Special edition newsletter
DIARY OF SUCCESS - People who drive the business world
Jelena Vuletić, leadership coach and founder of Balance to Business: Who are the leaders who will dominate the next five years?
Jelena Vuletić (Photo: Saška Rončević)
This is also confirmed by Jelena Vuletić, leadership coach, founder of Balance to Business and co-founder of the Balkan Polyvagal Academy. As she said in an interview for eKapija, today`s leaders are faced with numerous challenges. While in the past the emphasis was on authority, hierarchy and leadership through directives, today`s leaders must be flexible, transparent and focused on the human side of business.
The expectations of employees have also changed, so they are increasingly looking for an environment in which there is fairness, clear communication, security and the possibility of development. According to Vuletić, a successful leader is precisely the one who recognizes this, because the strength of a leader is not measured by how many people follow him, but how much they grow with him. As she says, the best leaders create results through people, not against them.
How would you describe the profile of today`s leaders - what key traits and competencies have become most important in the last few years?
- Today, leaders are expected to be stable, clear and people-oriented. Instead of just giving orders, he actively listens and understands the team`s needs, because leadership begins the moment we stop talking to really hear others. Results and the well-being of the people who achieve them are important to him.
I would like to list the key qualities of today`s leaders:
- Flexibility - ability to adapt to changes without losing direction.
- Empathy - understanding the mood, challenges and motives of team members.
- Team support - through clear guidelines, availability and creating a safe working environment.
- Decisiveness - making decisions based on facts and priorities, not under pressure.
- Building trust - through consistency, transparency and respect.
- Empowering others - delegating, involving the team and giving them space to take responsibility.
- Digital literacy - understanding new technologies and their impact on business.
- Innovativeness - openness to new ideas and willingness to test better solutions.
The strength of a leader is not measured by how many people follow him, but by how much they grow with him.
Who, in your experience, currently moves the business world the most - are they traditional leaders, young entrepreneurs, technological innovators or someone else?
- Currently, the business world is mostly driven by a combination of different actors, not by one dominant group. Technological innovators are accelerating changes through new solutions and changing the rules of the game at a speed that traditional models can no longer keep up with. Traditional leaders still provide stability, structure and maturity to the system - something that is especially important in periods of high risk. Young entrepreneurs bring energy, courage and a penchant for experimentation, so they are often the first to open new markets and radically change existing processes, confirming that the power of progress only grows when different perspectives come together in a common vision.
However, the greatest impact today is made by those who manage to connect these groups - experience, innovation and agility - and turn them into a sustainable growth rate. These are leaders who think strategically, act quickly, while remaining emotionally stable and in tune with the teams they lead.
The contribution I make through the Balance to Business company is reflected in the development of future leaders through the Student Business Hub program, which I have been building for five years. Its focus is on empowering young people through the skills of clear communication and adaptive leadership, as well as the development of internal stability. Because the true value of a leader is not measured by what he achieves, but by how many times he manages to awaken the potential in others.
What do you consider to be the biggest challenges that modern leaders face, which were not so prominent five or ten years ago?
- Contemporary leaders face challenges that were not so pronounced five or ten years ago.
First among them is the high speed of change, which requires constant adaptation and decision-making under greater pressure than before, which confirms the idea that a leader remains stable not because he is outside the storm, but because he knows how to navigate through it.
Another challenge is the increase in mental workload and emotional stress, both in leaders and in teams, which requires more developed skills of self-regulation and energy management.
The third is digital complexity, as technology advances faster than organizations can change their processes and habits.
In addition, today`s leaders are expected to be more authentic, present and capable of quickly recognizing and resolving interpersonal tensions. This is exactly where the reason why I do somatic leadership begins - an approach that returns the leader to his physical and emotional presence, like a compass that cannot be easily disturbed. When a leader reconnects with his body, the way he enters into a conversation, conducts a meeting, sets boundaries, and makes decisions changes.
Through my somatic leadership program, leaders learn to recognize an internal signal before reacting and to decide from the center, not from pressure. The program builds the ability of self-regulation - a stable strength that is transferred to the team and makes people work more calmly, creatively and courageously. This is why the somatic approach becomes crucial because leadership begins in the body: only when we calm ourselves can we lead others wisely.
How does the leadership style today differ from the one that was dominant before (eg before digital transformation and post-pandemic changes)?
- It differs considerably. In the past, the emphasis was on authority, hierarchy and leadership through directives. Today`s leaders must be adaptable, transparent and focused on the human side of business, because greater empathy, flexibility and open communication are expected from them - which confirms the thought that leadership is no longer a matter of control, but of the quality of the relationships we build.
Digital transformation has brought the need for faster decisions, continuous learning and the ability to effectively lead teams that often work hybridly or completely remotely. The post-pandemic period further highlighted the importance of trust, psychological safety and understanding of the team`s capacity.
The modern style of leadership is therefore based on cooperation, clear communication and empowerment of employees, and less on control and formal power - because team strength grows when the leader stops being the center and becomes a support.
How does global competitiveness affect the demands placed on leaders and what skills are becoming crucial for survival in the market?
- Contemporary leaders today face a series of challenges that were not so pronounced five or ten years ago. First of all, the pace of changes and expectations has accelerated significantly, so leaders must make decisions in short deadlines and under greater pressure. In such an environment, the principle is confirmed that a leader does not control the speed of the world, but rather the stability he brings to it.
Additionally, increased mental workload and stress affect the quality of communication, cooperation and stability in teams. Digital transformation brings additional complexity, as organizations must rapidly adopt new technologies and leaders must follow and understand them. At the same time, leaders are expected to have a higher level of authenticity, emotional intelligence and the ability to stabilize the team in challenging situations.
This is why it is becoming increasingly important to develop the skills of presence, self-regulation and conscious decision-making, which is the focus of my somatic approach and the program I lead - because the inner peace of a leader is often the quietest, but strongest message that a team can hear.
What do you see as the biggest skills "gap" in leaders? Where does the greatest discrepancy arise between what leaders think they are doing well and what they are actually lacking?
- The biggest "gap" in modern leadership does not arise in techniques or tools, but in what leaders practice the least: getting to know themselves. From the outside, it often appears that everything is under control, but the real challenges arise in the inner space where intentions and reactions are formed - confirming that all leadership begins within the leader, and only then becomes visible to others.
Leaders usually have two blind spots:
- They don`t notice their own influence on the team - they believe they are communicating clearly, while people feel distance or pressure.
- They ignore body signals that indicate stress and overload, so they make decisions out of tension, which is transferred to the team.
Because of these holes in self-awareness, I developed a program of somatic leadership, the goal of which is to restore authenticity and presence in the practice of leadership. Employees want a leader who is stable and aware, and teams function best when the leader understands how his energy shapes the work environment.
Let`s say, I very often work with leaders who believe that they are leading calmly, and only when they become aware of the tension in their own body do they realize that they have, unintentionally, sent pressure to their team.
The results depend not only on the strategy, but also on the way the leader appears to the people - reminding that leadership is not a matter of form, but of the state from which we act.
How are employee expectations changing and how do leaders need to adapt their approach to retain and motivate talent?
The expectations of employees today have significantly changed compared to the period five or ten years ago. People are not only looking for a stable job, but an environment where there is fairness, clear communication, security and the possibility of development because employees stay where they feel seen and not just engaged. The most competent employees are the fastest to leave organizations that do not offer this kind of environment, which shows that leaders must adjust their approach on a deeper, not a superficial, level.
In order to retain and motivate talent, leaders should:
- ensure a fair distribution of responsibility and remuneration,
- build trust through transparent and consistent decisions,
- offer clear development opportunities and meaningful work and
- create an atmosphere where employees can learn, make suggestions and work without fear of making mistakes.
In our region, this is particularly pronounced, because people most often leave due to a lack of trust, development and a sense of belonging, and not only because of finances. Leaders who understand these needs succeed in attracting and retaining quality people, while others remain in constant turnover that stunts growth, reminding us that the culture a leader creates becomes the reason people decide to stay or leave.
What competencies and qualities do you think will be crucial for leaders in the next 5 years, what should be developed now?
- In the next five years, it will be crucial for leaders to develop competencies that enable them to achieve stable results and a healthy organizational culture. Markets are becoming more and more volatile, and employees are increasingly valuing the way a team is managed, so leaders are expected to have strategic ability and a high level of interpersonal skills - which confirms the idea that the future of leadership belongs to those who manage relationships as well as results.
Key competences that are important to start developing now are:
- Empowering people through clear division of responsibilities, trust and development support.
- Asking quality questions that encourage thinking, independence and taking responsibility.
- Creating an environment for learning and experimentation, where ideas are tested without fear of consequences.
- An understanding of ESG principles and broader social responsibility, as well as a focus on sustainable growth that does not undermine employee well-being.
- Balance between analytical and emotional approach, which includes a clear structure, but also empathy and the ability to build good relationships.
The leader of the future will be the one who manages to combine strategic clarity with a humane approach and thus build engaged and stable teams - because the best leaders create results through people, not despite them.
Dragana Obradović
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