Leadership and The Future of Work

Leadership and The Future of Work 

Ulster University Business School in partnership with The Development and Alumni Relations Office last week invited me to deliver a webinar focused on “Leadership & The Future of Work.”

The world of work is changing with rapid technological and socio-economic disruption triggering huge changes to the way we work, communicate and lead. This unique webinar offered me the opportunity to impart some insights and experiences of leadership in the new normal and how individuals can meet the challenges of the new era of work.

You can watch the full recording here

Further, I followed up with some resources on each of the five key themes discussed in the session.

Theme 1: Generation Z

A video and summary article on what teenagers have taught me over the years

I interviewed Heidi Browning, CMO, US National Hockey League last September at a conference. She has developed a plethora of research into this area and here is a podcast of her speaking about this and other areas.

Theme 2: The workplace of the future

  One of our Savvy Women Online podcast guests, Jacky Fox, Accenture Ireland Security Lead and Vice-Chair of Cyber Ireland talks about protecting your digital assets.

Gartner produced a useful infographic of the future of work trends including the term I referenced often “greater role of an employer as a social safety net”.

Theme 3: Building Resilience

  Our own model, PREFER, is built on six principles. It is available on the link below and double click on the various elements of it to delve deeper into its composition.

I recommend “The Art of Asking the Right Questions”, written by Caroline McEnery. Here is one of our podcast episode where I interviewed her about the themes contained within.

I also mentioned how I needed to change my mindset myself relating to pivoting our Savvy Teen Academy business into an immersive interactive experience. This Harvard Business Review article on brainstorming questions has been very helpful in adapting that more effective questioning approach.

Theme 4: Alternative technologies

Here are the eight key takeaways from the webinar I contributed to regarding maintaining competitiveness including the discussion of low code automation.

We have engaged with DCU in an Innovation Partnership which is a very smart way of business having a bridge with universities to produce risk-shared innovation. Currently, we’re at the feasibility stage of our second one.

I highly recommend reaching out to Ulster University Business school ( engage@ulster.ac.uk ) to talk about the opportunities that could be on offer to your organisation. This type of relationship has been pivotal for us.

Theme 5: Collaboration

I mentioned that I consider our broader team to consist of our core staff, subcontractors, advisors, virtual interns, our Research Assistants through the aforementioned Innovation Partnership, suppliers, clients, referrers, social media audiences and the teams we work on-site with clients. I can point to two key books that have helped me with this mindset with tangible techniques. I’ve reviewed both on my website:

“The Leadership Pipeline” by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter and James Noel

“STAR Leadership – Leadership Behaviours for Stellar SME Growth” by Will McKee and John McKee

Thank you all kindly again for your participation and I wish you all my sincere best wishes as you craft your own next normal.

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