Leadership in the 21th Century

21^st century has seen a change in organisational contexts and types fuelled by the advent of globalisation. Firms have become global, and began accommodating people from different places and cultures under one roof. It has also seen the emergence of start-ups in very high numbers. According to Gleeson (2017), this lead to the development of different leadership styles and techniques in the 21st century to match with changing organisational conditions. First of all, contemporary organisations were slow moving, where decisions were taken by very few people at the top, but contemporary organisations operate in a fast and complex environment, demanding more responsive action from leaders (Gleeson, 2017).

As of now, organisations have shifted to an innovation economy (Agbor, 2008), which demand innovation-focused leadership. According to Alsolami et al. (2016), innovation leaders must possess different skills and capacities, in comparison with conventional leaders. According to Agbor (2008), such innovation driven enterprises also need an innovative culture, which can only be managed by a supporting leadership style, often comprising of participative or transformational leadership styles, and very often visionary leadership models. Another development seen by contemporary organisations have been the development of virtual workforce, where workforce is becoming increasingly remote and virtual and leaders are required to have essential skills to manage people working from remote locations, either as mobile workers, or as telecommuters (Lojeski, 2009).

This means, 21^st century leaders must become transparent, accessible, and present, so that employees of different orientations will be able to interact with them (Shermon, 2017).  This may also mean considerable changes in leadership models and styles, as conventional models of authoritative leadership models, or the democratic leadership and such may not be applicable in such cases. Hence, contemporary leadership models must be flexible, accessible, and transparent with a strong focus on innovation.

References

Agbor, E. (2008). Creativity and Innovation: The Leadership Dynamics. Journal of Strategic Leadership, 1(1), 39-45.

Alsolami, H.A. Cheng, K.T. & Twalh, A.A. (2016). Revisiting Innovation Leadership. Open Journal of Leadership, 5, 31-38.

Gleeson, B. (2017). The Future Of Leadership And Management In The 21st-Century Organization. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2017/03/27/the-future-of-leadership-and-management-in-the-21st-century-organization/#39d10cf2218f.

Lojeski, K.S. (2009). Leading the Virtual Workforce: How Great Leaders Transform Organizations in the 21st Century. New York, US: John Wiley & Sons.

Shermon, G. (2017). Digital Cultures: Age of the Intellect. New York, US: LULU.