For some years now, the concept of exponential leadership has been at the center of the definitions of the so-called “new leadership.”
It is a set of skills to enhance the ability to conduct project and people management x10.
It is a more holistic style, where knowledge is quickly integrated with experience and validated empirically: in the implementation of each learning, instead of the rational thinking that has predominated for so many decades.
In history we are experiencing a moment of such complex and unpredictable transformations that uncertainty has become everyday. Faced with this scenario, companies, businesses of all types and organizations that dare to reinvent themselves and innovate, those that are disruptive and highly flexible, are the ones that will remain.
On the other hand, activities that are stuck in models of the past and that hinder their transformation process will gradually be extinguished like a fire that consumes them.
In this new context, exponential leadership appears; a leader who knows how to move in the field of innovation and the acceleration of changes, and who is not afraid to move in shaky scenarios every day. He even learns to decide with a series of attributes very different from the rational ones of other times.
Fundamentally, the 10x leader (because he multiplies his speed tenfold, deploys his multidimensional vision in equal measure, and achieves a high level of human impact on the people and teams that accompany him) is called to be the storm pilot of these turbulent times.
The new generations of work – with Millennials now accessing leadership positions, and Centennials, generation Z, starting with new work formats that become permanent, such as nomads – value closeness, empathy, the culture of a company and the objectives of personal values aligned with what they do to sustain their lives. The exponential leader is in that tune.
New organizations have migrated to inclusive models, remote work environments, collaborative leadership, sustainability and care of environmental resources, and the use of technology as a transversal and unavoidable axis for the success of any company. Exponential leadership enhances these professional styles.
According to Singularity University, an academic institution in Silicon Valley in California, United States, some of the main competencies that x10 leaders have or need to develop can be identified. As we will see, these are mostly soft skills that will occupy the largest component of what this time requires, far above pure technical or academic knowledge:
Create visions of the future, work on inclusion and equity in concrete and tangible ways, not just empty speech like many leaders of the past.
It is based on the premise that it co-creates optimistic and purposeful realities where both the exponential leader actively participates, as well as each of the team collaborators where diversity and collaborative intelligence are the axes.
The x10 has a concept that the more everyone grows, the more they are rewarded. Therefore, this changes the equation of generating profits for companies, since growth is sought based on equity, shared prosperity and personal and professional development.
The exponential leader knows that the person is at the center of his action and decisions. See people from their potential, instead of marking their shortcomings; It is precisely from here that we build wealth and abundance, wisdom and consciousness starting with people, and this will also resonate in companies and projects.
As technology grows at a dizzying and exponential rate, the x10 leader knows how to read the impact of this transformation, and connects them with the needs of the markets and clients (including the “internal client”, the one within the project or company). Knowledge of robotics, digital transformation, data analysis and a culture aimed at making it work based on more precise parameters are some of the characteristics it has.
The exponential leader strives to ask and answer questions, above all, to open himself to the unknown in the midst of uncertainty. The answers will come in different ways; alternative realities are handled; The analysis of the problems is carried out using big data and does not lose its sense of intuition, based on curiosity and openness to the new: the true “open mind”.
One of the main qualities of exponential leadership is creating a flow of communication with your teams and with the markets you work for. Empirical learning, that which is achieved only through concrete experience, is an excellent way; in addition to critical thinking, applied creativity, lateral thinking, storytelling to generate communication with emotions; and the openness to disruptive thinking to be able to interpret, redefine and give meaning to the complexity of the world.
The x10 is clear about the value of people in the co-creation of the future; It emphasizes the care of the health and physical, mental and spiritual balance of each human being, and the balance with the environment in which they operate. Personalized support is another of its characteristics, where the role of the “coach leader” of your team appears in all its expression.
The exponential leader becomes a human-based leader, with competencies where the axis is the person (internal and external), and the product or service, a connecting bridge. True value is touching the hearts of others. The x10 has empathy, gratitude, the ability to flow with what is presented and a powerful and optimistic spirit about the future.
A fundamental aspect is exponential leadership of influence: the positive impact that x10 generates in each person and experience with which it comes into contact; enriches it. To achieve this, it is a person who knows himself very well (self-knowledge) as a condition for developing his self-leadership, before being able to lead others.
It transforms them. For this, he is a leader with a highly developed collaborative spirit, and a strong imprint of cooperation with the possible, even in winding terrain that seems impossible.
All of these competencies are interconnected and create a holistic system of exponential leadership, through which the focus is on adding value and respecting and revaluing the essential human principles of each person.
