The first is the state of mind of each one and if they have a fixed mentality or one open to change and learning. Because? Quite simply, with such a changing and challenging world, the executives who succeed are the creative ones with great adaptive power.
The executive of today and also of tomorrow, needs to have the following skills:
- Have strategic vision to imagine several possible scenarios.
- Be a developer of inclusive teams. That means listening to all voices (both from your team and the customer).
- Be humble, don’t think you know everything. Alone, you will not be able to be successful. Share successes with the team.
- You have to be able to assemble the right team to lead the business.
- Have the ability to manage well in uncertain contexts.
- Technological skills.
- Ability to manage in decentralized structures.
All this has no age, it is purely ‘mindset’. What is mindset? It is a thinking style and, for this super challenging context, that mindset necessarily has to be disruptive, without fear of making mistakes and being able to enjoy the path of learning towards success. If for some time the results are not as expected, it has to be someone who does not give up and looks for new ways to achieve achievements.
It all sounds very nice, right? You will ask me where I got all this from. It’s the global trend in virtually every industry. What’s more, companies with good practices are already looking for young talent with these same characteristics because they know they need to have teams that can face any challenge. Additionally, organizations that are trend leaders look for teams with innovation skills and who challenge the status quo.
The first step for an executive, then, is to become aware of what type of personality they have, what their abilities are, and what they can bring to the table in a job change. Understand that if he has a gap there are ways to gain knowledge (develop a strategic career plan) in order to close it and thus get closer to his goal. If an executive develops these skills, should he worry about being left out of the job market? If he doesn’t have these abilities, is he lost?
For me, the answer to both questions is a simple No because we just saw that they can be developed. That depends on the effort that each one wants to make.
Sure, the global labor market is complex today for many reasons. In Argentina the electoral climate is added. However, the companies became aware that they need to continue with their development plan because they understand that it is necessary, regardless of the electoral result. This is a big difference if we compare these elections with those of 2019.
Returning to the previous point, I think that the +50 are not left out due to various factors:
- An open mind and continuous learning, over time, follows trends, but also benefits from past experience (for example today are CFOs with experience in inflationary scenarios).
- There are many ways to fill gaps through training and executive coaching processes. It takes a while. Therefore, it must be planned carefully and in advance.
- Companies have become more aware and are implementing DEI initiatives. Many international, in response to corporate initiatives. It also happens in national companies, by contagion. Therefore, the biases in terms of incorporating more senior profiles have decreased.
- Younger profiles are sometimes not willing to work in environments where face-to-face is valued. Here, the +50s are generally more open to more attendance.
- There are some industries that require profiles that are not easily found in the local market. Therefore, many companies are open to considering profiles that before, due to biases, they did not interview.
- National companies in the process of professionalization have realized that they can greatly benefit from attracting corporate executives to install best practices.
Our team recently carried out several processes where +50 profiles entered for many of the reasons mentioned in this note. I invite you to think about your future and put together a strategic career plan so that when you reach 50 they don’t stop sending you WhatsApp messages asking for meetings.
Sandra Olive is a consultant and Executive Coach specialized in Organizational Culture. She is a partner at Backer & Partners, an executive search Professional Services firm.
by Sandra Olive
