Source | www.forbes.com | World Economic Forum
Do we need a new type of leadership for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)? We have heard it many times: Disruption in technology is not only here to stay, but is moving faster than we thought. The real question is whether leadership is also adapting to this new business environment.
Let’s start with some bad news:
• The latest CEO-to worker pay ratio recorded in the U.S. was 321:1. In spite of the devastating recession of 2008, public debate about inequality is growing. To add insult to injury, remarkably, the increase in size of CEOs’ pay-cheques comes without clear correlation to either company performance or sustainability.
• As demonstrated by Jeffrey Pfeffer’s latest book, Dying for a Paycheck, deaths related to stress, toxic workplaces and bad management practices are on the rise. In China alone, more than 1 million people per year die due to such causes.
• Organizations, institutions and societies are going through a major crisis. Performance continues to decline whether measured through return on assets, or return on invested capital; the average U.S. firm’s return on assets has progressively dropped 75% since 1965, despite rising labor productivity.
