Today's Managers Need These 11 Skills

Technical development is progressing rapidly; likewise the (digital) networking within the company and between the company and its environment. That is why the topic of change is an ongoing topic in everyday operations. This means that the need to reflect on one's own behavior and, if necessary, to change it in order to grow into new roles is an elementary part of everyday work. And the task of initiating, managing and controlling change processes? It has developed into a core task of leadership. Many managers have not yet internalized this awareness. They often view managing change processes as an additional task. That is why they set the wrong priorities in their management work - which often leads to a real or perceived overload.

Competence 2: being able to deal with complexity

As a result of technological innovation and growing networking, the structures in companies and their markets are becoming increasingly complex. This means that executives have to reckon with changing goals, consider more and more influencing factors, experiment more and take risks. Nevertheless, they have to be ready and able to make decisions - even at the risk of making possible wrong decisions. At the same time, they must be ready to revise their decisions - for example, if certain assumptions on the basis of which they made their decisions prove to be incorrect or environmental factors change. This requires a high level of self-reflection and willingness.

Competence 3: being able to live with uncertainty and limited predictability

What will our market be like in five or even ten years? Which (technical) problem solutions are then possible? No company knows that today. Therefore, the decisions of the top business leaders have an ever shorter half-life. For managers, this means that they act more frequently in an environment that is characterized by uncertainty.

In addition, they and their areas are often faced with challenges and tasks that they have no experience in solving. Therefore, they have to say goodbye to the fiction that complex tasks and change plans can be planned from start to finish. Instead, it is important to gradually approach the possible problem solution with small, well-considered change steps and to reflect on the effects of each step before the next steps are planned and taken. Awareness of such an iterative approach must also be conveyed to the employees; likewise the awareness: plans are not "sacred cows" that must not be slaughtered. On the contrary: they must be "slaughtered" if they …

Competency 4: know the typical course of change processes

There are different phases in every change project. An initial euphoria is often followed by the so-called “valley of tears”. That means, for example, that the employees recognize that the impact on us is greater than expected. Or: The new approach is more difficult than expected. Managers must know the typical phases of a change process - not only so that they are not completely surprised and unprepared when their employees suddenly complain, but also because they need different support in the different phases of a change project.

Content of the article:

• Page 1: Today's managers need these 11 skills
• Page 2: Competence 5: Being sensitive communicators
• Page 3: Competence 9: Being able to integrate individualists and specialists

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