What are the greatest challenges of our times? Many companies are trying to change, to find new approaches, new leadership styles, new ways of working. But why is that? Why do we need to change?

Well, I think we are facing two great challenges in the corporate world:

1. It’s all about technology

The first thing is, that we are living a very fast changing and complex world, so companies have to react and adapt much faster than they had to before. And of course, for many companies, this is quite a challenge. Because of this high complexity, you need a different style of leadership, as you need a lot of specialized experts, and their managers often don’t even understand what they are doing.

This shift to digitalization, to technology and software is one of the biggest challenges of our times. And how companies react on it now will be crucial for their success in the future.

Some companies understood that technology is essential and see digitalization as a part of their strategy.

Others – often younger companies – made a complete shift and define themselves as technology company – no matter if they are selling insurances, fashion or cars.

My prediction for the future is that if companies don’t see themselves as tech companies, they will have a hard time surviving in the next few decades. So if your digital assets are only a part of your company and not your main focus – maybe you will have trouble surviving.

2. It’s all about people

The second thing is, that not only the world has changed, but also we as a society. Our attitudes have changed, we have different expectations for work and for a work-life-balance, and also the younger generations differ from the older ones. Studies show that the vast majority of employees are not engaged at work, which is an economic, but also a humanistic problem. So also on this level, companies have to react with a different leadership style if they want to succeed.

Many companies try to change their leadership style in order to face this evolution. They try to engage their employees, to give purpose to their work and to meet peoples demands. This might be easier for younger companies, as they started in a modern leadership style right away, while traditional companies have to go through quite a big change concerning their leadership style. Concepts that have been working for decades, like command and control, are not accurate anymore, as the world has become so complex for these concepts and the demands of the employees have changed significantly.

My prediction for the future is that if companies don’t manage to engage their employees, they will have a hard time surviving. 85% of our employees are not engaged – so there’s quite a way to go.

How can we handle that?

Modern Agile Leadership approaches can be an answer to both of these questions, as agility gives you the possibility to handle complexity in a very effective way, and it gives you great possibilities to handle the demands of modern workforces.

All companies have to deal with these two challenges, while most younger companies will find it easier to adapt to this evolution. Traditional companies will have to go through quite a dramatic change, which makes it harder for them to survive the next few decades.