What You Need to Know About Leadership Development in Today’s Business World

Staying on top of today’s trends in leadership development will be critical to your business’s future growth and success.

Whether it is improving strategy, enhancing your company vision, or creating a compelling company culture, businesses will need to deep dive into all areas of leadership to ensure they are most effectively leading and developing their talent for their brand, people, and business. With the competition in today’s business world, leadership development efforts will continue to be vital to businesses’ success and retaining top talent.

Our EDA Trends in Executive Development 2021-2024 report demonstrates how leadership development will remain a critical effort at all levels of an organization for years to come. Leaders must continuously enhance their critical thinking, remain innovative and flexible, be adaptable to constant change, and effectively lead, empower, and engage their workforce. Businesses must keep up with these development trends to best equip their leaders and future leaders, and to survive in today’s competitive marketplace.

Why is Leadership Development Important?

Developing both current and future leaders’ competence, skillsets, and practices will continue to be the best way to take care of your business culture and its people. You will not be able to develop effective employees and business structures without effective business leaders.

Without effectiveness, flexibility, and innovation in leadership, businesses will face challenges with retaining the best talent and keeping up with today’s competitive marketplace. The past 3 years have proven that great culture and leadership significantly impact everyone in the workplace. For your business to thrive in this ever-changing workforce, leadership development must be a priority in your 2023 business initiatives.

Current leadership must utilize their position and power to positively enhance their business environments and the cultural health of their company. Without effective and continued development in leaders, employees may be less motivated and engaged in their workplace, and your leaders may fall behind or lose their skillsets, knowledge, and greatest strengths.

Equipping your leaders will be essential to your business and the well-being of all your people. By continuing to effectively develop and equip your leadership, as well as upcoming leaders, businesses will stay on top of the needs in their business and the competitive marketplace.

Trends in Leadership Development for 2023

The following leadership development trends continue to remain vital in today’s business world and will be critical in 2023 to a business, its leaders, and its people.

1. Diversity and Inclusion – Diversity and Inclusion continue to grow as a popular workplace trend since 2019 and must exist in your business’s leadership development efforts. Without diversity and inclusivity in the workplace, it will be challenging for leaders to effectively lead and develop their employees. Differences, diversity, and the need for inclusivity and empathy exist beyond the workplace in our day-to-day world, so this must be one of the main initiatives and a necessary effort in a business’s leadership development. The workplace should be a safe and open place for all within it, and leaders must act to ensure these efforts are being met in all business areas.

Leaders must understand and grow the organization with respect to diversity and inclusion. It is critical to the employee experience and creating a culture that reflects an acute understanding regarding issues surrounding ethics, boundaries, bias, and discrimination. Creating this culture will significantly improve business growth and employee retention. Remaining on top of this trend will benefit your people and help to develop your leaders to accept diversity and remain inclusive in all their practice, strategies, and leadership efforts. Welcoming all employees and their differences in backgrounds, ideas, abilities, and beliefs will strengthen collaboration, knowledge, and engagement, and help to create a healthy and open workplace and culture for all the people in your business.

2. High-Quality Coaching and Development Programs for All Levels – Investing in your leaders and high-potential employees is the best way to retain top talent and enhance an individual’s skillset. According to research by Zippia, 83% of businesses believe it’s essential to develop leaders at every level of a business, yet only 5% of these businesses have implemented leadership development programs and opportunities at all levels. Whether it’s continuing to develop your executive and board leaders, other levels of leadership, or your company’s high-potentials, leadership development has become a primary initiative in many businesses.

Leadership development efforts cost US businesses around $166 billion dollars per year, which demonstrates the commitment of companies to leadership development – even if few companies are addressing this need at all levels. Leaders need to be aware of this need and work to align their leadership development to remain competitive. If other businesses are making these investments in their people and yours is not, it will negatively impact your competitive advantage and both your current and incoming talent. Providing leadership development and coaching opportunities at all levels will appeal to more incoming talent and help to retain your current talent, as employees desire a workplace that cultivates ongoing growth, training, and development, and a business that invests in them.

3. Flexibility – Flexibility in work models, such as remote or hybrid roles, has continued to grow in popularity since the pandemic. This trend continues as businesses recognize they can maintain efficiency and productivity levels by allowing their employees greater flexibility and a better work-life balance. Not only are businesses saving money, but their employees and their leaders are happier and report higher job satisfaction rates.

Leadership development should also encourage and empower flexibility in leaders so they can in turn continue growing an employee-centered culture that promotes flexibility and great work-life balance for all. If leaders promote flexibility and develop to embed these practices within their culture, employee engagement and retention will continue to see improvements. Employees’ desire and need for flexible workplaces and leadership will only continue into 2023, so leaders must continue to welcome and accept this workplace shift into their business structure and goals.

4. Cultivating a Compelling Company Culture – Company culture is now more important than ever in today’s business world and within the competitive marketplace. Culture speaks to your business, its reputation, and its people and will reflect in your leadership. The trend of culture relating to leadership development will be essential for leaders to embed and uphold. Your culture will influence your employees’ experience and behaviors, so a leader’s mindset, values, and actions will be critical to promoting a healthy and engaging company culture.

Cultivating a culture of growth, innovation, and value will best benefit both your leaders and employees, enhance your business efforts, and bring you closer to succeeding in your company’s goals. Based on the Organizational Health Index (OHI) and a study of 1,900 businesses, it was determined that employees across those businesses found that organizations with healthy company cultural health achieve more relating to their business initiatives and goals.

Effectively equipping both your leaders and future leaders by instilling the core company values, vision, mission, and goals of your business by enhancing leadership development efforts will lead to more significant and positive impacts on both your culture and both your current and future talent development. This can also lead to new leaders embedding your desired company vision and values into their leadership approaches, which will best enhance your cultural health and the overall employee experience at your business.

5. Technological Innovation and Advancements – With technological innovation and advancements in today’s world, this leadership development trend must be incorporated into ever-changing business initiatives and work environments. Failing to stay on top of this trend in technology can create gaps and barriers in a business and its progression of goals. Businesses must remain agile and adaptable to maintain a competitive advantage or risk falling behind in their initiatives and grandest efforts.

Employees value an environment that cultivates continuous learning and growth and desire the workplace to equip and train them in the most up-to-date tools. Creating efficiency and innovation in leaders will promote change and agility and allow leaders to grow and enhance their abilities to effectively lead and teach their employees. Technology savvy is important for leadership development and for company culture because leaders will use these skills to enhance both the knowledge and abilities of themselves and their employees. Investing in this trend will benefit your leaders and business by improving engagement and adaptability and will ensure your business stays relevant to the latest shifts and evolvement of technology.

Conclusion

Investing in leadership development is investing in your biggest asset – your people. Learning and acting on these trends will best benefit the achievement of your business’s goals, profitability, and the development and retention of top talent. This will also set your business apart from the rest and improve your competitive advantage, as most employees today will not settle for less than effective leadership or a lack of growth and development opportunities in their workplace.

Having a Great Partner Can Help

At EDA, we utilize a results-driven and practical approach to addressing all your business needs. With industry-leading experts and our high-level and dynamic services and technology, we are here to guide and support your organization through the challenging obstacles faced by all leaders, industries, and workplaces today. Check out Our Services to see how EDA’s custom-designed leadership and executive development strategies, systems, and programs will help your business thrive in today’s trends and competitive marketplace.

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