Creating management leadership for the future: An integrated model

As businesses approached and entered the new millennium considerable attention was given to identifying the knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies that the manager/leader of the twenty-first century would require (Greenberg, 1998; Shapiro, 1999; Kaydo, 2000; Dimitrijevic and Engel, 2002; Kacena, 2002). The result was a collection of both tangible, measurable skills (eg. knowledge of theories, concepts, financial procedure, etc), and intangible, 'soft-skills' that are hard to quantify (eg. commitment, flexibility, adaptability, and vision). All of which suggest that the managers of the future will need to be both managers and leaders. Formal training, through colleges and universities, provides students with the tangible knowledge and skills required. However, acquiring the intangible 'soft-skills' is more difficult. Many of the soft-skills are related to specific industries and organisations, and may well be tied to the strategy, structure, values and culture of an organisation. Formal training, in its current form, is not able to develop many of the skills, attitudes and behaviours considered essential to the twenty-first century leader/manager. This change in emphasis has left organisations searching for answers. The re-emergence of mentoring as a popular development approach, the growth of workplace learning strategies and vocational education and training is a reflection of this search. To identify and develop the skills needed by their future managers/leaders, organisations need to look seriously at developing an in-house programme that transmits and develops the knowledge and expectations seen as essential for their success. This paper presents a model that draws upon the ideas and concepts presented in the workplace learning, mentoring and vocational education literature. By building a unique, focused programme each organisation should be able to develop employees capable of meeting the specific needs of the organisation both for the presenand the future. Like today's managers, education must adapt and be flexible.