Leadership in the 21st Century
The type of leadership and the leadership style have continued to change over the centuries. The changing landscape in technology, politics and even the economics has come with a subsequent change in the form and type of leadership and management being employed by the leaders and managers. Though change is a very good thing, there is need for us to ensure stability. The 21st century leaders understand that change is the second order and it is therefore necessary for them to adapt urgently to these changes which they witness (Gomez, 2008, 20).
Leaders of the past centuries had been known to be people who were very assertive and autocratic. The style of leadership was based on the command and control strategy. There was very little freedom in the work place. Though they are always considered to be people who were very innovative and visionary, they paid less attention to the workers in the organization.
The 21st century leaders are facilitators. They act to inspire other generations. They are very purposive in their works and would always demand that they be heard. If they are not being heard in an organization, this generation of leaders would not stick. They would move to other places the moment they realize that their efforts are not being recognized.
The current generation of leadership is one that can be termed as a leadership of learning. Much focus is being laid in ensuring that the student is involved in solving the problem at hand through creativity and critical thinking. The current crop of leaders have understood the fact that the future is very uncertain and therefore the student needs to have some very basic knowledge and should therefore be in a position to learn.
As time goes by, there are expected changes which will be witnessed. The leadership style of the 21st century continuous to be more people oriented rather than task oriented. The old command and control style is being phased out and this is expected to change even further. The current crop of leadership recognizes that the employees of an organization are the most important asset the organization has and therefore it would be necessary to understand them based on the situation. The current type of leadership needs to be situational and customized.
Reference
Gomez, L. (2008). Leading Change in the 21st Century. New York: McGraw-Hill.
