Those are startling statistics above from a recent poll by Deloitte. According to further research from Deloitte, organizations report that 80% of their respondents’ rate leadership as a high priority yet only 41% believe their organizations are ready to meet their leadership requirements.

The demands on current leaders continue to pile on with the challenges of managing remote and hybrid work teams, shifting generational work values, and the uncertainty of future economic conditions. Many ask – is it time to recalibrate, perhaps the right size or reset business objectives due to the pandemic, or is it business as usual, since this too will pass? Business leaders are asking these questions and looking for direction, and guidance in this new frontier.

But what happens to businesses that fail to recalibrate and develop their leadership? Will natural selection take place and the right people will just step up with all the qualities necessary to ensure future success? If serendipity takes hold maybe it will all work out…but, lack of preparation and development has historically led to skewed priorities, conflict, and ultimately failure. Wishing just doesn’t make it so…

Therefore, the real crisis is there is no consistent framework, no developmental path, or structure to develop and build confidence in future leadership. High levels of influence endure only with the successful (and consistent) reflection and recalibration of one’s priorities. This continual realignment allows the best leaders to keep the most important at the forefront, cutting through the constant barrage of tasks, activities, interruptions, and urgent requests.

There is a pathway to learning and enhancing these critical skills so that leaders can maximize their impact over the long-term. Focusing on the five critical priorities taught in The Prioritized Leader program provides a new tool for modern leaders who are actively solving leadership challenges within a business. This new resource for helps leaders to identify their current priorities, obtain guidance on how to correctly order those priorities, and spread the impact of the priorities throughout the organization.

In the next article, I’ll outline the five critical priorities and their optimal order for leaders to take their organizations into this new frontier.