Written by: Danijella Dragas, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The evolving leadership challenges of our current global enterprise C Suite executives strongly identify that tomorrow’s emerging leaders will not resemble today. The five “Factors of Leadership” and the implications of Global Think, Technology Savvy, Diversity Appreciation, Open-Source Leadership, and Willingness to Partner.
A two-year extraordinary study by Accenture deems that to lead in an era where intellectual capital will be the dominant value of the organization, the skill sets to manage the diverse backgrounds, cultures, and values will be prevalent in the success of these leaders. In addition, mastering your personal self will be a fundamental prerequisite for the successful leadership of others.
Globalization has opened up the workforce pool, and that, as wonderful as it seems, challenges the leadership mindset of today from the evolution of the federated mindset, independent organizational structures, and with it, today's integrated world, the challenges of leadership will have to retool to meet them.
The trends for global leaders are emerging, and the ability to pivot to meet the challenge is now a daily task for C Suite executives to define the corporate culture, the brand, the mission, and the delivery.
Global Think.
Think globally while acting locally, knowing your clientele, and being one step ahead of the consumer needs—scalability through global inclusion.
Diversity Appreciation.
Appreciating and embracing new perspectives and ideas motivate the workforce to feel an inclusive part of the culture, openness to share, and the value that belonging brings in job satisfaction, team building, loyalty, and employee retention.
Partnerships and Exponential Growth.
Alliances and partnerships should be forged across all departments of the company. A sense of team effort and positivity will be key to blend into a working, well-oiled machine, where one goal is the daily mantra. A trusted open-door policy where the borders of leadership and workforce are smoothly integrated.
Technology Development.
Human capital must continuously recruit the technology for tomorrow’s world today. The expert technology global workforce will be the number one strategy to identify and capture their ability. This pool of brilliance is the key to the culture of one’s country, the educational skills having been germinated, and the ability to transfer them into the organization.
Leadership Without Department Centric Borders.
There is a lot to be said for collaboration and the ability to tap into the organizational pool of talent. The perspective change can be an enlightening breath of fresh air, just as an army calls in its regiments to combat a growing resistance force. The organization might take this on positively and adopt the group leadership thinks. Maximizing talent from within is crucial to the success of any organization. Partnerships and mergers, however short, foster an organizational team environment.
Workforce Development.
Human capital is by far the most important and most expensive decision an organization makes. Develop a strategy to attract and retain. The development of workforce “players” brings many challenges to retaining the talent and keeping competition at bay to recruit.
People, Empowerment, and the Mental Game of Ownership.
The workforce can be likened to a tribe, a team wearing the corporate colors and feeling fully emersed in pride of ownership. Empower the confidence within the workforce. Allow free flow of thinking and ideas. Grant the freedom and encourage risk-taking (to a point). Share the power of decision-making to provide staff the feeling of ownership in the organization and that your decisions matter.
Corporate Culture, Build the Vision, Mission Statement.
The input of the workforce to cultivate the vision of the organization and mold the Mission Statement through group thinking and inclusion. Create inspiration and momentum, revisit this statement quarterly, retooling where changes can be made to keep the vision intact, with the agility to change with market forces.
Dialogue with Constructive Openness and Encourage the platform of asking.
The ability to listen. Listen and comprehend, not an easy task for many, yet listening is one of the most important traits to adopt as a leader. Constructive feedback from inter-department heads down to the workforce will yield a wonderful return on time investment. Encourage putting yourself inside the situation, walking in someone else’s shoes. The perspective of learning what your workforce is doing daily and how this can best be served by the organizational head for the betterment of the overall workforce experience while making improvements where needed.
Change the Necessity of Survival.
Opportunities to change should be embraced and not feared. Change the status quo of leadership versus management. Being flexible to change inside an organization will allow the organization to bend and not break. Hence, creativity and flexibility should go hand in hand.
Personal Growth and Continued Mastery of Oneself.
Every great leader must be self-aware. Change where change is needed—a constant reflection of emotional intelligence. To be self-aware and congruent should easily be transferred to all C-level executives by being in the presence of this form of leadership. The osmosis should easily be adapted.
Cultural and Personal Integrity.
Stand up for the value of the organization. Set the organization values early, implement, regularly review with all workforce and C-level executives. Personal values (ideally) should mirror the organizational values from the onset. This is where the hiring process is so important. To be able to bring the correct workforce that will fit into the structure. Change is highly effective if core values are identified at the interview; small adjustments can be made to fit the organization.
Anticipation, Opportunity, and Being Aware of Future trends.
Ongoing research and development, data, statistics, and the analysis of all the tools available should be implemented to keep the organization on track and to foresee future trends. New environments ahead should be part of the course of opportunity and change, rather than reacting to the change, create it and steer the course to success.
Customer-Centric.
Allow the customer to input the changes needed and adapt to the opportunity to raise the bar of customer satisfaction. Be the wind of change and stay ahead of your clientele. Research, anticipate, react, and implement. Be aware of your competition, then raise the bar higher. Inclusion of the customer needs can only lead to one direction, growth, and success for the organization.
Conclusion: Global Integration and Global Workforce Advantage.
Intellectual capital can move faster and with improved efficiency within a 24/7 workforce. Achieve long-term shareholder value. Long-term customer global brand recognition and loyalty. Removal of unnecessary human resources by implementing more efficient hiring processes. Global client base and workforce is an added value to any organization that has the leadership fortitude to adapt and look closely at itself today while looking into the future to forecast where the organization needs to be in the long term.
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Danijella Dragas, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Born and raised in Oxford, England. She earned a BS in Economics/International Trade and Banking from the prestigious University of London. Miss. Dragas was employed by Bear Stearns Investment Banking firm for over 18 years. She worked in their offices of London, San Paulo, Beijing, New York and Irvine. Her specialty was asset management, capital markets/investment banking. During her final four years at Bear Stearns, Miss. Dragas was one of the original team members that introduced Bear Stearns mortgages to the banking industry in the residential wholesale market.
She has continued her career in the residential, commercial lending for 36 years. Her focus has been on construction finance, asset repositioning, fintech and the blockchain market. In addition, numerous prestigious commercial projects on an international level. Miss. Dragas has also worked on multi-sector business finance, corporate sponsorships, hospitality, clean energy, trade programs and pre IPO.
Her primary concentration of late has been on fintech, technology start ups, sports arenas and sports franchise business plans, commercial lending; focusing on construction and working with numerous boards and CEO in an advisory capacity.
She is extremely competent in international banking, structured finance and corporate strategy, strategic partnerships.
Miss Dragas enjoys biking, tennis, horse-riding, skiing, self-development and golf in her spare time. An avid sports spectator and athlete she is Managing Director of Global Soccer Pro the United States division of Global Football Pro United Kingdom and USA Founding Board Member, Executive Steering Committee for Football For PEACE.
Additionally, her philanthropic endeavors in the cure and treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and Football for Peace keep her very active in the global community.
