The Evolution of Leaders-- what does the future hold?

I read a great article in Venture Magazine (2012 Anniversary edition) about the future of leadership. The question posed was “what will Alberta’s Business Person of the Year Look Like in 2027?”

One can only begin to imagine how different life and leadership will be in 15 years, in fact, look how much has changed in the past 15 years. Joseph Doucet, the interim dean at U of Alberta’s School of Business thinks there will be an evolution in the characteristics and traits of leads in 2012 (rather than the leaders that replace them).

Diversity will be much more profound in the coming years, and the leadership will be from a rich cultural diversity in backgrounds and ethnicity. There will be a strong requirement for leaders to create a culture that is ethnically diverse.

In the coming years, there will be a strong need for leaders to commit to and engage in ongoing education and learning. The pace of change in the business world will continue to progress and accelerate at an exponential rate therefore requiring leaders to continually advance their skills and learning. As well, leaders will need to be well versed in social media and online marketing and business practices.

Authenticity will continue to be a strong and much needed quality especially in relationships and building trust. Flexibility will continue to be a requirement in business, and leaders will be challenged to adapt to the online distractions in the workplace.

Lastly, forward thinking especially as it relates to succession planning and developing employees from within will be an important if not essential aspect of managing business growth, increasing pace of business and employee retention.


It will be interesting to see what the next 15 years bring. I am excited about it!

If you need to add more books to your corporate and team library, check out the deals at Amazon....



Here are some of my favorite books on leadership.  These will help prepare the leaders of today...and of tomorrow.  John Maxwells "The 5 Levels of Leadership", Patrick Lencioni's "Five Dysfunctions of a Team" and "The Success Principles" by Jack Canfield.  These books have served as guides for me and my clients.  See below for more information

Solving The Change Mystery...

Solving the Mystery of Leading People Through Change is the subtitle of an incredible book called Who Killed Change? by Ken Blanchard and John Britt. This book is easy to sink your teeth into and is written in the form of a story, actually a murder mystery, which makes the read enjoyable and different from most books about organizational change.


The book is full of rich insights that will help any leader, business consultant, HR representative or business owner. Agent McNally is the consultant investigating the "death of change", and in the book, change is a character. His usual suspects are:

- Culture

- Commitment

- Sponsorship

- Change Leadership Team

- Communication

- Urgency

- Vision

- Plan

- Budget

- Trainer

- Incentive

- Accountability

- Performance Management.....


Do any of these sound familiar in your team or business? When I reflect on the teams I have work on, or was a facilitator for, these suspects are always present in some form in change processes. It could be a culture that does not embrace change, or that change is so frequent but never fully implemented. It may be the lack of commitment towards the change process, or one person's over commitment that causes them to burn out. Communication is always a challenge and while there may be a lot of talking about change going on, the communication is often unhelpful forms of dialogue such as assumptions, rumors and speculation.


Vision, unclear or lack of vision is often at the root of a challenged change process, frequently there is not the budget to support the change, or those in charge of the dollars will not approve the expenditures... the list goes on. Blanchard, through Agent McNally's character not only identifies these "suspects" but helps the reader understand what often goes wrong, and how to fix it.



To create a different outcome to the mystery of change or the death of change, Blanchard suggests there is hope:

- determine where the current culture is out of alignment with the change that is being implemented

- to increase commitment, you can provide forums for employees to ask questions and address concerns in a facilitated/healthy forum instead of through gossip and rumors

- get people involved, and engaged, provide opportunity for the believers to be champions for the change

- ensure you get commitment and buy in for the change, and model the behaviors you want others to demonstrate

- foster accountability through modeling and showing that the organization is serious about and committed to the change

- communicate, communicate, communicate! Deliver clear and credible messages, and clarify rumors before they get circulated in the rumor mill

- have a vision, and get behind the vision...then build the plan

To find out more about Who Killed Change... or how the story ended visit:

Change: Can it be as easy as 1, 2, 8

John Kotter, is the author of Leading Change, a great book about the challenges of change and the 8 step process to implement change more effectively and thus avoiding the consequences of lower morale, and business interruptions.  Kotter's 8 step process may not always be easy as 1, 2, 3 but, these steps provide a road map to follow. 


1. Establish sense of urgency

2. Create the guiding coalition

3. Develop vision and a strategy

4. Communicate the change vision

5. Empower employees for broad based action

6. Generate short win wins

7. Consolidate gains and produce more change

8. Anchor new approaches in the culture

From my experience, the steps that are frequently missed, downplayed or challenged are: 2, 3, 4, and 5. Often the urgency is present however, I see leaders jump into implementing the change without pulling together the team, so, the leader becomes the change agent, communicator, lead, etc. When a change team is created, there are more champions to communicate the vision, and empower others.  The communication of change is very important, right from the WHAT is being communicated to the WHEN and in WHAT ways.  I am a strong believer of having a communication plan to guide the communication, this minimizes opportunity for miscommunication, rumours and inaccurate assumptions.
When I facilitated change management processes, these aspects form part of the change charter that is developed by the team leading the change.

To find out more about Kotter's book, visit:

Make the Decision to Trust

David Irvine, is known as the Leader’s Navigator™. I had the opportunity to interview David on the launch of my new radio program Conversations with Charmaine. What a fabulous conversation, full of rich content for the listeners. David offered incredible insights about trust, authentic leadership and building a culture where communication, quality and authenticity prevail.


It became clear to me that not only is David a powerful connector and a communicator, he is an expert at building productive, engaging and vital cultures through authentic leadership.

Something that really struck me was David's comment that authentic leadership begins with a decision.

In discussing the concept of accountability, which is certainly a challenge I see lots of leaders struggle with, he described accountability as the "ability to be counted on" and reminded listeners of the importance of one's actions in demonstrating that you can be counted on.

As we discussed the importance of trust in organizations, and in teams, listeners heard not only why trust is essential...but also how to build trust. Many organizations that I have worked with have a long history building, restoring and rebuilding trust. In fact, with many, the old stories of trust (or lack there of) continue to plague the team because it has become part of their culture. David and I discussed a number of ways to restore trust, and like he said... it begins with the decision.

Listen to David's conversation on trust, leadership and authenticity at work at:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/02/15/guests-david-irvine-and-seanna-collins

To find out more about David's book The Bridges of Trust, or to add it to your corporate library, check out: