Executive and leadership training programs may be strengthened, broadened, and deepened to include inspiring and engaging others, as well as cognitive readiness and critical-thinking skills. These capabilities can be addressed by incorporating specific activities and exercises designed to increase awareness of their impact and importance in familiar techniques, such as case studies or applicable business simulations.

Additionally, opportunities for application and practice can be provided in experience-based approaches where participants work to apply the concepts and skills directly to real business issues, while colleagues and facilitators provide feedback based on behaviors they observed during their work together. What's more, companies feel the pressure to decrease time to market and improve the quality of products while delivering on ever-changing customer expectations to remain adaptive and nimble. Driving results in high-performance organizations (HPOs) is difficult even for companies who have the benefit of dedicated and knowledgeable employees and business leaders to leverage (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Framework for Development of a High-Performance Organization (HPO)

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It is evident that conventional leadership development practices are no longer adequate. Organizations worldwide need to incorporate next-generation leadership competencies to address the development needs of their rising leaders. These leaders need to have a broader skill set, one that equips them to think and act globally in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) business environment. They must do so while embracing cross-cultural diversity and cultivating collaborative relationships within and outside their walls. 

The rapidly evolving challenges of the 21st century include everything from climate change to demography, shifting customer requirements and expectations, the rise of technology, globalization, new markets, and new attitudes toward work. Leaders must now operate in a way that inspires and engages people, while simultaneously addressing changing customer requirements and delivering results. Finally, all these needs to be achieved with a sense of urgency, as the experienced leaders of the Baby Boom generation continue to retire. 

A company’s leadership pipeline is expected to deliver its next generation of leaders who are capable of leading now. The payoff is a supply of leadership talent that simultaneously achieves targets, strengthens and protects the ethical reputation, and navigates transformational change in pursuit of a bright, competitive future. Because customers’ changing requirements are so significant, and customer focus is a hot topic for executive development leaders, investing an appropriate amount of time, energy, and other resources to develop the capabilities of high-potential leaders in these areas will be very important. Mentoring, feedback and coaching, and training programs are all potentially valuable ways to address this need. 

Leading in a VUCA World 
------------------------ Leading in a VUCA world not only presents a challenging environment for leaders and executive development programs, but also requires a much-needed range of new competencies. 

To lead successfully in the VUCA world, leaders need to LEAP through the fog and demonstrate the cognitive readiness competencies and traits, as shown in Figure 1. 

Figure 1. Competencies and Traits for Leading in a VUCA World

Bottom Line 
------------ Now more than ever, leaders have to navigate unfamiliar, challenging times, a quickening pace of change, increasing expectations, and rapidly evolving conditions. This new environment is challenging leaders to find new ways to lead their organizations and achieve sustained success. And, because of these circumstances, there is a thirst for leadership, yet leaders face a whirlwind environment laden with remarkable opportunities and daunting challenges through which to lead their people and organizations. 

Editor's Note: This post is adapted from the original article on HR.com.**