Leading through disruptive change in a much more complex world 

The question is, how can leaders prepare themselves to lead in a much more complex world in which their previous experiences are no longer relevant?
In the world of the unknown, it may not always be possible for leaders to provide a clear direction and guidance for their team, and future leaders will often find themselves in a situation where they have no answers. 
In fact, future leaders need to shift away from simply telling them what to do, and instead engage and challenge their people with “purposes” – trying to help them understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, and to challenge themselves to do things differently. 
In other words, instead of “directing”, leaders need to “connect and inspire” their people with purposes and allow them to choose their own path to the desired outcome.
To implement this, leaders need to make sure that they themselves sufficiently stretch their perspectives and see the world from different angles. They have to be able to tell stories and engage people in a way that makes them feel inspired and connected. 
Moreover, leaders have to develop a mindset where they can stay positive and spot the opportunities rather than the problems in the situation they are facing.
To survive in a much more complex world, leaders must empower their people to execute new ideas. This does not necessary imply that leaders need to be creative, but it’s more about them leading the organisation in ways that help their people continuously see the outside perspectives, dare to take risks, and be creative. 
To do this, leaders themselves must value the differences, seek to understand and appreciate the variety people bring in, and encourage openness to diverse thinking within the organisation. They must exercise empathetic listening to help them understand the real needs of others while encouraging their employees to do the same. 
To come up with innovative solutions or creative problem solving, it’s equally important to build a workplace where people are moving from a silo-functional-based focus to a more collaborative and integrative focus. 
This is about creating a work routine in which people are encouraged to work cross-functionally, providing them with communication and information-exchange opportunities, as well as building performance and reward systems that incentivise people to help one another find solutions and solve problems.
Last but not least, to stay relevant in the future business game, it is no longer about how dominant you are but how fast you can move, make changes and adapt. 
Leadership for the future is not about “managing change” any more. Rather, it’s more about helping people see the need to lead the change within themselves, invite them to break out of their comfort zone, and encourage them to develop and learn new things every day. 
To do this, leaders must create an environment where change becomes something of a normality and necessity, where people are used to the new norm of constantly looking for new ways to improve the usual practices. 
This is about ongoing internal information sharing and constant dialogue on what’s going on, what has changed and what still needs to be changed. 
As well, it’s about modelling how we can learn (and unlearn) something every day through different sources. 
Most important, it’s also about how leaders create a culture that motivates people to experience new things and learn from failures by giving recognition to their efforts and removing any obstacles along the way. 
Simply put, to lead through disruptive change, we need leaders who do not have to know the best answer, but ones who can inspire people with the possibility and be there to support them throughout the journey. 
My last question is, as the business landscape is changing, have you changed your leadership engine to prepare for the coming new era of disruptive change?

Nipatra Tangpojthavepol is senior consultant and director of product management and commercialisation of SEAsia Center (formerly APMGroup). She can be reached at [email protected].