By Paul Tate
Are today’s manufacturing leaders as adaptable as their factories and supply chains? Not yet, perhaps. But they need to be.
Many of the world’s leading manufacturers have worked hard over the past decade to create more flexible production platforms and make their supply chains more resilient and responsive to change.
There’s been little option. Companies have faced rapid and unprecedented shifts in market demand, global competition, supply chain dynamics, and the impact of disruptive new technologies. These challenges have demanded swift and increasingly flexible responses.
And it’s not going to get any easier in the future. Shortages of skilled workers and the expectations of a new generation of tech-savvy employees are putting increasing pressure on companies to adapt to a new set of rules in the 21st-century manufacturing world.
So, are today’s senior manufacturing executives now ready to embrace adaptability in the way they lead their organizations – just as they’ve done at an operational level for their production and supply networks?
Adaptive leadership goes far beyond operational issues. It encompasses broader but increasingly essential leadership qualities for building an open and flexible vision of the future; the personal skills to inspire people to think differently about problems and obstacles; and the professional ambition to drive extensive cultural change across borders, functions, and generations.
There is no “business as usual” anymore. That’s the last refuge of the unenlightened and the uninformed. The manufacturing world, and the manufacturing world’s customers, have moved on. The question is, can your company move along with them?
Exceptional leadership in the decades ahead will be characterized by manufacturing leaders who have learned to adapt and thrive in challenging times. People with a clarity of vision who can create a mindset across their organizations that understands why and how to embrace change – never flinching from the challenges ahead and always thinking differently.
At Manufacturing Executive, we feel that adaptive leadership approaches are so critical to the future of manufacturing that we are now launching a special course for Manufacturing Leadership Council Members.
It is specifically designed to help both today’s and tomorrow’s leaders create more agile and innovative manufacturing company cultures that are able to grasp new business opportunities, build more flexible teams, and succeed in a constantly changing business environment.
Find out more about our new Adaptive Leadership program at a special, free introductory Webinar, "Learn to Lead Adaptively for Manufacturing," on January 24, which we’re running in partnership with international leadership development practice Cambridge Leadership Associates.
We look forward to seeing you there, and to a more adaptive and successful future for manufacturing.
