If you wake up thinking about the direction of your organization and how to help team members take it to the next level of success, or you’re yearning for greater responsibility and dream of elevating your skills to land a more senior position, you just might be a leader-in-the-making. The question is, “Do you have the three crucial competencies necessary to rise and shine moving forward?” To find your own answer, read on.
1. Being Adaptive
Why It’s Important
For those of us who have chosen the leadership path, the past three years have required us to pivot and adapt in ways we could never have imagined. No longer do we lead people we see in the office Monday through Friday. Now, we often must lead from afar, leveraging technology to drive alignment and maintain connections with people we might rarely see in person. Where work-life balance once was king, work-life integration reigns supreme—demanding greater understanding and flexibility for team members and their personal lives. To take it a step further, “The Great Reshuffle” has made attracting and retaining talent even more challenging.
What It Means for You
In this ever-changing environment, rigid leaders simply won’t survive. Instead, the time calls for strategic and responsive leaders who are comfortable facing the unknown and unexpected with courage, vulnerability, and empathy.
2. Being Generative
Why It’s Important
It’s official, Gen Z is entering the workplace and Millennials are quickly moving into management and leadership positions. What do they have in common? They all want a seat at the table—not because of some misguided and mislabeled entitlement, but because they’ve always had a seat at the table. While Boomers and Gen X were largely left to their own devices by parents and teachers, the younger generations have always been at the center of the conversation whether they wanted to be or not. Now, they’re looking for a work environment that will continue to provide that level of engagement and support. They want to be empowered to do meaningful work—but honestly, isn’t that what we all want?
What It Means for You
Proscriptive, top-down leadership isn’t going to make the grade with this evolving workforce. Instead, they seek generative leaders who know how to tap into the collective intelligence of an organization to get things done. This means honing the ability to bring different people and perspectives together to solve important problems and recognizing that the best ideas don’t always come from the longest tenure or the most experience. Generative leaders empower their colleagues—no matter their role in the organization—synthesizing all those voices into an action or solution that best serves everyone.
3. Being Inclusive
Why It’s Important
It is no longer acceptable to define being a diverse organization by hiring a person of color or offering an annual DEI seminar—and that’s for the better. Organizations are enriched by embracing a diverse workforce that is encouraged to share their perspectives and values. In the world of advancement, internal and external stakeholders alike are clamoring for greater diversity both in the workplace and in the donor pipeline. They understand that an organization’s mission—no matter how noble—cannot reach its full potential until all possible partners are seated at the table.
What It Means for You
Inclusive leadership begins with the difficult task of honest self-reflection. Leaders need to do the hard work of transparently examining their values and belief systems and then humbly seeking diverse perspectives in informing and enacting change—both for themselves as a leader and for their organization.
As the sun sets on one year and dawns on another one, take a moment to reflect on these important competencies. Then ask yourself, “What am I doing to build my own capabilities and my organization’s bench strength in these areas?” Who knows, you just might stumble on a New Year’s resolution with the power to transform both.
Take the next step! Propel yourself to greater career success by enrolling in Advancement Resources’ International Academy of Advancement Leadership. As part of a cohort with other up-an-coming advancement leaders, you will explore and apply concepts to your real-life leadership challenges that will help you and your organization rise and shine.
