The Age of the Anti-Leader

The future of leadership feels very much like what I’ve started branding an ‘Anti-Leader’, particularly when leading a function or team of specialists.

This new breed of leader has some key super-powers:

1. Set Direction: Interpret strategic intent; Translate current state of play; Communicate strategic gap & boundaries.
2. Stay Curious: Take action based on evidence; Use data over gut feel; Experiment to prove or disprove theories.
3. Empower Experts: Hire a gun team; Master relationship building; Nurture the team then Get out of their way!

Does your organisation support the recruitment and development of the new generation of Anti-Leaders?

Now that businesses know they need to become more tightly integrated with digital technology, design, and architecture functions to drive rapid transformation, are organisations able to rapidly mature fresh leadership structures to support the change? A common pitfall I see is that strategic direction isn’t as tightly coupled with business insights as it could be, for many different reasons spanning from not being able to articulate the cost of having integrated architecture & design in line with the value of having evidence-informed decision making and investment, through to emerging yet under-developed accountability and governance processes.

I’d love to hear the challenges you and your networks face in this space and get your thoughts on the concept of the Age of the Anti-Leader & their superpowers.