White Papers

White Papers on Transforming the Next Generation of ‘Disruptive Digital Leaders’ for the VUCA-Driven Industry 4.0?

Today’s businesses face unprecedented challenges operating in a global environment that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). The explosion of data and unprecedented advances in computer processing power globally have dramatically increased the2 capacity to support decision-making within various functional operations in organizations across industries. The world has moved well beyond basic and enhanced process automation and is entering into an era of cognitive automation leveraging artificial intelligence and robotics. This is the new era that is known as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” or Industry 4.0.

The following series of white papers jointly developed by the Centre for Executive Education (CEE) and the Disruptive Leadership Institute (DLI) is related to the theme on identification, assessment, selection and development of the next generation (nextgen) or future leaders in the VUCA-centric and increasingly digital-driven workplace of the future.

Contact us for the electronic copy of the respective white paper that of interest to you and if you wish to receive more information about our leadership development solutions including executive coaching and leadership masterclass series.

View the Brief Overview of the Transforming NextGen White Papers below:

Abstract: How do organizations become high-performance organizations? Research and experience indicate that there are many factors that can contribute toward the development of a high-performance organization including but not limited to the mission; shared values; organizational design and structure; people, engagement, and culture; and leadership.

Increasingly, companies are recognizing that leaders who demonstrate high emotional and social intelligence competencies are crucial to their organizational effectiveness. They must be able to impact and influence others to follow them and help them implement. This is the essence of leadership in a high-performance organization (HPO).

In this article, we will focus on the leadership as the key driver of financial and operational performance as well as an enabler for companies to execute their strategy and achieve success.

Keywords: High Performance Organization, Emotional and Social Intelligence, Leadership Styles, Leading Teams, Organization Effectiveness, Results-based Leadership, and Employee Engagement

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Abstract: Developing the next generation (nextgen) of leaders involve building a sustainable leadership pipeline for the organization to ensure its continued success in the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 (IR 4.0) as it is commonly known. The IR 4.0 represents the combination of cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, and the Internet of Systems. Today, research has shown the importance of specific leadership competencies that have been effective in transforming the next-gen leaders. These include cognitive readiness skills and emotional and social intelligence competencies, which are crucial in leading the team and organization in a highly disruptive and increasingly VUCA-driven business environment that underpins the IR 4.0.

Keywords: Cognitive Readiness, Emotional and Social Intelligence, Generation Leaders, High Potentials, Industrial Revolution 4.0, Leadership Competencies, Leadership Pipeline, Leading for the Future, Next Leadership, Situational Leadership Styles, VUCA.

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Abstract: In recent time, the explosion of data and unprecedented advances in computer processing power globally have dramatically increased the capacity to support decision making within various functional operations in organizations across industries. The world has moved well beyond basic and enhanced process automation and is entering an era of cognitive automation leveraging on artificial intelligence and robotics. The World Economic Forum is calling this the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” (Schwab 2017). The impact of advanced technologies touches virtually every industry and organization on many levels, from strategic planning and marketing to supply chain management and customer service.

In this article, we will focus on the structure of a digital organization and the accompanying challenges as well as the role of leaders in transforming the organization to succeed in the digital world.

Keywords: Digital age, Digital economy, Digital enterprise, Digital organization, Digital transformation, Digitalization, DNA of digital organization, IR 4.0, Leadership, The fourth industrial revolution

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Abstract: In most part of the world, shortage of leaders and talent, in general, is evident. Organizations are facing greater pressure to deploy future leaders faster in response to the challenges ahead for business and HR leaders in a dramatically changing digital, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) business landscape. In an age of disruption, business and HR leaders are being pressed to rethink their current practices in how they identify, assess and develop next-generation (NextGen) leaders to ensure the sustainability of their organizations.

How do organizations identify and select the next generation of leaders? This article is designed to provide insights and understanding of the best practices and contemporary approaches to talent assessment and selection of high-potential talents or future leaders of the organization.

Keywords: High potentials, Leadership pipeline, Next-Generation leaders, Talent assessment, Talent identification, Talent management, Talent selection and development, War for talent

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Abstract: Effective leadership is the process of impacting and influencing people to achieve the desired results and prepare for the future. Leading in today’s highly disruptive and increasingly VUCA-driven world (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) is becoming much more challenging, hence effective leadership today is becoming increasingly important.

Today, many individuals and organizations across the globe are exploiting this change to disrupt every industry. Uber, Alibaba, Airbnb, Netflix, and Tesla are just a few famous examples of companies that have transformed our lifestyles including the way we travel, shop, and stay, and there are many more.

The purpose of this article is to share various best practices approaches and frameworks to better prepare our next generation of leaders so as to succeed in our increasingly VUCA business environment by leading and engaging their people to success.

Keywords: Ambiguous, Complex, Disruption, Leadership, Uncertain, VUCA, Volatile

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Abstract: Talent management represents an organization’s efforts to attract, develop, and retain skilled and valuable employees. Its goal is to have people with the capabilities and commitment needed for current and future organizational success. An organization’s talent pool, particularly its managerial talent, is often referred to as the leadership pipeline (Charan et al. 2000). However, one of the biggest challenges facing organizations today is the greater pressure to develop future or next-generation leaders faster in response to the challenges ahead for business and HR leaders in a dramatically changing digital, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) business landscape (Bawany 2018).

How do organizations develop the next generation of leaders? This article is designed to provide insights into and understanding of the best practices and contemporary approaches to the development of future leaders of an organization with a focus on executive coaching as a development tool.

Keywords: Talent management; War for talent; High potentials; Next-Generation leaders; Leadership pipeline; Talent development; Executive coaching, Transition coaching, Onboarding coaching

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Abstract: While some experiences on being a part of a team can be very fulfilling, with members becoming highly skilled at working together, others are frustrating or challenging, with members developing interpersonal conflicts that impacted on the achievement of the team goals. Perhaps the greatest challenge for a team member is the struggle and resulting tension that arises from being an individual; with one’s own talents, biases, values, beliefs, interests, and ways of working; versus being a member of a team with a shared team’s charter with purpose and values.

What are the characteristics of high-performing teams? How do you develop, lead, and engage a high-performing team and what are the managerial challenges associated with it?

Keywords: Effectiveness, High-Performance teams and Organizational behavior, Team, Team charter, Team effectiveness, Teamwork

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