Be Less Zombie

48Confronting Personal Relevance

When leaders stop learning, everyone's future prosperity is threatened. Some rarely-asked questions can help.

‘The people who need to lead the company in 10 years’ time are not the people on that current career trajectory in most companies.' So says Rafael Orta, former eBay and Tesco executive, now chief product officer at moneysupermarket.com.

It's a threatening prospect for senior managers who are patiently waiting in line for one of the prized executive hot seats. It's also a source of unspoken anxiety amongst the executive team who are increasingly aware of their fading relevance.

The speed of change means that the half-life of skills and experience is shrinking. What created today is less likely to discover tomorrow. Most leaders need a mindset shift from confidence in know-how to the deliberate pursuit of ‘new-how’.

When competency and comfort zones dictate the innovation agenda two subtle but powerful knock-on effects occur:

• Incrementalism, which is really an extension of our comfort zone.
• We give up too quickly on ideas that dig into areas that we don't understand.

‘Building brands in the post-digital era is very different to building brands in the pre-digital era,’ says Orta. ‘It's no longer the case that you can poach executives from blue chip giants and relax. Their skillsets aren't necessarily the ones that your future needs.’

According to Orta, tomorrow's executives need to be much more adept in technology strategy and digital ...