Flexible Thinking and Leadership Agility: The Must-Have Skills for Workplace Success

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Staying Relevant In A Volatile Landscape

Without personal accountability and a deep-rooted interest in human connections, our work cannot drive the positive and global impact we intend for it to have. Without the right intentions and ethics, even the best tools in our hands can become weapons of mass destruction.

In this digital age of information overload, there is a greater need to teach our kids how to process information and how to make sense of it rather than giving them more information via our curriculum.

Knowledge is becoming cheaper and less important. In the near future, we will not be hired for what we know, but for our ability to harvest new ideas and solutions in ever changing technological landscapes. Embrace change, stay relevant.

The Era of the Social Enterprise

People these days don’t want to only eke out a living like how they had to in the midst of war during the Industrial Revolution. We don’t want to just elevate their standard of living like with the latest Technology and Information revolution.

Socially conscious enterprises – the ones that want to do the most social good, that have popped up in the past few years, are making us think of our own personal impact on the world. Most of us are now seeking meaning in “Why we do” in the “What we do” of our daily lives. We seek reward in improving the quality of our life and not just our standard of living. This is how the Future of our Work is going to look like.

Workplace Readiness

In their assessment of over 500,000 15-year-olds, just 8% were found to have these skills, prompting the authors to cast severe doubts on their readiness for the workplace.

They believe a number of key cognitive and social skills sit at the heart of this modern requirement, including:
A common purpose for group members to get behind when solving a new problem. Clear accountability regarding the contributions each member makes to the task.

SEL In The Work Place

Empathy: Helps businesses meet the needs of customers.

Emotion Management: Helps workers deal with conflicts in their personal and professional lives.

Emotion Recognition: Helps employees understand others’ mindsets, informing personal interactions.

Problem-Solving: Thinking through a problem and brainstorming solutions is valued by employers.

Impulse Control: Thinking carefully before acting or communicating can help avoid crises.

Communication: Listening respectfully and focusing attention is essential to teamwork.

Assertiveness: Helps workers get what they want or need without insulting or offending others.

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“If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if you don’t have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.” ~ Daniel Goleman

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