Prepare young people for corporate world

Effective corporate leaders are those that are able to understand time and focus in the short and long term. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • It is important to install rules that demonstrate a pledge to building the next generation of talent.
  • Without personal proficiency, it is not possible to keep the other dimensions in balance.

In order to become effective corporate leaders, young people should start building capabilities on how to develop innovation strategies, forge long term relationships with customers, build high performing teams, enhance accountability, manage people, communicate effectively, make appropriate judgement and emotional intelligence.

There is need to synthesis these topical issues so as to clearly capture the holistic picture of effective corporate leadership.

Just like playing sports games, academic writing, driving and even politics have rules of the game, so is effective leadership.

More often than not leaders find it difficult to balance the trade-off between task and people, choose the appropriate leadership style depending on the situation, settle on the best competency model and whether to focus on results or other competing priorities.

INVEST

The truth is without results, competencies do not matter. Young people preparing themselves for corporate leadership should know that a balanced scorecard of employee, customer, investor and organisation results and linking the external identity of the organisation with internal culture is what defines success.

Effective corporate leaders are those that are able to understand time and focus in the short and long term.

They project into the credible and hopeful future and define the context in which the organisation and the special talent in their team will succeed and be willing to invest financially, intellectually, physically and emotionally.

The said future should have a clear connection with what is present in the organisation so that the talented teams can find space to turn their aspirations into actions.

LEADERSHIP

The next step is to ask how to get the organisation to the dream place, how strategy must translate into action, state clearly how the change will happen, assign accountability, make timely decisions, delegate where possible and ensure a well glued team.

Effective leaders identity, build and engage talent to get results. There must be clarity on skills required and a game plan on how to draw the talent and retain it.

Human capital development ensures that the organisation outlines any single individual.

Unless employees see their future careers within the organisation, it is impossible to retain them.

It is important to install rules that demonstrate a pledge to building the next generation of talent.

CAPABILITIES

Personal proficiency is key for all young people who wish to succeed in corporate leadership. Without personal proficiency, it is not possible to keep the other dimensions in balance.

To be personally proficient, young leaders must begin by looking in the leadership mirror and being honest with themselves about their full range of personal predispositions such as introverts, extroverts and risk taking.

It is also expected that they are passionate about their beliefs and interests, they expand enormous personal energy and attention on whatever matters to them and the organisation.

It is not possible to ask others to follow you as a leader if you do not have a foundation of trust and credibility. Young people should know that leaders are learners. They learn from success, failure, assignments, books, classes, people and life itself.

The writer teaches at Karatina University