The landscape in which we work is changing. With boundaries between departments, organisations and sectors blurring, they can no longer operate in isolation. If they want to remain competitive, they need to broaden their influence across organisations and outside them. This process is having and will increasingly have implications for those working in them.

A track-record of success will no longer be a guarantee of future effectiveness and people will have to develop new skills to get things done and motivate and bring out the best in the people they are working with. These are skills that will allow them to move adeptly beyond their traditional boundaries and work in partnerships with leaders in new and diverse organisations.

Confidence low

Research by Common Purpose into how confident people were in using these skills found worrying gaps in what they believed they could do and what they will need to be able to do in the future. The report, Trusting Times, revealed a worrying crisis of confidence among managers. Respondents admitted that instead of tackling this problem head on and using it as an opportunity to develop themselves as leaders they are approaching the unknown with a lack of confidence or even rejecting external opportunities.

The root of the problem is an ingrained uncertainty of the unfamiliar and a reluctance to embark on untested and original challenges and projects. More than half of leaders say they won’t work with someone they don’t already trust.

Worryingly, the top four confidence crushers for leaders are the same four skills that the leaders have earmarked as important for the future. This set of skills involves being able to spot opportunities and threats from outside, to lead diverse teams, to influence beyond their organisations and network across sectors.

The research also highlighted some interesting sector differences with 52% of leaders in the private sector willing to work with people they don’t already trust compared to 40% of leaders in other sectors. Again private sector leaders are more willing to lead on complex projects (80%) compared to leaders in other sectors, with only 64% of SME owners being willing to work in difficult partnerships.

With organisations now extending over borders and industries, and dispersed networks and cross-sector partnerships, how can the UK continue to be competitive when those working in these organisations are so reluctant to take the plunge and work with new people and ideas?

Broaden your experiences

Those keen to develop these outward-facing skills can take the initiative by creating their own developmental experiences. They should leave the comfort of their own team or organisation and meet and learn from people who work in different areas to them, and by taking risks and being prepared to tackle the unknown. They should also build left field networks of people who see the world differently and who will challenge as much as support them. By learning to navigate across the whole organisation and between different organisations and sectors, they will be able to widen their radar and will be better equipped to spot new opportunities and threats to their organisation or team.

Organisations can also address this skills gap by providing development opportunities that give future leaders the chance to break out of their narrow specialisms and silos as well as the experience and capacity to look outwards with self-belief, and network across diverse areas and form constructive partnerships.

It is imperative that they do this, as the research revealed a clear training shortfall in the gap between future skills and confidence, with only 40% having received training to help manage external stakeholders. If they don’t, they will miss out on the opportunity to develop the next generation of leaders who can tackle the challenges ahead and lead with confidence.

Stepping out

• Protect the rebels. Genuine change-makers are rare and have the potential to do great things.
• Give rising stars the chance to work on cross-organisational projects to widen their experience.
• Think about ways to share ideas across the whole organisation.
• Recognise that new ideas can come from anywhere in the organisation, so make sure the processes are in place so that these are heard.
• Encourage people to step outside their comfort zones.
• Avoid the instinct to see the leaders with simple and tidy solutions as the most effective.
• Don’t recruit the usual suspects. Leaders from other sectors or organisations will bring new skills.
• Listen to passionate people and don’t only allow yourself to be persuaded by intellectual rigour.
• Encourage and support employees who take up leadership roles outside of work.
• Invest in leadership development that will help your leaders focus on external issues .

Julia Middleton is the founder and chief executive of leadership development organisation Common Purpose