Our workplaces are undergoing a revolution. And as not only business but society as a whole changes, how we educate and train the next wave of business leaders must also change.
One of the most obvious changes to education in recent years has been the rise of flexible formats, with the pandemic helping accelerate this trend. Nowadays executives can study programs that are delivered online in real-time through virtual classrooms, mix online components with face-to-face teaching, incorporate elements of augmented reality, or are 100% online, among others.
Still, that does not mean face-to-face teaching will disappear. On the contrary, post-pandemic the value of meeting and interacting with people in person to discuss and share ideas has never been higher. Instead, it is about increasing flexibility and choice, while still focusing on delivering programs that reflect how executives learn best. That means companies and employees now have at their disposal a variety of programs, formats and content to best suit their training needs at any given moment, but that can still guarantee interaction and personal follow-up to enhance learning
Yet how education must change to adapt to the future of work must go far beyond format.
Thanks to longer lives, for the first time we are now having up to five generations in the same work organization. At the same time, the advance of artificial intelligence (AI) will further radically transform companies, and require the rapid upskilling of employees at all levels. This all means that managers need to develop different leadership capabilities and skills.
Some are new types of hard skills (such as machine learning, or AI) but it also means soft skills are becoming even more essential. For example, bridging capabilities, empathy, coaching, cross-cultural skills, and adaptive thinking, among others, now have a renewed relevance.
In an article for the Financial Times, IESE Prof. Sampsa Samila, director of the Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Management Initiative, points out that managers do not just need to know what AI is, "but what are the competitive impacts on their business”, including what tools and business models could arise that could help their organization.
Crucially, prof. Sampsa also stresses the need to focus on ethics throughout these management programs, so that executives are able to put Al to use in their companies in a socially responsible way. After all, it is important to make sure the rise of various technological developments does not end up with unintended consequences for society as a whole.
The importance of being able to educate business leaders who can lead the future of work in an ethical, sustainable way, is compounded by the need to tackle the pressing challenges the world already currently faces – climate change, widening inequality, social injustice. These challenges are global in scale, and necessitate robust business leadership and collaboration to enact change.
Some business programs and institutions have already woken up to this, and sector wide there have been some moves in this direction. But there is a growing awareness of the need to go further.
One innovative example of how the sector is responding to this need is the recent launch of an initiative that involves collaboration with business schools across the globe. The Future of Capitalism is a course designed to help MBA students critically observe the current state of capitalism and explore the roles of business leadership required to create a better future.
Developed by IESE Business School in Spain and Shizenkan University in Japan, in cooperation with the School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL) in India, and Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), in Brazil, the course is supported by a variety of prominent business leaders and CEOs. These include Paul Polman, Co-founder and Chair of Imagine and former CEO of Unilever, Tak Niinami, CEO of Suntory Holdings and James Higa, Executive Director of Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, among others.
In the keynote address, Paul Polman spotlighted how the Covid-19 crisis has meant that, “more and more people realize our current system is not sustainable." He also stressed the importance of creating leaders who can drive this change in business, and praised the collaborative nature of the program, with schools from Brazil, India, Japan and Spain, in helping with this. “We cannot tackle these big issues alone, so having these broader partnerships in the academic world is key,” he said.
Launched in January 2021, in total, 81 students from 22 different nationalities took part in the first edition, which involved the students engaging in virtual conversations with a variety of speakers around the world, including the Executive Director of Greenpeace International; former child soldiers in Uganda; and formerly homeless children in Bangladesh. They then worked in teams and presented their plans for how business can have a more positive impact on society to the group of business supporters.
Tomo Noda, Professor and Chair of the Board of Trustees at Shizenkan University, states that the aim of the course is to be, “not only a course but a project for social change.” As such, the objective is to convert the course into a platform where around 300 students from 30 schools can join for the 2024 edition.
Clearly, as the workplace revolution continues apace, it is critical that how we educate leaders also keeps up so that we can ensure a brighter future for everyone.
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May 03, 2021 at 04:07PM
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The Future Of Education? Flexible Formats, Soft Skills, Collaboration And Responsible Leadership - Forbes
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