or chaotic times.  We all need both to think and to communicate with clarity in order to do the following:  resolve dilemmas; deal with conflict; present our ideas to the outside world, and get to where we want to go in work and in life.

3. Dilemma Flipping.  This is an excellent skill enabling you to succeed with challenges that cannot be solved and won’t go away. Reframing problems and choosing to focus on what you can do or learn from them rather than sink into despondency can get you unstuck and move you forward.

4. Immersive Learning Ability.  Immersing yourself in new physical and virtual worlds that you would rather resist because they may be uncomfortable is likely to increase your learning.  If you are willing to take yourself out of your comfort zone, keep your mind open and observe how you do, you will notice, on later reflection, that you have made progress of some kind.

5. Bio-Empathy. There is much to learn from nature to inform your decisions.  A lot of management guru books tap into the wisdom of natural systems and use metaphors and analogies from nature. The next time you watch birds preparing for fall migration or trees shed leaves, see what insights they inspire.

6. Constructive Depolarizing.  This is a fancy term for finding common interests and goals.  The focus is on how a leader can constructively depolarize conflict to both calm and improve a situation.  In terms of a job search, it can be seen as a way of removing the invisible barriers between prospective employer and the employee, and, instead, viewing the exchange as a genuine seeking of how one side’s needs can be met by the other side’s offering.

7. Quiet Transparency.  This is a way of presenting yourself that ensures you are visible, clear and able to communicate your value without being pushy or self-promoting.  It does not mean mousiness or inactivity. In fact, it means the opposite. People in the job market or who lead others would do well to master this skill.

8. Rapid Prototyping.  This means working through many scenarios during a development process; bringing in different voices and rounding out a single perspective.  Whether creating and rewriting a resume or making a critical strategic decision, the willingness to brainstorm many alternatives and to work through multiple possibilities before finding the right solution will ensure a better outcome.

9. Smart Mob Organizing.  This is a leadership skill involving organizing people using a range of media.  We have seen crowd sourcing and other forms of hive-mind and social networking phenomena explode in recent years especially among the millennial generation.  We could all challenge ourselves to think about how we, too, could tap into this skill to advance our own ideas, organizations or careers.

10. Commons Creating.  This is linked to the previous skill of leveraging new social media technology.  It goes beyond it, though, suggesting a new way of doing business which breaks down old barriers and boundaries allowing for both cooperation and competition.  You may be competing with others in the job market, but you can still help them with referrals and contact names.  You may be leading an organization and competing for scarce resources or customers but still benefit from a monthly CEO roundtable at which you and your peers share frustrations and ideas in a spirit of mutuality and community.

Times are changing. We would all do well to think about the Forecaster’s wisdom and how it applies to our own world.

Fredia Woolf , founder of Woolf Consulting, blogs to help people improve their workplace effectiveness and optimize their careers.  As an organizational consultant and leadership coach, she works with clients to increase insight, inspiration and impact. She can be reached at fwoolf@woolfconsulting.com.

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Last updated on November 10th, 2010 at 03:20 pm