Gaining a Soul 

From acquisition to innovation, we have grown our companies and used everything from automation to lean processes to ensure that we are producing products and services at the absolute highest rate possible, at the lowest cost, and in the fastest time period. And even after all of that, a void remains. It turns out, we need something more. We need meaning.  

Success in its own right is not enough anymore, as it must have legs to sustain through the future. As such, organizations and leaders need to add a foundation of ethics, integrity and community into all of their processes and mindset.  

The trends around hot topics, types of development, and accelerating high potentials are showing that we need our companies to have more. We need them to have a soul, one where values such as ethics, integrity and community are core, where we build goodwill by doing good versus just selling stuff. We want the companies we work for to be willing to reach out to the communities where they operate and give back. The good news is that doing so can be a great way to develop senior leaders. Inside, we need to feel connected and safe, so we create together, explore, challenge, and encourage. Perhaps the digital disruption has been missing a core component, and we refuse to go on without it.  

To address this need, companies are using culture surveys as the number one way to identify specific skills and development opportunities needed to achieve the vision, live the values, and execute strategy. We still want to hear from top management about what they believe is needed for current and future executives, but we are ensuring that the employees have a voice. The employees are also insisting on having a voice in the matter. Since their opinions matter, we can do this by gathering feedback via surveys and then implementing data analytics to determine strengths and gaps in culture and leadership capabilities.  

Quote:

“In the end, it all comes down to people and values. Leaders need to envision a future that works for all stakeholders by putting people first (instead of technology) and empowering them. In its most pessimistic dehumanized form, the 4th Industrial Revolution may indeed have the potential to “robotize” humanity and thus deprive us of our heart and soul…  

But as a complement to the best parts of human nature- creativity, empath, and stewardship – it can also lift humanity into a new collective and moral consciousnesses based on a shared sense of destiny and vision. As leaders, it is incumbent on us all to make sure the latter prevails.” 

Prof. Sattar Bawany | Managing Director, EDA, Asia Pacific