31.01.2025 Today’s Insights from McKinsey & Company Strategy and Corporate Finance: The Art of 21st Century Leadership
Dear Students,
While written for senior leaders, the first portion of the McKinsey article below conveys valuable insight into what it will take for ambitious international students like you to be selected as respected global leaders in the coming years.
Similar to other thought leadership articles, like those found in Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere, the authors reference 5 essential power skills, including:
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Positive energy (related to leveraging and operating within an abundance mindset)
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Personal balance
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Continuous learning
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Grit (please see: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/grit-essential-you-want-leader-people-respect-ren%C3%A9e-ure-qihke/ for more details)
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Resilience
Yet the three globally-focused McKinsey Partners who wrote this piece also reference several less-commonly mentioned behaviors, which relate to impacting how your fellow employees may feel in working with a leader like you. This topic has become more important than ever, in recent years, to promoting engagement/productivity and fostering retention among top talent (meaning the people you will hire). Within this context, the article mentions 6 additional characteristics, including:
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Inspiration
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Servant leadership (please see: https://www.greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/ for more details)
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Selfless leadership
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Humble mindset
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Levity (ability to recognize opportunities for humor, keep perspective, and sometimes shrug off difficult circumstances)
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Stewardship (please see: https://www.mentorink.com/blog/what-is-steward-leadership/#:~:text=In%20short%2C%20leadership%20is%20about,needs%20with%20long%2Dterm%20responsibilities. for more details
While these latter abilities are certainly less-defined, they can definitely be explored in coaching, as well. For example, What kind of leader do you want to become? How might you inspire your employees through your actions? If a company isn’t doing well, how could you, as a leader, still demonstrate levity? If you are very successful as a leader, how can you nonetheless maintain humility? (and so on).
What does all this mean for aspiring professionals like you and your friends? Not only do you need to develop the personal and interpersonal power skills that will allow you to obtain, launch and sustain a successful career, but you must also attend to how you can energize, motivate and engage those you interact with, on a daily basis.
Are these new requirements for effective global leadership? Not really. However, they’ve taken on additional importance as the speed of change continues to accelerate and the global economic environment becomes increasingly competitive.
As we begin the new Year of the Snake, our coaches would like you to consider how we can help you to apply the qualities associated with the snake, even in small, day-to-day opportunities to take on leadership roles. For more on this idea, please see: https://aspl.net.au/blog/embracing-wisdom-and-renewal-leadership-lessons-for-the-year-of-the-snake/#:~:text=As%20we%20prepare%20to%20welcome,what%20no%20longer%20serves%20us.
Here’s hoping these words “lead” you into a great evening!
Best,
Amy-Louise