The Top 4 Emerging Leadership Trends You Must Know in 2022

The Top 4 Emerging Leadership Trends You Must Know in 2022

To say that America and the world are in a period of transition would be an understatement. For the past two and a half years, war and plague—as well as a reckoning over myriad racial and gender issues—have sent tsunami-sized waves crashing through virtually every aspect of Western society. This is particularly true in the world of business, where the norms of 2019 suddenly feel as distant as those of 1920.

Leaders determined to not just survive but thrive during this seismic upheaval need to recognize and embrace the cultural changes currently sweeping through the workplace. Those who still cling to the neo-liberal management concepts of Milton Friedman (“The social responsibility of companies is to increase its profits”), Peter Drucker (“You can’t manage what you can’t measure”), and Jack Welch (“Fire the bottom 10 percent!”) are likely to find these once powerful doctrines no longer hold sway over a workforce traumatized by The Great Recession, COVID-19 lockdowns, and now 1970s-style inflation.

And let’s be clear: In business, change still does begin at the top. While the land beneath them has shifted, most businesses remain traditionally hierarchical, with power and influence flowing from the top down. The CEO is still the captain of the ship. And company’s operations still reflect the priorities, sensibilities, sensitivities, and values of its executive. To pilot a company to success, leadership must keep a close eye on emerging trends and steer into the wind, lest they crash on the shoals of irrelevancy.

Here, then, are the Top Four Emerging Leadership Trends you need to know to find success in 2022:

1 - Connect People to Purpose. 

By now, you have no doubt heard much about The Great Resignation. Traumatized by COVID-19 and its impacts, more than 40 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs in 2021 alone. It’s a trend that shows no signs of abating. One of the key reasons people give for quitting is a reassessment of personal priorities. For many, particularly for Millennials and younger, bi-weekly paychecks and group health insurance are no longer sufficient justifications for committing a third of their lives to the fattening of someone else’s bottom line. These people are not averse to work. But they are opposed to work that feels repetitive, soul-sucking and, to their minds, pointless. They want their work to mean something.

In 2022, leaders must go beyond crafting banal “mission statements” and think hard about how their company fits into society-at-large, the benefits it seeks to deliver, in fact their very raison-d’etre. And they must then impart these visions and values directly to their employees in everything they do. This means managers must focus on more than just quarterly profits; they must become teachers, coaches, and mentors, instilling their teams with company values, providing them with the training and skills needed to execute their assignments, and working to enhance group cohesion and camaraderie.

The idea that a company is a “team” may seem a cliché, but the metaphor has value. Like a coach in football, basketball, or any other team sport, company managers must identify what each worker is best at, develop those talents to the fullest, and then put them to use in service of a singular goal. All these elements, intimately combined, drive team performance.

2 - Focus on the Employee Experience. 

If you have any experience with America’s entertainment industry, you’ll know that supporting every multi-million-dollar TV or movie star is a small army of people who often work long hours under brutal conditions for very little pay. And while the chances of becoming a working actor, director, writer, or studio executive remain miniscule, thousands of people flock to New York and Los Angeles every year determined to get into the film, TV, and theater industries at virtually any level. Why? Because they’re passionate about what they do. They’re driven by an unquenchable desire to be part of something amazing, something much bigger than themselves.

It's this kind of fervor and devotion that today’s business leaders need to engender in their own companies, regardless of size. It’s no longer enough to provide employees with a competitive salary, attractive benefits, and two weeks of vacation every year. Flexible work schedules, on-site daycare, and work-from-home options may not be sufficient, either. Instead, top companies need to create a culture of excellence that makes people determined to work there. This almost cult-like aura is what has made companies as diverse as Apple, Pixar, Google, Tesla, and Costco the commercial powerhouses they are today. 

3 - Emphasize Career Pathing. 

In the early decades of the 20th century, it was not uncommon for people to spend their entire working lives employed at a single company. Being a “company man” — someone fiercely loyal to a particular organization— was a big thing. Then, during the 1980s, with companies rapidly merging, breaking up, and spinning off, workers were told to expect to change jobs, even careers, every few years. 

Now the pendulum is swinging back the other way. It’s not that workers are necessarily eager to stay with one company for decades, but, rather, employers are coming to realize employee retention is vital to productivity, and to bolster retention rates, they must offer their staff a viable long-term career path. In fact, recent surveys show the potential for career advancement is one of the key reasons workers give for seeking new jobs. Companies can’t afford to keep hiring and retraining people for the same position year after year after year. To be successful, they must invest in the talent they have and then give them a reason to stay. 

4 - Create a Culture of Adaptability and Accountability. 

Disruption can’t be something that comes from the outside. Change, and the desire for change, must come from within. Today’s companies must always be on the lookout for innovative ideas, products, and solutions. They must also insist that their people at every level constantly seek better ways to do things—and then appropriately reward those who answer the challenge. 

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Ultimately, change is and always should be a constant in high-performing organizations. If leaders aren’t continually improving, an organization has no hope for accomplishing its mission and fulfilling its vision. For decades, my organization has assisted companies of all sizes recognize emerging trends and get ahead of the curve. As corporate culture specialists, we can enable you to create the kind of culture that spurs innovation while maximizing profits. For more information on how we can help you ride the current wave of change to success, please contact me at Laura@conoverconsulting.com.