UNICEF’s answer to current and future crises
By Armin Forstner, Managing Partner, Serrano 99 Management Consulting
Positive Leadership, a strength-based approach to leading teams and organisations, is not only an essential skill for senior executives but also helps young people cope long-term with the challenges of the modern world, according to UNICEF.
“Traditional” Leadership Development has failed
Even before this year’s coronavirus crisis, a mounting body of evidence was pointing to the failure of traditional leadership development and capacity building among leaders. Today’s leaders fail to deliver results in our VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world.
We have moved beyond an employee engagement crisis to a mental health crisis. Some 85% of employees worldwide are disengaged according to global annual surveys conducted by Gallup.[1] One-third of UK full-time workers suffer from mental health problems.[2] These are all numbers from before the pandemic too, so the latest figures naturally show an even bigger rise in mental health problems.
There are tangible business costs to failed leadership practices:
Increased Absenteeism
- Increased Sick days
- Poor Retention Rates
- Loss in Competitiveness
- Reduced Productivity
All of these shortcomings are a direct result of failures in leadership styles and the development of leaders in the 20th century.
A new kind of leader is required
In our complex, crisis-ridden modern world, we need to develop a very different kind of skill set among our leaders. According to annual research conducted by the Financial Times (the FT skills gap analysis), today and tomorrow’s leaders need to close their skills gap and develop their:
- Ability to work in a team
- Ability to work with a diverse group of people
- Ability to solve complex problems
- Ability to build, sustain and expand a network of people
- Time management and ability to prioritise
Leadership needs to be re-invented for the 21st century.
UNICEF and Positive Leadership
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[1] Gallup, 2019
[2] Mynurva survey, 2019
