Leadership skills of the future will be different

According to research by Dr Eddie Blass, a Research Fellow at Cranfield School of Management

A global online survey, which has the potential to shape the future of management development and teaching of leadership skills, goes live this week.

The research is being carried out by Dr Eddie Blass, a Research Fellow at Cranfield School of Management, to elicit the skills needed by managers and leaders of the future.

Not only will the research change the focus of which skills are valued more or less in the future, it could change the style and content of management and leadership courses including the prestigious Masters of Business Administration.

An elite, international business school, Cranfield is one of only a handful of MBA providers to hold the triple accreditation of AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS, however, the programme directors work closely with industry to be sure they are providing the most up-to-date learning available.

Full-time MBA director, Dr Pauline Weight, said: This research is vital to ensure that the programme is, as always, in touch with leading edge research. We are able to do that from an internal perspective by consulting with colleagues but we also need to ensure we are in touch with recruiters and organisations and that the programme remains practical and applied.

We have built a reputation over 35 years and we are proud of our teaching. This research allows a fundamental review: even products that are mature and successful, like the MBA, need to be evaluated to ensure we are meeting the demands of a more global market.

Thousands of people from all business sectors and functions are expected to log on between now and the end of July to complete the survey on www.cranfieldsom.info/future/

It will be actively circulated to Cranfield's 9,500 alumni, half of which are located in more than 100 countries; and professional bodies around the globe including the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Institute of Directors.

To determine which skills, work attributes and subject areas will be more or less important in the future, participants will be asked to identify which, in their opinion, will be more or less important in 10 years time. The factors listed on the questionnaire are drawn from a range of international research projects and studies from the fields of careers, education and business management.

The results are expected to provide enough difference between industry sector and nationality to reveal a general skills set for the next decade. It will also reveal certain cultural traits providing useful insights into why employers from different countries value different skills and personal attributes.

Speaking about the research Dr Blass said: I want to encourage people around the world to go online and complete the questionnaire as I hope to achieve a global and multi-cultural response.

Everyone who completes and submits a questionnaire, will receive feedback detailing how their responses differ from the average of the other respondents to date. This allows individuals to see how far their predictions are from the norm.

Dr Blass added that personal qualities such as trust would become more important in the future as more and more people work from home whereas presentation skills could potentially decline in importance.