As the turn of the year settles in, we are beginning to shed our reflective mindsets of late 2023 and pushing to take action on our 2024 resolutions. Last year came with many changes here at Hooks Book Events and in the workforce as a whole. As the calendar flips to February, we’ve noticed the year has taken a running start, and, maybe for the first time since the 2020 shutdown, the pace has been steady. Professional resolutions seem attainable— after all, we’ve had almost four years to adapt to our ever-shifting workforce.
These resolutions suggest a steady need to renew our commitment to dynamic leadership. So, where do we start?
This time last year, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning conducted its 2023 Global Leadership Development Study. It was titled Ready for Anything, intuitively, and detailed the reasons and ways leaders needed to be, and could be, ready for anything. The findings may come as a surprise to very few: the workplace is in constant flux, demanding leaders be prepared for and navigate “a chaotic, unpredictable, and ever-changing environment” while continuing to perform because “teams increasingly look to their leaders to provide confidence, clarity, and direction in dynamic situations.” Additionally, the study reported that alongside having tech-savvy and AI-up-to-date leaders, empathetic leadership was not only wanted but needed. Teams wanted leaders who viewed them as people and, in turn, were personable and humanized.
Leadership trends fluctuate, yet expectations for 2024 look eerily similar. William Arruda, co-founder of CareerBlast.TV and creator of the 360Reach Personal Brand Survey, explains that leaders need a “combination of traditional leadership skills with an emphasis on soft skills” (aka social skills) to effectively lead their teams in this year’s professional climate. On his coveted list of skills are some familiar faces: adaptability, inclusivity, communication, strategic thinking, and digital literacy, among others.
Thus, we have our checklist. It’s easy to know what to do but not how. Ryan McGrath, CEO and President of Asset Living, says the how is simple: read. (Naturally, we’re 100% onboard.)
McGrath doesn’t mean reading for fun, though that’s important too. He insists that despite the positive aspects of leisurely picking up a book, “reading can serve as a dynamic force propelling individuals— particularly entrepreneurs, managers, and C-suite leaders —toward personal and professional growth.” Reading allows us to develop empathy, delve into “the complexity of the human experience,” widen our circle of engagement, and foster our “capacity to connect with and lead individuals from all walks of life.” When you pick up a book, you open a gateway to a world of previously unattained knowledge.
And what if we took it one step further— why only read the book when you could read it with your team and learn directly from the source?
It’s difficult enough to become digitally literate about using and implementing AI in our work, much less worrying about the ethical implications surrounding the lack of technological guardrails. Urs Gasser and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger can help; Guardrails: Guiding Human Decisions in the Age of AI offers a human-centered approach to guiding us into the future.
Maybe you’re struggling to adapt, or your team feels chronically overextended. Burnout management coach and TikTok influencer Emily Ballesteros, with her book The Cure for Burnout: How to Find Balance and Reclaim Your Life, can help demystify burnout in your workplace.
These authors, and so many more, are ready to work with your organization and help you commit to your 2024 leadership resolutions. Let’s make this your most dynamic year yet!
