Future Work: Leadership and Cognitive Flexibility

Fluidity and flexibility are going will be very handy skills for employees in the coming years. Automation and AI will, after all, be the exact opposite in most cases – designed purely to execute focused tasks such as data collection, pallet loading, complex calculations, and so on. Being able to quickly adapt to new technology, and the challenges that could bring, then, will mean we’ll need to be as mentally well rounded as possible. We’ll also need to develop a variety of traits often associated with leadership skills, as it’s quite possible workplace hierarchies will be much looser than today. This, in turn, could mean that individuals will be required to take leadership positions or manage projects on a more ad hoc basis. It makes sense, then, to start developing your leadership and cognitive flexibility skills now. They’re more than likely to pay off later.

Leadership

Chances are the human element of tomorrow’s workforce will naturally incorporate more management elements, and that means having leadership skills will be a major advantage for any candidate looking for employment. Being able to support, inspire, and take the helm when needed will be very useful no matter what level you’re at in an organisation. Making autonomous judgment calls could also become important, so having the conviction and social skills to be able to state a case to colleagues will be crucial. Strong leadership skills will also help develop other core abilities like empathy, communication, and emotional intelligence – all of which are likely to be valuable in their own right in work environments of the future. 

Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitively flexible means being able to adapt your way of thinking as needed, so you can approach a problem or task from a number of perspectives. It sounds simple, but it can be quite a tricky skill to learn. We all tend to be good at different things, and these are the things we normally focus on as a result. This isn’t a bad thing of course – having expertise in a particular area is very valuable, but it can lead us to get stuck in a certain way of thinking. The more quickly technology develops and the working environment evolves, the more we’re going to be challenged to think on the spot, and most probably in ways we haven’t considered, or that might be out of our comfort zone. This is what being cognitively flexible is all about – the ability to shift our thinking in ways that allow us to approach a problem or task from multiple angles. One example could be taking an analytical approach when interpreting data, followed by thinking creatively when it comes to applying the findings of that data for marketing. Finally, we might then switch to critical thinking, to try and highlight and address any potential issues with our creative approach. Cognitive flexibility is quite similar to empathy in some respects, although it’s more about shifting our thought response as opposed to our emotional one.