What will a 3.0 leader be like?
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
This is an open question that is not easy to respond to as even the 2.0 leader profile has not yet been defined.
What is apparent is that if the leader figure evolved from 1.0 to being 2.0, it is because the business also evolved in that direction.
There are qualities that remained in a leader during the move toward social media: ability to delegate, to listen to different viewpoints, encourage teamwork, two-way communication… All of these were present in a good 1.0 leader, are also present in a good 2.0 leader and will also be in a 3.0 leader.
Why? For one simple reason: the essence of a leader’s behaviour is always the same regardless of the environment in which they find themselves. The only thing the environment does is make different tools available so an evolution of the leader figure takes place, but this has nothing to do with a transformation or change taking place if not a step forward in a continual process.
You don’t think a good leader in the 1.0 world would be bad in the 2.0 or 3.0 world, do you?
The qualities that determine if a superior is a good leader or not are independent from the tools and environment one may find themselves in, they do not change with the environment. It is another thing if the tools made available during this evolution period allow the leader to carry out his or her mission in a more efficient manner or indeed enhance their already strong skillset. This does not however, imply the inverse: that a bad 1.0 leader can be a good 2.0 leader. Tools help carry out tasks but if the leader does not already have the skills for it, it will be difficult for them to improve in any way, they could even end up revealing how bad a leader they are.
We can confirm up to this point, that some of the characteristics a 3.0 leader will have are: good multi-directional communication skills, empathy, assertiveness… these will always be common qualities in any leader.
Other characteristics will depend on the tools used in order to carry out the mission such as in the current evolution. If the 1.0 leader had less means of communicating with their subordinates and listening to them, this is now in the past as now there are many means of facilitating feedback. But if the leader was not up to the job in a 1.0 environment they will not be now either, however many tools they may have at hand. It is likely that the 3.0 leader will have many more tools available in order to communicate with their team.
Bearing all of this in mind, we come to one conclusion: it is difficult for us to know now for sure what the 3.0 leader will be like but we are clear about which skills and attitudes they must have. The unknown area is a mystery that will move in the same direction as the 3.0 tools take at the time.
Whoever is in charge of a team must first learn leadership and its meaning. Very soon new tools will become available that will facilitate the role whilst respecting the attitudes and expected behaviour of a good leader.