When the Unexpected Becomes Routine: The Soft Skills of Adaptive Leaders

Long before 2020’s pandemic, only 14% of CEOs said they had the leadership talent they need. Study after study confirms that companies across the board will experience critical gaps in so-called “soft skills” that are essential for adaptive leadership. As change accelerates, Learning and Development has a clear agenda—to cultivate the “soft” yet enduring skills of adaptive leadership.

“Leaders must enable better choices and actions by their people, under circumstances that are not entirely predictable. Therefore, leadership development must shape not just what leaders know and understand, but what they actually say and do, and how they think and feel,” writes Danny Ertel in this article. Moreover, “leadership development must be much more continuous, integrated with people’s work; we must build the capabilities that will enable individuals to rise to the occasion, as the unexpected becomes routine.”

This article is part of the “Soft Skills, Adaptive Leaders” series.

Full article originally published on Medium.

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