In the 20th-century, the business focus was on stability and uniformity. The 21st century is the complete opposite. Business in the 21st century is fast paced, digitalized, and innovative. Thus, in this Expert Insight Interview, Lisa Christen discusses people skills required for leadership in the 21st century. Lisa Christen is a CEO, executive coach, and consultant at Christen Coaching & Consulting, focusing on creating leaders, teams, and company cultures of the 21st century.
The interview discusses:
- Embracing the change
- Shifting a mindset
- Creating value
- Mental restoration
Embrace the Change
Business leaders have to shift their mindset and finally embrace the 21s century idea of doing business. The key is in people and their effort to accept the change. Digital transformation is an example of that. We talk about digitalization for many years now, but the actual shift happened when the pandemic forced it to happen. And the reason for that is because people finally realized that the problem was not in technology but people’s attitude towards digitalization.
Shift the Mindset
Computers can already do all the easy, repetitive tasks. What computers cannot do is a creative part for which people need to work as a team and expand their thinking. The occupations are getting so specialized now that leaders should look for the trap of becoming too focused on one area and missing out on new opportunities to learn and grow. The mindset to embrace in the 21st century is constant learning, which is hard for the leaders who have been in their positions for a long time. They are used to being in control rather than being facilitators. That represents an emotional challenge and a trust issue for them. They have to let go of control, allow other people to do things their way, and trust in a positive outcome.
Create Value
The 21st-century business is all about creating value for the stakeholders. Many companies still do not think that way but follow the idea of providing what they believe is the best for stakeholders. Thus, the focus should be more on customer’s wants and needs rather than the company’s.
Mental Restoration
Furthermore, leadership in the 21st century also focuses way more on people’s mental well-being. We all have some activities to decrease our stress levels as yoga, reading, walking in nature, etc. However, mental resting lowers our stress for that day, but it does not eliminate it. Instead, it compounds it in the long run. Mental restoration is a concept that keeps our mental health at the baseline all the time. To achieve that, we need time to be alone with ourselves and our thoughts. That is the only way to restore the energy, get to know ourselves better, and take control of our careers and lives.
Our Host
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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