The next generation to dominate the workplace will be Generation Flux and they will have a new set of skills.
And the good news is Generation Fluxers can be any age, according to Fast Company editor Robert Safian, writing in the must-read February edition and lead article, Generation Flux (photo source: Fast Company).
He introduces the concept in “from the Editor”:
“In our hypernetworked, mobile, global world, the rules and plans of yesterday are increasingly under pressure; the enterprises and individuals that will thrive will be those willing to adapt and iterate, in a disciplined, unsentimental way…Generation Flux is a term that describes all of this — the chaotic business era that we have moved into — as well as the people who are poised to thrive in this environment.”
Fast Company has no doubt that people and organizations can and will thrive in this new environment.
But how?
The most important skill for this chaotic future is quite simply the ability to acquire new skills, according to Safian. Our own research as part of the CPA Horizons Project led us to the same conclusion.
We saw it as a future-minded and flexible mindset combined with boundary-crossing “network leadership,” because change can come from anywhere, anytime. We even had a group of young professionals describe the leadership model of the future in a MACPA whitepaper titled, “What got you here won't get you there.”
According to these young professionals, the future is one in which CPAs:
- are proactive, flexible, adaptive and collaborative by nature;
- have regained the trust of their clients and the public at large
- have successfully bridged the profession’s “leadership gap” by focusing on succession planning,
- personal growth, and generational cooperation
- have created the profession’s premier global industry standards and best practices
- have redefined the profession through work / life integration, collaboration, and a team-first approach; and;
- have earned a reputation as technological innovators.
To achieve this vision of the future, they will need to focus on these six key strategies:
- Professional unity
- Work / life integration
- The evolving nature of leadership and new leadership models
- Proactive, goal-focused planning
- Networked collaboration
- Embracing and adopting new technologies
Sounds a lot like Generation Flux, doesn't it?
Then there are these core competencies to succeed in the future from the CPA Horizons 2025 project:
- Communications skills
- Leadership skills
- Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- Anticipating and serving evolving needs
- Synthesizing intelligence to insight
- Integration and collaboration
These are different skills that the CPA has traditionally held, yet they are the key to surviving and thriving in a rapidly changing and complex world. What are the skills you think will be most important in the future and how do you plan to get them?
Applications are being accepted for MACPA's next Leadership Academy class on May 7-9 in Timonium, Md. Get details and an application here.
Looking for these future-focused skills? Try the Business Learning Institute.