98 per cent of managers believe they are prepared to face the challenges of the future. However, when asked about specific situations such as the adoption of artificial intelligence, change management or difficult conversations, significant gaps in their preparedness become apparent. This is revealed by a recent study by Careerminds on the preparation of leaders for the new challenges in the workplace.
The survey brings to light an increasingly relevant issue: what does it really mean to be prepared to lead in a context of constant transformation?
Leading in times of change
Artificial intelligence, new working models and the growing focus on people's wellbeing are transforming organisations. For leaders, this means much more than simply incorporating new tools or adapting processes. It means supporting people through change.
Faced with uncertainty, teams need leaders able to listen, build trust, tackle difficult conversations and help people find their own answers and resources.
That is why the powers of development they are evolving. The ability to communicate and make decisions remains essential, but skills such as are becoming increasingly important listen, emotional intelligence, adaptability and the ability to generate conversations that drive learning and autonomy.
From answering leadership to questioning leadership
Coaching-based leadership starts precisely from this idea: it is not always about having the right answer, but rather about create the conditions for people to think, learn and advance.
The challenge is not simply preparing leaders for the next change. It is developing their capacity to lead when we still do not know exactly what is going to happen.
In an environment of permanent transformation, perhaps the best-prepared leadership is not the one that has all the answers, but the person who knows how to ask the questions that help to find new possibilities.
The reskilling and upskilling involved in training this growth mindset is the core of executive coaching, a systematic conversational practice that we train with live feedback for each participant.
Because in order to know how to ask the question we now need to ask the team, we are going to need several skills:
- Listen before you speak. Understand what is really happening, what is worrying the team and what is not being said.
- Critical thinking. Do not take the first answers as given, nor look for quick solutions when the problem requires a different perspective.
- Emotional intelligence. Recognising and managing the emotions that arise in a change conversation, both one's own and those of others.
- Knowing how to generate thought-provoking conversations. Because a good question is not the one that shows the leader has the answer, but the one that helps the team find one they hadn't seen yet.
In this sense, developing coaching skills doesn't mean turning all managers into professional coaches. It means equipping them with tools to lead differently: listening better, asking purposeful questions, supporting change and encouraging the autonomy of their teams.
