The business world and the demands it places on its leaders are rapidly changing. The arrival of increased automation and technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning are changing how companies work and what they do.
While your skillset may have been relevant for your role five years ago, it may no longer be the case. It can become easy to stagnate in a role, especially if you haven’t left your comfort zone for several years. The pace of change and technological development means you could be left behind by your peers and potential competitors for future roles.
Career progression has also changed. It is no longer a linear process and you cannot assume the skills and knowledge required to be a modern leader will be acquired in your current role. Indeed, the route to the top can involve sideways moves as well as secondments and project assignments to gain the experience required for future leadership roles.
Here are five steps to set you on the path of future-proofing your career:
Anticipate and manage your career risk
Assess the risk factors to your future career. Examine what could go wrong and there are a number of indicators to look for: how well is the organisation and sector or industry performing? Has there been a downturn? Are there disruptors entering your market? What is the level of merger and acquisition activity taking place? What is the organisation’s attitude to technology and digital transformation – is it moving with the times or being left behind and what is the attitude of the executive board to change? These won’t necessarily be within your control but being alert to them will help to inform your career plans.
How do you stack up in the market?
It is essential to know how your skills, knowledge and experience compare to potential rivals for internal promotions or external roles. Make use of tools such as the Rialto Accelerated Leadership Index (RALI), which profiles and assesses the alignment of current leadership capabilities and experience to future market needs and competitors by using real-time data. The comparisons are based on function, leadership level, size of organisation, geographical region and sector, providing a broad base for analysis.
Formulate an action plan
Once you have an informed picture of how you stand compared to others, put together a plan for how you will address any weak areas or skills gaps. Look at the range of development interventions available to you including coaching and mentoring. It may be that experience of a specific project or even a secondment will be the most effective way of gaining the skills and experience you lack by exposing you to new opportunities and responsibilities. Regardless of what stage of your career you are, adopt a lifelong learning mindset. Factor in the career risk factors identified in step one and assess which of them you may be able to exert some control over in areas like business strategy, digital transformation and innovation.
Think and act digitally
Leaders must not only ensure they have the required skillsets but also adopt the right attitude and behaviours required to lead in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. “We are all technology companies now,” has already become a well-worn phrase in the business world – and in many instances it is true with organisations shifting their business models and processes online (computer engineers now make up a quarter of Goldman Sach’s entire workforce). Develop a digital mindset and look at how new technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation and the Internet of Things could influence the business and its strategy in the future. Make sure you are making the most of data analytics tools to help support the shift towards data-based decision-making. Become a technology champion: as well as focusing on your own capabilities, ensure your team is skilled up for the digital era.
Put in place a support structure
Build strong internal and external networks. These can act as a welcome support if something goes wrong career-wise but are also invaluable for finding new openings as well as to keep abreast of what is happening in other sectors and organisations which might inform your career plan.
Rialto Consultancy delivers a range of career transition, leadership development and coaching programmes for executives and senior leaders. For more information, please call 020 3043 8645 or go to https://www.rialtoconsultancy.com/contact/ to fill out the contact form.
To benchmark your leadership profile for free, visit https://ralionline.com/
