Reflecting on another year of constant change, 2024 continued to test even the most agile leaders with it’s relentless twists and turns and anticipation of wider political and economic clarity.
Here are our thoughts on what will be in focus for high performing leaders and teams in 2025.
EQ matters more than ever
In the traditional world of work it was all about knowledge and control. So unsurprisingly it was a leader’s IQ that counted on any journey to the top of an organisation. Now we see time and again, that an over reliance on IQ actually gets in the way of leadership effectiveness.
EQ – emotional quotient or emotional intelligence as popularised by Daniel Goleman in his 1995 book – is now firmly on the radar of many leadership development programmes, but still often struggles to translate consistently from a conceptual idea to practical action in the workplace.
During times of complex and ongoing transformation, self awareness, understanding others, empathy and self regulation increasingly become the critical success factors for leaders and teams to unlock better business performance. So EQ simply has to move from being a nice to have to an essential component at the top of the organisational development priority list.
A citizen mindset: keep on with collaboration and co-creation
Unlocking insights, ideas and creative thinking from all parts of the organisation is another key ingredient for business success in the 21st century world of work. Moving away from command and control, expert leaders and power linked to status and hierarchy, it’s essential to have the right frameworks in place to promote and develop collaboration and co-creation where all employees have a meaningful voice – no matter role or position.
Feels unachievable? Think freedom within a framework: it’s all about finding the right balance between setting direction and asking for input. The strength of your internal communication and engagement channels will define your success here. Reflect on how much effort you put into connecting and engaging with your employees versus your customers and what lessons can be learned from bringing the outside in.
Wellbeing becomes fully integrated into leadership development programmes
For us at Calm In A Box, this has always been a no brainer. Wellbeing should never sit as an individual activity or workstream. It’s an essential enabler of leadership success; a key foundation block of leadership and organisational health. We’ve just got better at understanding it’s core components with clearer definitions. The CALM foundations are all linked to Connection, Mindset, Energy and Motivation – essential factors for leadership high performance through change and transformation.
Digital tools and platforms get smarter with AI
Our digital offerings are going to get more proactive and bespoke with the help of AI tools. This should drive both employee engagement and measurable business impact as well as open up new opportunities to build more user centric content for a slicker and more powerful user experience. We have some exciting plans in the pipeline for the CALM hub this year so watch this space.
Peer networks will become king
Leaders learn more when they do it together. Plus taking part in nurturing learning networks is really good for you. The ability to create compelling peer learning networks for leaders both inside and outside organisations will differentiate more and more when it comes to the people experience as well as attracting and retaining the best talent across all workforce generations.
Our Learn, Lead, Transform – 1% CALMer membership is open to new members this January – we’d love you to come and join us helping you make more impact with less effort.
Calm In A Box partners with businesses, teams and leaders to help them perform well through change.
We have developed our CALM philosophy and toolkit to facilitate focused and proactive work on culture, mindset and behaviour change programmes so leaders and teams can be well, to do well.
Accelerating successful transformation of all types, we’ve worked with global brands and growing SMEs who are passionate about supporting their people through change for better results.
We provide value in a range of ways through our CALM product ecosystem including consultancy, workshops, coaching and free digital learning on the CALM hub.
If you’d like to chat with us, we’re always up for an online coffee. Get in touch hello@calminabox.co.uk
