What makes a great leader today? Many of us carry this image of this all-knowing superhero who stands and commands and protects his followers. But that's kind of an image from another time, and what's also outdated are the leadership development programs that are based on success models for a world that was, not a world that is or that is coming.
Kitu gani kinatengeneza kiongozi bora leo? Wengi tuna picha ya mashujaa bora wajuao yote anayesimama na kuamrisha na kuwakinga wafuasi wake. Hiyo ndo picha iliyopo akilini, na kilichopitwa na wakati ni programu za maendeleo ya uongozi ambazo zinategemea mazingira ya kufanikiwa katika dunia iliyokuwepo miaka hiyo,sio dunia tuliyonayo au ile inayokuja.
We conducted a study of 4,000 companies, and we asked them, let's see the effectiveness of your leadership development programs. Fifty-eight percent of the companies cited significant talent gaps for critical leadership roles. That means that despite corporate training programs, off-sites, assessments, coaching, all of these things, more than half the companies had failed to grow enough great leaders. You may be asking yourself, is my company helping me to prepare to be a great 21st-century leader? The odds are, probably not.
Tumefanya tafiti katika makampuni 4000, tuliwauliza,tuone ufanisi wa programu yenu ya maendeleo ya uongozi. aslimia 58% ya makampuni yote walilenga vipaji muhimu kwa majukumu mazito ya uongozi. Ina maana pamoja na mafunzo ya ushirika, ukaguzi,mafunzo na haya yote, zaidi ya nusu ya makampuni yalishindwa kukuza viongozi bora wa kutosha. Unaweza jiuliza, kampuni langu linanisaidia kuniandaa kuwa kiongozi bora wa karne ya 21? Ubaya ni kwamba,jibu lawezekana kuwa hapana
Now, I've spent 25 years of my professional life observing what makes great leaders. I've worked inside Fortune 500 companies, I've advised over 200 CEOs, and I've cultivated more leadership pipelines than you can imagine. But a few years ago, I noticed a disturbing trend in leadership preparation. I noticed that, despite all the efforts, there were familiar stories that kept resurfacing about individuals. One story was about Chris, a high-potential, superstar leader who moves to a new unit and fails, destroying unrecoverable value. And then there were stories like Sidney, the CEO, who was so frustrated because her company is cited as a best company for leaders, but only one of the top 50 leaders is equipped to lead their crucial initiatives. And then there were stories like the senior leadership team of a once-thriving business that's surprised by a market shift, finds itself having to force the company to reduce its size in half or go out of business.
Nimetumia miaka 25 nikiwa kama mtaalamu nikichunguza ni kipi kinaleta kiongozi bora. Nimefanya kazi ndani ya makampuni 500 yenye utajiri mkubwa, Nimeshauri zaidi ya wakurugenzi 200, na nimeibua mkondo wa uongozi zaidi ya unavyoweza fikiria. Lakini miaka michache iliyopita,niligundua mlolongo ulio na usumbufu katika kuandaa kiongozi. Niligundua kwamba,pamoja na juhudi zote, kulikuwa na hadithi zilezile ambazo watu wengi wanazifahamu kuhusu watu. Hadithi hii inamhusu Chris, kiongozi mahiri na maarufu aliyehamia katika kampuni nyingine na kuja kufeli, kuharibu thamani isiyoweza rudishwa. Na pia kulikuwa na hadithi kama ya Sidney,mkurugenzi, aliyechanganyikiwa kwa sababu kampuni yake inaangaliwa kama kampuni bora kwa viongozi, lakini ni mmoja tu, kati ya viongozi 50 bora anayeweza kuongoza mipango yao muhimu. na tena kulikuwa na hadithi ya timu ya ngazi ya juu ya uongozi inashughulika na biashara yenye kuweza leta faida sana lakini inashangazwa na kubadilika kwa hali ya soko, na kujikuta katika ulazima wa kupunguza namba ya wafanyakazi hadi nusu au kuacha biashara kabisa.
Now, these recurring stories cause me to ask two questions. Why are the leadership gaps widening when there's so much more investment in leadership development? And what are the great leaders doing distinctly different to thrive and grow? One of the things that I did, I was so consumed by these questions and also frustrated by those stories, that I left my job so that I could study this full time, and I took a year to travel to different parts of the world to learn about effective and ineffective leadership practices in companies, countries and nonprofit organizations. And so I did things like travel to South Africa, where I had an opportunity to understand how Nelson Mandela was ahead of his time in anticipating and navigating his political, social and economic context. I also met a number of nonprofit leaders who, despite very limited financial resources, were making a huge impact in the world, often bringing together seeming adversaries. And I spent countless hours in presidential libraries trying to understand how the environment had shaped the leaders, the moves that they made, and then the impact of those moves beyond their tenure. And then, when I returned to work full time, in this role, I joined with wonderful colleagues who were also interested in these questions.
Sasa,hizi hadithi zinazojirudia zimenisababisha nijiulize maswali mawili. Kwanini pengo la uongozi linazidi kuongezeka wakati kuna ongezeko kubwa la uwekezaji katika maendeleo ya uongozi? Kipi cha tofauti ambacho viongozi wakubwa wanafanya kinachowawezesha kukua na kuleta faida kubwa? Kati ya vitu nilivyofanya, Nilitumia muda sana kufikiria kuhusu haya maswali na pia kuchanganywa na hizi hadithi niliacha kazi ili niweze kujifunza kuhusu hili muda wote, ilinichukua mwaka kusafiri sehemu mbalimbali za dunia kujifunza kuhusu palipo ufanisi na pasipo ufanisi uongozi katika makampuni, nchi na pia taasisi zisizo na kibiashara. Niliamua pia kwenda Afrika Kusini, na ndipo niliweza kuelewa jinsi gani Nelson Mandela alikuwa mbele ya muda wake katika kugundua mapema mazingira yake ya kisiasa,kijamii na kiuchumi. Nilionana pia na viongozi wengi wa taasisi zisizo za kibiashara ambao,pamoja na kuwa uwezo mdogo wa kifedha, lakini wanaleta mchango mkubwa sana duniani, wanaleta pamoja changamoto mbalimbali Nimetumia masaa yasiyohesabika kaika maktaba za maraisi nikijaribu kuelewa jinsi gani mazingira yamewabadili viongozi, hatua walizopiga, na matokeo ya hizo hatua zaidi ya madaraka yako. Kisha,niliporudi kufanya kazi muda wote, katika jukumu hili,niliungana na washiriki wenzangu walio bora ambao pia walikuwa na hamu ya majibu ya haya maswali.
Now, from all this, I distilled the characteristics of leaders who are thriving and what they do differently, and then I also distilled the preparation practices that enable people to grow to their potential. I want to share some of those with you now.
Sasa,katika haya yote,nilichambua tabia za viongozi wanaofanikiwa sana na kujua kipi cha tofauti wanachofanya, na pia nikachambua maandalizi yanayowezesha watu kukuza uwezo wao. Nataka kukufahamisha kuhusu haya sasa.
("What makes a great leader in the 21st century?")
("Kitu gani kinatengeneza kiongozi bora wa karne ya 21?")
In a 21st-century world, which is more global, digitally enabled and transparent, with faster speeds of information flow and innovation, and where nothing big gets done without some kind of a complex matrix, relying on traditional development practices will stunt your growth as a leader. In fact, traditional assessments like narrow 360 surveys or outdated performance criteria will give you false positives, lulling you into thinking that you are more prepared than you really are. Leadership in the 21st century is defined and evidenced by three questions.
Katika karne ya 21,ambayo ipo kimataifa zaidi, imekaa kidigitali na iliyo wazi, yenye uwezo mkubwa wa kusambaza taarifa na pia ugunduzi, na ambapo hamna kitu kikubwa kinachokamilika bila njia ngumu zinazotegemea mazingira yaleyale ya zamani yanayohatarisha ukuaji wako kama kiongozi. Kiukweli,uchambuzi wa kizamani ambao unatumia njia zilizopitwa na wakati utakuwa majibu chanya ya uongo, kukufanya ufikirie kwamba umejiandaa kuliko vile ulivyo. Uongozi katika karne ya 21 unaelezwa na kushuhudiwa na maswali matatu.
Where are you looking to anticipate the next change to your business model or your life? The answer to this question is on your calendar. Who are you spending time with? On what topics? Where are you traveling? What are you reading? And then how are you distilling this into understanding potential discontinuities, and then making a decision to do something right now so that you're prepared and ready? There's a leadership team that does a practice where they bring together each member collecting, here are trends that impact me, here are trends that impact another team member, and they share these, and then make decisions, to course-correct a strategy or to anticipate a new move. Great leaders are not head-down. They see around corners, shaping their future, not just reacting to it.
Wapi unaangalia kutabiri mabadiliko yanayofata katika mfumo wa biashara wa maisha yako? Jibu la hili swali lipo katika kalenda yako. Unatumia muda na nani?Katika mada zipi? Unasafiri kwenda wapi?Unasoma nini? Na kisha unachambua vipi haya yote katika kuelewa ukomo wa uwezo, na kufanya maamuzi ili kutimia jambo fulani kwamba sasa umejiandaa na upo tayari? Kuna timu ya uongozi inayofanya mazoezi ambao wanakusanya kila mwanatimu alicholeta huu ni mlolongo wangu, huu ni mlolongo ulihamasisha wanatimu wengine, na wanashirikiana pamoja, na kisha wanafanya maamuzi,kutengeneza mkakati ulio sahihi au kutabiri hatua mpya za mafanikio. Viongozi bora huwa hawaangalii chini. Wanaangalia huku na kule, kutengeneza nyakati zao za baadaye,sio kupambana nazo.
The second question is, what is the diversity measure of your personal and professional stakeholder network? You know, we hear often about good ol' boy networks and they're certainly alive and well in many institutions. But to some extent, we all have a network of people that we're comfortable with. So this question is about your capacity to develop relationships with people that are very different than you. And those differences can be biological, physical, functional, political, cultural, socioeconomic. And yet, despite all these differences, they connect with you and they trust you enough to cooperate with you in achieving a shared goal. Great leaders understand that having a more diverse network is a source of pattern identification at greater levels and also of solutions, because you have people that are thinking differently than you are.
Swali la pili ni, kipi ambacho utofauti unapima katika binafsi na utaalamu wa mtandao wa wadau? Unajua,mara nyingi huwa tunasikia kuhusu mitandao ya good 'ol boy na kiuhakika ipo hai katika taasisi nyingi. Lakini kwa kiasi fulani,wote sisi tuna mtandao wa watu ambao tuko huru kuwa nao katika mtandao huo. Hili swali ni kuhusu uwezo wako wa kukuza mahusiano yako na watu wengine wako tofauti kabisa zaidi yako. Na hizo tofauti zinaweza kuwa za kibaiolojia, kimuonekano wa nje,ka utumizi,kisiasa,kitamaduni,kiuchumi. Na bado,pamoja na hizi tofauti zote, mnaungana pamoja na wanakuamini vya kutosha kushirikiana na wewe katika kufanikisha lengo lenu la pamoja. Viongozi bora wanaelewa kwamba kuwa na mtandao wenye tofauti mbalimbali ni chanzo cha kupata utofauti wa utambuzi katika ngazi za juu na katika kutafuta ufumbuzi, kwa sababu una watu ambao wanafikiria tofauti na wewe.
Third question: are you courageous enough to abandon a practice that has made you successful in the past? There's an expression: Go along to get along. But if you follow this advice, chances are as a leader, you're going to keep doing what's familiar and comfortable. Great leaders dare to be different. They don't just talk about risk-taking, they actually do it. And one of the leaders shared with me the fact that the most impactful development comes when you are able to build the emotional stamina to withstand people telling you that your new idea is naïve or reckless or just plain stupid. Now interestingly, the people who will join you are not your usual suspects in your network. They're often people that think differently and therefore are willing to join you in taking a courageous leap. And it's a leap, not a step. More than traditional leadership programs, answering these three questions will determine your effectiveness as a 21st-century leader.
Swali la tatu:una moyo vya kutosha kuacha utaratibu uliokufanya upate mafanikio katika kipindi cha nyuma? Kuna msemo unasema"nenda sambamba ili upate sambamba" Kama utafata ushauri huu, kama kiongozi,inawezekana ukafanya kile unachofahamu kwa uhuru zaidi. Viongozi bora huwa wanathubutu kuwa tofauti. Hawaongelei kuhusu kupata hatari tu, wanazipata pia. Moja ya viongozi alianiambia kwamba maendeleo yenye kishindo huja kama utaweza kutengeneza mhimili imara wa hisia kuvumilia watu wanapokuambia kwamba wazo lako jipya ni la ovyo,lisilo na muelekeo au halina maana kabisa. Cha kuvutia ni hiki, watu wataoungana na wewe sio wale wanaodhaniwa katika mtandao wako. Mara nyingi ni watu wanaofikiri tofauti kwa hivyo wako tayari kuungana na wewe na kusonga mbele kunakohitaji moyo. ni kuruka zaidi, na sio kupiga hatua. Zaidi programu ya uongozi uliozoeleka, kujibu haya maswali matatu kutadhamiria ufanisi wako kama kiongozi wa karne ya 21.
So what makes a great leader in the 21st century? I've met many, and they stand out. They are women and men who are preparing themselves not for the comfortable predictability of yesterday but also for the realities of today and all of those unknown possibilities of tomorrow.
Kipi kinachotengeneza kiongozi bora wa karne ya 21? Nimekutana na wengi,na wanasimama vinara. Ni wanaume kwa wanawake waliojiandaa sio kwa uhuru wa utabiri wa jana lakini pia kwa uhalisi wa kesho na yasiyowezekana yote ya kesho
Thank you.
Asante.
(Applause)
(Makofi)