We need a mindshift around the views on leadership and skills

Originally published as an Op-Ed in Swedish in TLNT in November 2023.

"We need a mindshift around the views on leadership and skills"

Carolina Engström Lökken, CEO at the executive recruitment firm Wes, writes about how the most important leadership skills going forward are courage and adaptability. "New times demand new thinking – we need a mindshift around the views on leadership and skills."

Our society is facing enormous challenges and the business world needs to be an obvious part of the solutions. Restricting our thinking to inside the box doesn't help us move forward, rather it limits us both in the short and long term. The most important leadership skills going forward are courage and adaptability.

Social divides are widening, the technological evolution requires new ways of working, and we are facing several complex sustainability challenges. In order to successfully transition to a sustainable society, companies must challenge their outdated views on required skills. We will never succeed in solving the skills gap unless we change our mindset. New times demand new thinking – we need a mindshift around the views on leadership and skills. We need to upskill, reskill, and take care of the talent we have.

Looking ahead, successful leadership will require a different combination of attributes and skills than previously. Therefore, when we are looking for great leaders it is just as important to look for qualities such as courage and the ability to develop and adapt as it is that the person has extensive experience within the company's specific area of business.

We can no longer look backwards to find the right talent or skillset. Rather, it is just as important to consider how the person embraces the new and unknown, and how they can lead and create successful teams under unclear conditions.

The business world has too narrow a picture of what the right skillset looks like and where to find it, while at the same time the solutions are right in front of us – if we only dare to think and look outside the box.

Most leaders are willing to venture outside the box when seeking new opportunities themselves, but tend to be more conservative when recruiting. We need to challenge and broaden our views of what is required in terms of background, age, education, or industry experience.

• Let go of the idea of extensive industry experience as a must have requirement for executive-level positions. Instead, utilize the super power of transferable skills and actual leadership skills, not least for the benefit of innovation and development.
• Evolve the way your company recruits new talent and leaders – establish professional recruitment processes, challenge old assumptions and beliefs about what skills count the most or are required, and demand a diverse candidate pool.
• Inclusive leadership, psychological security, diversity, and continuous learning are fundamental for those organizations looking to continue to be successful and keep up.

A limited view on skills leads to limited access to skills, which results in limited solutions. It's something everyone loses out on.

Carolina Engström Lökken
CEO, Wes

Read the original piece (in Swedish) here.

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Wes recruits the very best candidates for management, executive, and board positions — and we specialize in diversity and inclusion. We are experts in helping companies build professional, modern, and diversified boards and senior management teams. Wes also works with candidates and businesses on leadership advisory, strategy consulting, executive coaching, second opinion, and more. Contact us if we can help you!