The C-suite comprises accomplished professionals who have charted a course that is great. However, the C-suite executives are not the ultimate. In today’s fast-moving business world, C-suite executives and professionals are expected to adapt to changing needs and demands. This must be in tune with the business needs and customer future.
C-suite leaders need to adapt to technology and understand its impact on all levels. In order to adapt, it is important to learn. While C-suite leaders are the face of the company, their upskilling results in the company adapting to new standards and goals. Reskilling or upskilling the C-suite will reinvent how the organization grows and succeeds.
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the urgency for upskilling and reskilling. It is more important than ever to retrospectively handle new distractions, adapt to modern technologies, or make a mark in the business space.
Why reskilling the C-Suite Executives is important?
As of now, all middle to lower hierarchy employees looks for upskilling or reskilling to fit into a certain type. C-suite executives do not upskill or reskill that often. However, C-suite executives and leaders need to be reskilled and upskilled to lead their organizations in a better manner. C-suite leaders need to know that their role has changed from a shareholder or financial experts to an enabler. An enabler of change in the organization is what the C-suite leader is. The C-suite also needs to face customers, business partners, millennial employees, critics, and the media. This is why reskilling the C-suite is important.
A C-suite leader needs to know about modern technologies like blockchain, augmented intelligence, artificial intelligence, governance, social and political affairs, and more. It is also important to look at reskilling to develop an improved mindset in C-suite leaders. C-suite leaders have shown a disconnect with the digital transformation and pace of growth in business spaces. It is important to ensure all aspects are dealt with in an agile manner so that companies adapt to the business environment.
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Knowledge of top technologies and processes like cybersecurity, the Internet of Things, Cloud computing, customer success, customer experience, machine learning, and metaverse will help C-suite leaders stay updated. These upcoming technologies will help C-suite leaders make better decisions in the business space, increase employee engagement, and improve customer success. The C-suite needs to be in a position to understand the complex character of certain technologies. To maintain relevance in the constantly changing digital work fabric, C-suite leaders need to double down on learning.
Creating the need for C-suite learning took place due to changing global demands in business. There is an upheaval of technology and tools that C-suite leaders need to be familiar with. This can also include product management and project management tools such as Jira, Trello, and more.
How Can C-Suite Leaders Reskill and Upskill for Company Growth?
The pandemic has increased the rate and pace of digital transformation. This needs to reflect in bridging the disconnect of C-Suite executives with the reskilling and upskilling initiatives. If you match company success with C-suite growth, the defining factors are skills and mindset. C-suite executives need to learn and develop new skills to grow personally.
Practice and Lead by example
C-suite-level executives need to learn to lead by example. They need to set the ground straight for upskilling and reskilling. Top schools globally offer short courses that will help. Internationally recognized courses by top universities and professional bodies will also allow C-suite executives to form a bond and network with other executives. This will also encourage a learner’s attitude and allow them to improve personally.
Embrace Change
Gone are the days when C-Suite executives could be the old traditional way without being upgraded. Now it is imperative to embrace change at all levels and support it as well. This starts with the board room and penetrates to the boiler room. Aligning the entire organization to the culture of learning and reskilling is important. You also need to look at how the entire organization is getting skilled. It will also mean great for brand building if you can say- our whole company is x certified.
Have a plan and strategy in place
When the CEO and team are making the strategic decision to learn, they need to have a plan. The primary thing to do in that stead would be to recognize that learning is a company-wide essential. A learning and development function will help impart new skills, improve engagement, and enhance productivity. This helps future-proof employees and helps them adapt to being ahead of the competition.
Get Feedback
C-suite leaders usually do not hear the right feedback. It gets filtered through various hierarchies in the company. A learning session might help them understand their fallacies. Once they can spot the problem, it is easy to understand how to rectify it. C-suite executives need to undertake a reskilling course to improve at all levels. 360-degree feedback will be especially helpful to ensure they can reason with critique from all angles. Feedback will help improve the overall functioning of the entire firm and enhance the collective skill level. C-suite leadership needs feedback to advise to handle all the volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous present we live in. This feedback needs to be constructive and smooth.
Improve the mindset
For any company to undergo an overhaul, it is imperative to develop a coaching mindset. This will ensure adequate room for learning, improvement, perfecting a technique, and enhancing performance. The coaching mindset also helps you focus on corrections and shortcomings. This will also help C-suite leaders assess other employees’ learning progress and achieve long-term goals. Creating personalized information will help enhance learning processes and meet various checkpoints.
Bottom Line
Though being a member of the C-suite is great, there is a lot to learn. You need to build an organization ready to upskill, reskill, and learn. The environment needs to be agile and embrace change in all forms. Harvard short courses, Udemy, or any reputed digital course can pave the way for new unexplored territories. It is also possible to improve continuously, keeping the organization’s culture for learning in mind.
Every few years is marked by a drastic change in the business world. You cannot escape that shift, and hence it is important to reskill and upskill accordingly. The top leaders need to be aligned in the lines of reskilling and upskilling. This encourages C-suite leaders to equip and learn relevant technologies, processes, and more. If the leadership is on the path of learning, it leads to powerful outcomes.
C-suite leaders need to walk the talk and ensure their learning impacts and transforms the company. You can adapt and upskill accordingly by taking the lead on these aspects.
Stanley Deepak is an accomplished sales and marketing professional with 15+ years of experience. He loves tech products and book reading. He writes on philosophy and culture on LinkedIn.
Published May 05, 2022, Updated March 02, 2023
