New research confirms several leadership competencies that will gain in priority over next few years and into future. 1. Thinking globally 2. Appreciating cultural diversity 3. Developing technological savvy 4. Building partnerships and alliances 5. Sharing leadership (Global Leadership: Next Generation; Goldsmith, M., Greenberg, C. L., Robertson, A. & Hu-Chan, M.; FT Prentice Hall, 2003).

Harlan Cleveland goes so far as to say that leadership will be so shared that there will be Nobody in Charge! (John Wiley & Sons, 2002). With flattening of hierarchies and dissolving of boundaries, ability to galvanize attention and move disparate groups of people forward will require excellent negotiation and consensus-building skills.

Communicating across multi-cultural and multi-generational communities is becoming more important as a competency for leaders in future. And, a lot more of managing and leading will have to be done virtually.

Only a few of prominent business schools have begun to teach new and future leaders how to manage diverse cultures in a virtual environment. Yet this is a clearly emerging competency.

Even smaller companies will be required to work in a global environment. Expect to see an increase in diversity issues arise in leadership development programs. The use of executive coaches is expected to gain priority as a primary tool for developing competencies for leaders.

Patsi Krakoff dr-patsi-45475@autocontactor.com

How can a business leader do it all – create and communicate a vision, get work done and make a profit? Business coaches help business leaders step back and create processes necessary to communicate and sustain their vision for their organizations by focusing on sales, marketing, systems and team building. One strategy I use is to facilitate a team alignment day. I often start out with a number of traditional and non-traditional teambuilding exercises. Then, I introduce a game called “Leverage: The Game of Business,” in which employees learn five key areas to impacting bottom line. By playing game, each employee learns how he or she plays a pivotal role in making business work and impacting its cash flow. By end of day, team is aligned with business owner’s goals as well as team and business manager being aligned as people. When everyone is on same page, change can take place and things happen more efficiently and effectively.

A recent article in Fortune Magazine, entitled, Executive Coaching – With Returns a CFO Could Love, stated, "Asked for a conservative estimate of monetary payoff from coaching they got, these managers described an average return of more than $100,000 or about six times what coaching had cost their companies."

My goal as a business coach is to help business owners step back and think about new and innovative ways to achieve profitability and business growth … and to do it in a way that provides a good return on investment of a business manager’s time and money. The ability to change, while remaining focused, is an integral part of this philosophy.