| dc.description.abstract | The story that today’s workforce is looking for different skills and qualities in its
leaders has become abundantly clear in the past decade, not only through a major
shift in corporate leadership, but also through shifts in leadership qualities being
taught in business schools and topics that leadership scholars focus on these days.
According to Daniel Goleman, soft skills are inner- and interhuman skills such as
self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.
In 2009, three scholars i conducted a multi-method study with surveys and interviews,
in which 11 major European multinational corporations participated. This
study underlined the impression that workforce members are really looking for soft
skills in their leaders today. The survey part of the study yielded the following compiled
list of desired leaders’ qualities: “(1) Acting with integrity. (2) Caring for
people. (3) Demonstrating ethical behavior. (4) Communicating with others. (5)
Taking a long-term perspective. (6) Being open-minded. (7) Managing responsibly
outside the organization.” (p. 11). The interview part of the above-mentioned study
yielded fi ve refl exive abilities desired for leaders: “(1) systemic thinking; (2)
embracing diversity and managing risk; (3) balancing global and local perspectives;
(4) meaningful dialogue and developing a new language; and (5) emotional awareness”
(p. 15). | en_US |
