Leading in the Fast-Paced Modern Business Environment - Research Paper Example

Leading in the Fas Paced Modern Business Environment. Globalization has brought about tremendous changes not only in the way people live but also the way business is transacted. Advancement in technology and particularly communication has made it possible for individuals to effectively transact business with others as far as in other continents without the necessity of travelling or even meeting physically. This greatly affected the business world especially the management. There is an inevitable need for a paradigm shift from traditional management to leadership in the fast paced changing world. This places a lot of demand of the modern business leaders in terms of attitude. An essential requirement for the business leader of today is to clearly understand major societal and environmental forces that shape business. Central in creation of value is knowing where and how to respond to societal demands in terms of the daily running of business. This calls for s strong sense of vision and emotional intelligence. The core of leadership in business still remains; leaders should be able to motivate employees, inspire and foster the spirit of teamwork among the people they lead so as to achieve common business goals. But the business environment has undergone tremendous changes in the past few decades presenting new management challenges to the business of today. They have to work in an environment with more challenges and expectations while leading teams in accomplishing the set business objectives. The implication of all these is that the modern business requires more than managers; people who can lead by vision and create the working environment in which the common vision is shared by everyone one involved. With the evolving purpose of the business leadership role, modern leaders must approach their work with a different perspective, lead change across & beyond the boundaries of business and effectively work in collaboration with relevant stakeholders in achieving the missions (Gitsham and Wackrill, 2012). A leader in the modern business world must keep up with developments in technology. Technological trends especially in business are evolving at the speed of lightning and this renders even a management tool that rocked the business world just in the past few years completely obsolete. Some leaders may face great challenges but keeping the pace would mean taking advantage of technological tools to the competitive benefit of the firm. The leader should be capable of utilizing tools such as social media and at the same time an environment in the firm where technology is the key driver of the business strategy as well as the attainment of business goals. The entry of generation Y into the corporate world means a greater dependence on technology businesses must relevantly respond. Business leaders of today must be capable of driving these changes in perception and business strategy. Globalization has come with changes in the demographics of the world. Development of internet technology has opened opportunities for business to operate across national and industrial boarders. While this is a very unique opportunity for businesses to enter global that were previously untapped, it at the same time challenges business leaders to stay vigilant of trends in the markets. Accompanying globalization is a great change in demographics; generation Y for instance have seen a significant increase in disposable income in the past few years. Understanding these changes means today’s business leaders must lead in increasingly diverse environments not only in terms of the people but also the technologies and trends in consumer demands. Emotional intelligence will therefore play a very great role in the modern business leadership. Learning is a process that must go on continuously and modern business; leaders must encourage this in the organizations (Fallon, 2014). Trends in the behavior and motivations of consumers are also changing very fast in the world of today. A very important success factor for any business is knowing and giving consumer just what they need. The implication of this is that leaders in the modern business world must be positioned to understand the dynamics and changing trends in terms of consumer needs. Leadership for today’s business must accurately consumer essentials both intellectually and emotionally than any other person. With this very essential information, the business leaders can then be better placed to motivate organizational alignment to be able to respond proactively by delivering innovative products and relevant solutions that meet the needs of customers. Spending enough and quality time with the consumers as well as allowing them to drive organizational change and decisions is inevitable and leaders must be on the forefront (DeMarco, Lesser and O’Driscoll, 2007). A very important aspect of business today is culture. Making information and choices available to the teams is very essential. Just being on the lead in a particular industry is not enough to attract the best talent. Organizational culture and type of leadership have become very important among job seekers today. Technology has made it possible for employees and potential employees share information and ideas about organizations. This means potential employees are able to form opinions about an organization even before making contact. The internet has contributed tremendously to changes in the workplace dynamics. Enabling a workplace with a strong sense of teamwork, collaboration and respect among members of the entire team is a great source of motivation. The motivation among employees translates into customer service and good organizational impression outside the company. Overall, leaders for today’s business must be able to develop a sense of vision and create a working environment in which every employee shares and works for the same organizational vision. In order to achieve this, leaders must effectively communicate the organizational vision to every employee and persuade followership among employees. They must empower every employee listen to their contributions and make them feel respected & appreciated. This means that the leaders must lead with great inspiration; show concern & empathy encourage employees to openly air their opinions. This is because employees who feel that their contribution to the organization is valued are more likely to share and devote their energy to the organizational goals. This way the leaders are able to rally the support of employees in accomplishing the organization’s vision (Gupta, 2005). In conclusion therefore, the business world today has and continues to evolve at a very fast rate. Globalization, technological advancement and generational changes have resulted in significant changes in demographics around the world. This has presented business organizations with a very unique opportunity to go global and venture into previously underserved or untapped markets but the same times poses a great management challenge. It places very heavy demands on business leaders of today in terms of changing the paradigm from management to leadership. The world expects the modern business leader to inspire, empower, and build trust among the employee teams so as to achieve organizational success. Leadership today requires a developing a clear vision and effectively communicating the same to everyone affected or involved in its realization. The leader must therefore marshal the support and trust of employees in working the common goals set by the organization. Works Cited. 1. Ashok Gupta. “Leadership in a Fast-Paced World an Interview with Ken Blanchard.” American Journal of Business, Vol. 20 No. 1, 2005. Available at: http://www.bsu.edu/mcobwin/ajb/?p=33 2. Mathew Gitsham and Jo Wackrill. “Leadership in a Rapidly Changing World: How Business Leaders are Reframing Success.” Ashridge Business School, 2012. Available at: http://www.unprme.org/resource-docs/leadershipinarapidlychangingworld.pdf 3. Michael DeMarco, Eric Lesser and Tony O’Driscoll. “Leadership in a Distributed World: Lessons from Online Gaming.” IBM Institute for Business Value, 2007. Available at: http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/pdf/g510-6611-00-leadership.pdf 4. Nicole Fallon. “Are Your Leadership Skills Outdated? 4 Modern Workplace Challenges.” Business Daily News, 2014. Available at: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6279-modern-leadership-challenges.html Read More