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Forbes
08-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Want Your Company To Survive The Next Decade? Develop Strategic Leaders Now
Neena Newberry is the CEO of Newberry Solutions and creator of the New Lens leadership development platform . getty Take a moment to imagine what's ahead for your organization. What do you see happening 10 years from now? Fifteen? Twenty? If the future looks cloudy, you're far from alone. In their recently released "28th Annual Global CEO Survey," PwC asked CEOs around the world about how their companies will fare in the coming years. More than 4 out of 10 (42%) said their organizations won't survive the next decade if they continue on the same path. Their responses point to an urgent need for strategic leaders who can drive reinvention. Leaders themselves recognize this need. In DDI's "Global Leadership Forecast 2025," about two-thirds of the leaders surveyed cited setting strategy (64%) and managing change (61%) as essential skills for the future. But just over one-third (37% and 36%, respectively) said they had received development in those areas. That's a big gap. And with change happening faster than ever, organizations must quickly address that gap through their leadership development programs. So how can you do this even when it's not clear what the future—and the accompanying changes in your organizational priorities—will look like? What Does It Mean To Lead Strategically? Quick: How would you define strategic leadership? If your mind went blank at this question, that's understandable. Sometimes it feels like just another business buzzword. But through two decades of working with leaders across industries, I've found that strategic leadership fundamentally means thinking beyond short-term goals to anticipate future challenges and how to respond to them. That's never been easy. But it's especially hard today. DDI reports that 71% of leaders say their stress has gone up significantly, and only 30% have enough time to do their jobs properly. Similarly, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning found that many leaders are struggling to operate in an increasingly challenging environment over the long haul. When it's such a battle just to get day-to-day tasks done, no wonder there's a gap in strategic leadership. The same dynamic shows up in leadership development programs. Organizations often choose training to address pressing needs but miss opportunities to cultivate the strategic capabilities their future leaders will need. For example, respondents to the Harvard survey rank tech skills like AI ahead of capacity to innovate in their organizations' leadership development priorities. Equipping leaders to deal with immediate demands and keep one eye on the future is definitely a balancing act. But through our extensive work with Fortune 500 executives and building our own leadership development platform, my company has identified three proven tactics that empower leaders in the short term while also enhancing their strategic thinking: Teach Leaders How To Prioritize Through A 'Big 3' Framework Acknowledge the reality of the competing demands leaders face, and then give them a shared framework for setting priorities. The approach that consistently delivers results for my clients is identifying the top three areas where each leader should focus to drive the biggest business impact, given their role and strengths. Then they work on making shifts to their time to focus on their "Big 3." The goal here is to reserve your leaders' bandwidth for strategic work by helping them get other tasks off their plates. (This could look like delegating more or even deciding that some tasks with minimal value no longer need to be done.) Break Down Silos To Gain Strategic Perspective Leaders who work relentlessly on their individual and team goals are not strategic leaders. They rarely look up from what demands their near-term attention or venture outside of their corporate silo to get a sense of the bigger picture. Working with cross-functional leadership teams has shown me that leadership development programs that bring together leaders from across the organization broaden participants' perspectives. Build Influence A leader who thinks strategically but can't get others on board has limited effectiveness. Leadership development programs should help participants communicate more effectively and build their influence, especially in situations where they lack authority. One thing that always creates an aha moment for my clients is highlighting the importance of 'connecting the dots.' For example, they may understand the strategy behind their organization's recent decisions, but others may not. Explaining that connection doesn't just bolster short-term productivity and engagement, it also helps others grow as strategic leaders in their own right. Are You Ready For The Future? It's really this simple: Strategic leadership will determine which companies will be thriving a decade from now—and which ones will become just a memory because they failed to evolve. The good news? Even small shifts in how you develop your leaders today can dramatically improve their strategic capabilities for tomorrow. The key is moving quickly to cultivate leaders who see beyond today's challenges to tomorrow's opportunities—before your competitors do. Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
Associated Press
25-03-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Gilead Sciences: Using Lessons From the HIV Epidemic To Help Reduce Stigma Around Lung Cancer
HIV infection and lung cancer have little in common from a disease perspective, but the stigma that surrounds both can negatively impact patients and their treatment. Now lessons learned from the HIV epidemic are helping people living with lung cancer and their loved ones. During the first years of the HIV epidemic, some of the initial stigmatizing beliefs were that the virus only impacted men who have sex with men and that it was possible to contract it by sharing utensils or being in close confines with a person living with HIV. This helped contribute to acts of discrimination and an atmosphere of blame, and in some cases prevented people from getting diagnosed or seeking care. People diagnosed with lung cancer face similar stigma challenges because of the known link to tobacco use – despite the National Cancer Institute's estimate that 10-20% of people with lung cancer in the United States are non-smokers. As with HIV, the blame and stigma surrounding this disease can decrease the likelihood that someone experiencing symptoms will seek care. 'Stigma isn't just a social issue; it's a public health crisis.' says Marcus Wilson, Gilead Senior Director, U.S. Public Affairs, HIV Advocacy. 'It determines the quality of care that people receive; whether they feel safe seeking care and, ultimately, their health outcomes.' Gilead recently partnered with GRYT Health to host a New Lens on Lung Cancer workshop where people living with lung cancer and their loved ones shared their experience with stigma. Rhonda Meckstroth's husband, Jeff, who had no history of tobacco use, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2015. 'The first question was always, 'Is he a smoker?'' she says. 'We innately felt shame and guilt and would tell people he had been diagnosed with cancer, but we didn't want to say lung cancer.' 'People project their ideas of why you have lung cancer,' says Aurora Lucas, who was diagnosed at 28 years old. 'Within seconds they come up with absurd ideas.' She notes that some people speculated that it could be because she worked in a nail salon. Others incorrectly assumed it might be due to the building materials used in her childhood home in the Philippines. As in the early days of the HIV epidemic, the lung cancer community quickly realized how important it is to advocate for themselves, both in and out of the clinic. In Jeff's case, his care was in a rural health care system where doctors weren't always familiar with the latest research or the clinical trials available for lung cancer — or the fact that there are other risk factors besides tobacco use. 'Because Jeff didn't fit the criteria for lung cancer, his diagnosis was delayed for about six months,' says Rhonda. 'I quickly learned that instead of being angry when people asked me if Jeff had a history of tobacco use, I use it as a platform for education, and to put blame where it needs to be, which is on the tobacco industry.' 'We have so much to learn from the HIV community,' says Jeff Stibelman, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021 after doctors also initially overlooked it on a scan he had done previously in 2017. 'I remember a billboard, it was of all people: old, young, black, white, Hispanic, Asian. All it said was: 'This is What HIV looks like.' That's what I want for our community.' 'Anyone with lungs can have lung cancer,' concludes Aurora. 'It's time to remove the blame.'
