“If you want to succeed, but especially if you
want the team you lead to succeed…
everyone must reflect the future in skillset,
mindset, and the way of working together.”
I don’t know where I found this quote; had I known I would have given the author full credit. I would assume that few leaders have the time or give the thought to the suggestions this quote demands. But the time is now, and the work is essential.
Teams of the Future
Let’s take the aspects of success in order.
Skillset: This speaks to how we will communicate, lead, and use technology in the future. It seems easy enough to measure, though few organizations test current or potential employees for skills anymore. We too often assume what a person puts on their resume is an accurate telling of their successes and skills. Sure, he can code, many people can code, but at what level, and with what type of efficiency? How are they with new, unique, challenges? Are they looking for the cleanest way to the solution or is there considerable hunting and pecking to find an answer? Are they future focused?
What skills will your teams of the future have to build on and what will they have to learn from scratch? Are you prepared to teach them?
Few team members are tested for writing skills unless that is their primary job. What will be required of them in the future? Reality sets in when projects require introductions, content, and conclusions, or crafting of difficult and complicated papers in some form. We are so accustomed to the shorthand of email we rarely need to compose more than a paragraph. What happens when no one on your team can write? And how will communication skills look and be required in the future?
Many of the honored skills of today will be outdated in a short time. Remember the struggle colleagues had rapidly switching to remote working and learning? How do you create a team that is flexible, agile, eager to learn, and looking forward to welcoming new technology and new ways of operating? If you want to excel in your career, you will have to figure that out.
Mindset: In this context I am using the word “mindset” as a concept to describe an attitude or inclination, rather than a set way of thinking. How does a leader create and use group think in a positive, forward-thinking way? What does a mindset for a team of the future look like and require? I would say curiosity, strategy, a willingness to live with the unknown, a desire to make things better, easier, while looking for an answer with focus and determination. A deep understanding of what is occurring in the present and how it relates, or doesn’t mesh, to the next day, year, or decade is required.
Every generation comes with its own mindset. Millennials have theirs as do Gen Zs. What will this next generation of future workers, who are children in this current pandemic, want for careers and from the workplace? We can be sure it will be different, but how?
For leaders to succeed they must bring and share ideas for the future and anticipate the actions change will require. This is a tall, but necessary, order. A future-focused mindset has vision and an ability to sort through the options. Some of us can easily get into this type of mindset while others will struggle and fight for the now, maybe even the past.
A Way of Working Together: Collaboration has always been essential, and now the playing field is larger and further from base. It’s global, there are 24 time zones, and team members are more diverse than ever. What will we call this next generation? Millennials are collaborators, Gen Zs tend to be more solo contributors. Will the next generation adapt to the current workplace experiences, be risk adverse, or catastrophe planners because of their childhood pandemic experiences, or will they be the most resilient, optimistic, and future focused?
It has always been true — to have a great team there must be an assortment of types — ages, temperaments, backgrounds, expertise, etc. The challenge is to join them together making the best combination for the team while respecting their individuality.
The solutions are numerous and the speed in which questions will be asked, and answers expected, will only get faster. How does the team leader make all of these, and many other factors, become exciting, enthralling, and doable? Burnout will continue to be a serious threat, but the future also could give us a better roadmap that will attract and retain top quality people who will do extraordinary things. Talented individuals want to be with other talented individuals. The question is, “How do we lead them to the future?”
Skillset, mindset, and ways to work together are the key requirements for employee and leadership success. If we are to plan the exploration for teams of the future, directing and preparation must happen now.
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