Because of the global environment, communication has become more important than ever before. Employees and co-workers are often spread out over multiple time zones, yet still must be coordinating with one another and meeting tight deadlines. In the past, the typical workday stopped between 5-6 p.m., but today’s workers must be available almost around the clock to interact with overseas counterparts. IT has played a major role in this development. “IT is always talked about as a support function, but it is the backbone which will ultimately help us be more efficient,” said Dutta.

People leadership has grown in complexity as well, said Dutta.

Now a leader must be more creative when motivating workers as cultural barriers and uncertainties often come into play. Many older employees may not have a global mindset and will need extra encouragement and guidance. One way Dutta motivates them is by providing them with real-life scenarios on how global business is handled. Sometimes this is through articles or case studies, he said.

Dutta notes, “How to motivate people, how to communicate with people, how to work with folks under very difficult circumstances where the future might be very, very murky” has gotten more complex.

In these circumstances Dutta believes that leaders must be extremely flexible and ready to change plans and adapt to different situations.

“Flexibility is key in leadership, because there will be situations and circumstances that even the most detailed planning will not uncover beforehand,” he said. “Along with flexibility is adaptability. You have to adapt as a leader. Things might not always go your way. You take a step back and look at things and reprioritize”

However, even the best leaders don’t know everything, but rather than that being a weakness, Dutta believes that this can actually be a great strength.

“Don’t be afraid to say you don’t know,” said Dutta. “It is very hard, especially as leaders, because we are looked upon and groomed as subject matter experts, strategic experts or functional experts. It is very hard to say ‘I don’t know’ because you may think you are opening yourself up for saying that is a weakness. However, I truly believe anyone can learn anything. That is my belief in the human mind. If someone puts their effort into something, they can learn. So learn as much as you can and don’t be afraid to say ‘I don’t know.’” Otherwise you are closed to learning more.

The true measure of an emerging leader, Dutta believes, is someone who exhorts a great deal of passion in their role and a willingness to jump out of it. “… Someone who has passion, and they’re willing to get out and volunteer,” said Dutta. “In my experience they are the hallmarks of good leaders. Every leader I have worked with truly had passion. And they were willing to try different things and maybe even fail.”

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