The Future of Leadership in 2030: 6 New Disruptive Trends

Every CEO and leader at every organizational level faces shared challenges, including:

• A changing workforce
• Grappling with the impact of rapid innovation 
• How to strike a balance between being an inspiring and reassuring leader while still pushing for success
• How to keep employees engaged while working remotely
• Weary and anxious workers resigning from their jobs in record numbers

In this uniquely severe global crisis, CEOs and leaders need to adopt new management and leadership models. 

To that end, we’re going to explore a few disruptive trends that will significantly affect your organization between now and 2030. 

#1 – Expect Rapid Change 

Before the new world of work, many CEOs, leaders, and employees were complacent or too slow to recognize their complacency. 

However, complacency is not an option for 21st century CEOs and leaders seeking longevity and sustainable profitability. 

If you’re not prepared to change the way things are done or disrupt your legacy thinking, you’ll risk overseeing an organization that fades into obscurity or falls behind. 

Legacy thinking manifests itself in talk like:

• “It worked fine last time.”
• “That’s the way we always do it.”
• “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

In 2020 and 2021, several companies went from success to failure. The indicators of failure included:

• Disengaged employees
• Product launches that lacked inspiration 
• Customer service divisions that no longer cared
• Institutions issuing forecasts of likely trade contractions in 2020

What Is the Future of Management and Leadership in 2024?

Here are some key management and leadership trends for 2024:

• Developing a change mindset: The future of work needs agile leaders who are capable of making quick decisions during times of crisis or change. 
• Organizations will become more fluid: Expect to see flatter, non-hierarchical structures and a shift to more project-based working.
• Collaboration and shared goals: CEOs and leaders have learned that it pays to work together for good.
• Sustainable recruitment and business performance metrics: By 2024, organizations will have extensively invested in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) data, tools, and benchmarking to define recruitment and human capital strategies.
• Contingent workforce expansion and talent sharing: Leaders are learning how to use a flexible workforce to perform one-off, short-term projects to fill skills gaps.

#2 – Increased Digitization

The future of leadership in the digital economy needs leaders that can adapt to a world defined by increased digitization.

Organizations across industries are increasingly leveraging technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and the cloud to build a digital enterprise and reinvent existing products and services.

Digitization is progressing at an incredible rate due to its ability to collect, use, and analyze huge amounts of information on almost everything. 

Challenges and Solutions of Digitization 

Resistance

There’s a misconception that an organization can only digitize if it upgrades its tools and technologies. However, the success of digitization depends on your employees’ adaptability.

Failure to communicate the value of digitalization and its implications to employees can lead to resistance to change.

The future of leadership in the digital economy will require employees who can adapt to digitization initiatives.

Lack of Expertise to Lead the Digitization Process

Employees lack the necessary skills to start the implementation. Therefore, CEOs and leaders need to create a pool of digital talent with a strong background in technology. 

Other alternatives include:

• Outsourcing to bridge the skills gap
• Using tools like CRM to reduce the time taken on administrative and back-office tasks

Insufficient Budget

Most CEOs and business leaders find it difficult to set aside a budget to implement digitization processes. Therefore, they’re unable to acquire the necessary technology and an experienced team to execute the procedure. 

This lack of resources can affect your decision-making and even force you to step back. Hence, the future of leadership requires leaders to adapt and invest in the digitization process.

Cybersecurity Concerns

As organizations digitize and automate operations, cyber risks also proliferate.

Additionally, friction may arise between an organization’s desire to digitize and the cybersecurity team’s duty to protect the organization, employees, and customers within existing cyber operating models and practices.

With this in mind, the future of leadership requires cybersecurity teams to support a secure digital agenda by:

• Improving risk management and applying quantitative risk analytics
• Building cybersecurity directly into businesses’ value chains

#3 – Hybrid Teams 

 The post-pandemic future of leadership will be managing hybrid teams where organizations allow employees to work both remotely and in the office.

COVID-19 has disrupted the traditional 9–5 workday, thereby accelerating the adoption of the hybrid workplace model. 

According to LinkedIn’s January 2023 Workforce Confidence Index

• Approximately half of the workers (50%) reported primarily working onsite
• 28% of the respondents stated that they primarily worked remotely
• 18% of workers were following a hybrid schedule (showing a consistent upward trend since 2021)

As a result, the future of leadership in the new hybrid world will necessitate the following expertise:

• Establishing clear rules of engagement and developing daily rituals so everyone knows what to expect, which in turn, increases productivity 
• Avoiding virtual micromanagement and instead, trusting employees to get the work done
• Promoting employee development by equipping employees with the skills they need to succeed now and in the future
• Empowering employees to contribute by connecting remote workers with their in-office and remote colleagues
• Ensuring employees have the right tools, which can include webcams, Wi-Fi, and headsets. The idea is to set up for each employee’s or individual’s unique situation
• Practicing effective meeting facilitation by restating and summarizing in-office conversations to clarify for those on the phone or video chat
• Delivering high impact L&D programs to improve retention, engagement, and performance behaviors

#4 – Leadership Skills of the Future  

In a world where leaders are dealing with new challenges, circumstances, and uncertainties in the workplace, the following skills are in high demand:

• Coaching 
• Innovativeness 
• Adaptability 
• Cognitive flexibility
• Collaboration
• Emotional intelligence 
• Negotiation
• Project planning
• Strategic thinking 
• Strong analytical skills
• Resilience
• Agility
• Vision

Skill 1 – The Art of Negotiation 

Your negotiation skills will help you to cope with a variety of situations and improve your career.

Whether you’re mediating a communication breakdown, working on a challenging client contract, or negotiating a new pay arrangement or change in working conditions, some compromise is required to reach an agreeable solution.

Quantic’s online MBA program offers a course on the art of negotiation, which can help you develop essential tactics and strategies for successful negotiation. 

Skill 2 – Project Management  

Project management skills go hand-in-hand with effective leadership skills because they know how to confidently spearhead projects from inception to completion. 

Quantic’s MBA program provides a course in project management that will improve your project management skills.

Skill 3 – Strategic Thinking 

Being able to think strategically allows you to solve complex problems and improve your career. 

Quantic’s MBA course offers a strategy module that will develop your ability to think strategically and analyze the competitive environment. 

With strong leadership skills in such high demand, honing these leadership skills of the future will help you improve your career and gain a competitive advantage.

“The Quantic MBA program was an amazing way for me to broaden my skills and knowledge…”

Daniel Gale-Rosen, Harvard University

#5 – Develop Your Talent and Retain It

Developing and retaining top talent is important now more than ever for the following reasons:

• Organizations worldwide are struggling to hire and retain the staff they need as baby boomers retire and younger generations enter the workforce.
• Employees are weighing their options and refusing to accept subpar paychecks or dead-end jobs. 
• Talent is no longer constrained by geographical boundaries due to remote and hybrid work opportunities. The number of companies competing for employees is larger than ever.
• Technologies such as machine learning, AI, and data analytics are taking center stage, making certain roles obsolete.
• The coming years will require employees to develop new skills in order to succeed in their roles.

To stay competitive in the new world of work and adapt to the future of leadership, CEOs and leaders need to attract and retain high-performing employees. Investing in a talent management system and talent development programs can help you acquire and retain the very best employees on the market.

When you actively strive to help employees achieve their full potential, they’re less likely to 

quit their jobs or jump ship for something better. 

A LinkedIn study found that 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their careers. 

One way to attract and retain top talent is through Quantic’s online MBA or Executive MBA programs. Having Quantic as your employee training partner will not only help your employees grow, but they’ll also receive the benefit of the online MBA tuition reimbursement program. 

If you’re ready to supercharge your team, register your company and take advantage of Quantic’s tuition reimbursement program. 

#6 – Servant Leadership

Leadership in the future of work requires leaders to be servants first and bosses second. What’s more, a leader needs to have high moral authority and lead by conscience, not ego; who are willing to support and serve instead of rule. 

The table below highlights the differences between servant leadership and traditional leadership:

Servant Leadership	Traditional Leadership
Leadership is an opportunity to serve others	Leadership is a rank to obtain
Understands it’s not about them	Believes everything is about them
Shares power and control to drive engagement	Utilizes power and control to drive performance
Listens	Speaks
Humility	Hubris
Integrity	Lies
Selflessness	Selfishness
Fosters trust	Instills fear

Future Leadership Program

The Valar Institute at Quantic School of Business and Technology offers an EMBA in Strategic Leadership. Valar’s mobile-first, 12-month program is designed for any CEO or leader who wants to develop modern strategy, management skills, and leadership expertise required to lead in the new world of work.

Our elite-level, fully accredited education of an Ivy League EMBA program will equip you with the skills required for a 21st century leader and teach you to lead with confidence; all without the unnecessary strain on your time and bank account. 

Quantic is the only online EMBA that turns students into senior leaders of the most respected organizations in their industry. Tuition is just $950 USD per month over the 15-month duration of the program.

“This EMBA could become one of the most beneficial and worthwhile endeavors for students and companies.”

Geoffrey Schutta, CGI, Senior Consultant

Quantic’s MBA program will also equip you with the knowledge and skills you need to navigate the disruptive trends and stay ahead of the curve.
Quantic is also the only app-based graduate school with a network and collaborative approach that rivals top business schools.