Preparing Leaders of the Future for Corporations: A Guide
In the rapidly evolving business landscape, the importance of developing the next generation of leaders has never been more critical. According to a report by our group's Future Leaders 2020, Gen Z already possess many of the attributes required to be top business leaders. This generation, in particular, is being hailed for their agility, digital competence, innovation, and creativity.
A recent survey of global leaders revealed that the growing capability for long-term growth is now considered 'very or extremely important' by 78%, a significant increase from 59% before the Covid-19 pandemic. Developing the next generation of leaders is the number one challenge for CEOs, according to DDI's Global Leadership Forecast.
Our group, recognising this need, runs three programs to prepare the next generation of leaders: the Future Leaders program, the CEO for One Month initiative, and the our group University (TAG U). The International Future Leaders Programme, an 18-month leadership development journey, is aimed at building leaders with strong commercial skills and the ability to deliver solutions to real-time business challenges.
The curriculum of the International Future Leaders Programme offers a mix of core and people skills, with an emphasis on ensuring that every skill learned can be deployed virtually as well as in the physical environment. The programme sponsors delegates by senior executives within the organization, takes them across international borders and business lines, and helps develop and accelerate their careers.
The CEO for One Month Program attracts talent from outside the company, allowing successful candidates to work alongside and shadow local and global CEOs of the our group for one month. This programme provides a unique opportunity for individuals to gain insights into the strategic decision-making processes of top executives.
The our group University (TAG U) is developing a robust learning eco-system that sets all our group colleagues on a path for continuous growth, with a focus on building transformational critical capabilities such as digital capabilities, agile ways of working, collaborating, and co-creating. TAG U aims to drive the company's Future@work transformation by focusing on these critical capabilities.
Bani Sodhi, who heads up the International Future Leaders Programme, states that the journey is a great reality check for high potential talents, broadens their multi-cultural network, and helps shape their unique style of leadership. The programme emphasizes agility and change management, digital competence, innovation and creativity, inclusivity and diversity, collaboration and team building, communication and influence, and talent development.
Interestingly, non-traditional education such as online courses or bootcamps are preferred by a quarter of Gen Z for leader development. More than half of Gen Z believe that CEOs will not need college degrees by 2050. This shift in perception underscores the importance of flexible, experiential, and personalized learning approaches in leadership development.
The best way to develop future leaders, according to 55% of Gen Z, is through apprenticeships and experiential learning. Companies are responding to this demand by incorporating practical experiential learning, mentorship programs, customized learning journeys, formal training budgets, and inclusive and authentic learning experiences into their leadership development strategies.
In summary, the next generation of leadership development integrates traditional management skills with agility, digital literacy, inclusivity, and innovation, delivered through blended, experience-based, and personalized learning programs that foster practical application and inclusive culture-building.
- The next generation of leadership development is focusing on integrating traditional management skills with agility, digital literacy, inclusivity, and innovation.
- Top business leaders consider the capability for long-term growth as 'very or extremely important', with 78% expressing this view, a significant increase from before the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Our group runs three programs to prepare the next generation of leaders, including the International Future Leaders Programme, and they offer a blend of core and people skills, with a focus on virtual and physical environment deployment.
- Gen Z prefers non-traditional education such as online courses or bootcamps for leader development, and more than half of them believe that CEOs will not need college degrees by 2050.
