Which leadership skills are needed to create impactful change? Young Global Leaders explain

Convergence between geopolitical tensions, economic turmoil, and social unrest has lifted uncertainty to exceptionally high levels in the past year.

The World Uncertainty Index has become a vital reference tool to track the evolution of these conditions and leaders have to adjust to the growing need for resiliency and develop an ability to plan beyond the immediate future.

Against this backdrop, we have invited 63 of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders from different regions and sectors to attend a two-week course on Global Leadership and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts to discuss leadership challenges and solutions.

Here, seven of them reflect on how the leadership skills they acquired will help them in creating even more meaningful change:

Leadership is not a solo sport; it is a team effort. So for truly impactful change, not only do we need to follow a strong decision-making process and allocate appropriate time to diagnosis, criteria selection, evaluation of options and associated trade-offs, we also must put people at the centre of everything we do.

First of all, we need to meet them where they currently are – and that refers to the wider ecosystem: gatekeepers, endorsers, resistors, fence-sitters. Secondly, we want to honour their (perceived) change-related losses. Thirdly, we need to continuously aim for the sweet spot above the threshold of learning, but below the limit of tolerance.

This week at Harvard Kennedy School was an unexpected gift – learning from world-renowned professors with their deep domain expertise at HKS, coupled with the unique experiences of my fellow YGLs, created an unparalleled learning experience that I believe will serve as the foundation for my transition to an eventual Old Global Leader.

If you are lucky, you will get to participate in this crucible of deep social reflection on decades of leadership challenges across cultural, geopolitical, industrial and economic complexity. It was incredible to be a participant in thought provoking discussions held on a foundation of authenticity, transparency and camaraderie. The curriculum lit up every part of my mind – from delightful discussions on how art feeds into leadership to negotiation replay.

The most powerful takeaway for me was the similarity of challenges faced by YGLs as they work to lead adaptive change around the world. Authentic discussions abstracting these nuanced experiences to a common tool kit, value system and a shared vocabulary were extremely powerful. So was the message to take care of ourselves as we go the distance.

This course touched our hearts, as much as our minds. Being together for 10 days with such a diverse group of people driven by the willingness to drive change with tangible actions in our generation is a lifetime opportunity. Amongst others, some of my main takeaways are that being a leader requires constant thinking on how to become better at it but also that the best route to empathy is leadership. Finally, as leaders, we often forget how to ask for help. Doing it, not only is a sign of strength but can also open doors to new ideas, opportunities and especially, self-care.

The Harvard University programme was a resounding opportunity to engage with seasoned scholars from the university and practitioners from the YGL and the World Economic Forum within a safe and prestigious environment that aimed to probe our predisposed knowledge on leadership.

The curriculum highlighted the exigence of uncertainty and how navigating the volatility of today's world is intrinsic to becoming an effective leader. I left the programme with a strong sense of empowerment and concurrently, a remarkable appreciation to the camaraderie that was forged between the YGLs who were selected to partake in this year's programme.

As leaders, we all have unique challenges that we are grappling with. Coming to Harvard and spending a week with YGL peers provides clarity that these challenges are not unique to our situation but common struggles across leadership and predicates to drive real impact. I leave Harvard more confident, inspired, and grateful.

As an executive focused on emerging markets in an era characterized by global volatility, uncertainty and complexity, I am aware of the need to exercise prudent decision-making as a leader in my personal and professional capacities.

This learning experience has equipped me with an arsenal of principles, practices & frameworks to be able to optimize both my rational and intuitive decision-making. I have resolved to incorporate decision trees, Bayesian thinking and other evaluative tools in my model of leadership and go forward with a renewed ability to think more soundly, systemically and strategically in navigating an ambiguous and complex world.