The New Rules of Leadership and How to Win in the Information Age

Have you noticed that the rules of leadership are changing as the new economy emerges? Of course, the principles of being a great leader will never change. You still need the character traits of trustworthiness, integrity, the ability to influence others and a strong sense of personal responsibility to succeed as a leader. However, the rules of leadership are changing in such a way that these character traits are going to pave more than just the path to excellence….they’re going to be essential to your survival as a leader.

Why the Old Leadership Rules Won’t Work Anymore

Over the past few decades, we’ve witness the end of job security and the emergence of what Zig Ziglar calls “employment security.” Unlike job security, employment security is based on a worker’s capability to seek out and to negotiate the best opportunities available based on their unique skill set and experience.

Those who have employment security will have little or no concern for landing a job with a company where they will be offered job security. Instead, they create their own security with their unique knowledge and skills and their ability to market their personal services.

What does this mean for the leaders of organizations? It means that in the next several years we’ll see a significant transfer of power in the employment marketplace. Instead of the workers seeking out employment according to the terms of the company that’s offering them job security, workers with strong “employment security” will be in a position to choose from the companies where their skills will be utilized, valued and rewarded.

This means the old strategies of leadership will lose their power. The strategies I’m talking about are:

• Borrowing position from title: “I’m the boss” or “because I said so.”
• Fear tactics: threatening to take away future promotions or benefits or termination.
• Managing people as things and not honoring them as emotional beings.
• Promising of increased retirement or health insurance benefits (many companies have done away with these altogether).

This might sound idealistic, but here’s something to think about: picture yourself as a worker who has strong employment security and who can easily negotiate a good position and salary. Would you offer your services to a company where the leadership was based on the old industrial age paradigm of the company being the one in control because of their ability to offer job security?

So what can you do about this as a leader of the future generation of workers?

The New Rules of Leadership: The Whole Person Approach

The new rules of leadership will require you to be a leader of people as organic life forms instead of cogs in a wheel. The “leave your feelings at the door” attitude or “when we want your opinion, we’ll give it to you” will send the workers who have strong employment security (the kind who will represent your organization well) packing, leaving you with those who have no other option than to work for an employer who doesn’t value them as a whole person.

The best place to start is to school yourself in understanding human nature and in leading people from a position of respect, involvement and value. These are the leaders who will survive and thrive in the new economy.