What are the key skills of a Leader 4.0?

Technology and society shape each other. This is a thesis backed by several researchers, including Klaus Schwab, a German professor and founder of the World Economic Forum. So, just as the Fourth Industrial Revolution has transformed business models, this movement requires also new skills from future leaders.

Common skills, such as delegating tasks, inspiring people and having a good communication process – characteristics of traditional management – are still necessary, but a Leader 4.0 must adopt methods to promote an environment where each employee can develop his/her career. For such purpose, they must show emotional intelligence, critical thinking, flexibility and, above all, resilience.

This set of skills is key to align digital transformation with employee recognition, as they represent the key assets of a company – after all, an organization is composed of people, processes and products. And everything must work in an organic way, with the human factor being the main one for success.

Leadership 4.0

The Leader 4.0 term defines a set of social and technical skills that managers must develop to lead the work of their teams.

Among the key goals of this leadership model lies the change in employee mindset and routines, particularly by adding the use of new technologies to improve their daily work. It isn’t different in procurement.

The goal is to make digital resources, such as Procure-to-Pay solutions, capable to streamlining processes of this industry, and make them more efficient – in order to create a work environment where buyers can apply their energy in those activities that can bring results and competitiveness to the company’s business processes.

Leaders 4.0 are aware that the work of their teams must leave the operational field and migrate to the strategic one.

Technologies x Businesses

Changes in people management involve also the transformation of processes within each company. In a general way, many organizations still must go through a digitization process in Brazil.

The Covid-19 pandemic has also shown that is more and more necessary to accelerate this evolution, to allow resuming several activities, even in the face of an adverse and unpredictable situation. We saw, in the real world, that most technologically advanced businesses came out ahead and distinguished themselves in the market.

In fact, businesses that don’t see the need of investing in technology are at great risk of disappearing. Digital transformation is a no-return path, which was magnified by the crisis experienced by many companies during the pandemic.

Skills of a Leader 4.0

Several skills make up the set of capabilities shown by a leader. See below some skills that are considered crucial factors:

1. Focus on people

Leaders 4.0 must act to keep a good relationship between their team members and, for such purpose, they must know how to handle different people profiles. They must also promote an environment where this diversity is put into practice as a distinguishing point, which adds different views and skills to the team as a whole.

2. Transparency in actions and good communication skills

To achieve results with Leadership 4.0, leaders must make clear, to all employees, what are the company’s strategic goals and what are the goals of the area and each employee. This process will help creating a trust relationship between those who lead and those who are led, as everyone will be aligned and aware of its importance.

Additionally, giving constant feedback on the performance of each employee helps Leaders 4.0 to improve their skills and keep their team motivated, in pursuit of objectives and goals. It’s important to have a candid dialogue, and that leaders are open to receive feedback from their teams too.

3. In search of innovation

New leaders must be aware of innovations that are introduced in the market, which can increase the productivity of their team, and also make the area’s processes smarter. With this in mind, the leaders will encourage employees to seek new techniques, to optimize their work and generate more results.

4. People development

As human factor is the key asset for the success of a company, encouraging people’s development is crucial. For such purpose, a leader must promote actions, such as training, lectures, courses and workshops, and also stimulating the search for self-knowledge. And the digital environment enables access to professional improvement platforms.

In this sense, all employees must know their own strengths and weaknesses, and the leader can contribute to further enhance their skills, by means of an individual development plan – which can promote the evolution of activities and their careers.

Work relationships have a tendency to go smoothly when everyone has in mind his/her own importance for business growth and stays motivated – vital achievements of a Leader 4.0.

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