Some say, “Great leaders are born, not made.” Not according to Energy Institute tutor, Dr Yanos Michopoulos. He believes that the art and science of leadership for future energy systems can be cultivated.
Dr Michopoulos explains that beyond technical, planning, and operating skills developed at the beginning of a career, energy industry leaders need soft skills to drive change, overcome challenges, and explore opportunities. A new 10-day Executive Leadership in Energy Programme by the Energy Institute aims to equip the next generation of energy leaders with these skills and more.
Soft leadership skills are in demand as the energy sector rapidly moves towards global net-zero. The energy systems of 2030 and 2050 will look very different from today. As such, future energy professionals must be adaptable and innovative.
Let’s look at some overlooked leadership concepts and skills in detail:
1. Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Daniel Goleman defined EQ as “the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, for managing emotions in ourselves and our relationships”. Senior leaders often have high EQ rather than high IQ. Examples of EQ skills include:
- Communication (understanding how tone differs across channels and audiences; recall, communication is not what we say, but what others hear)
- Mindfulness (being present, actively noticing new things without judging, allowing for sensitivity to context and perspective)
- Resilience (the ability to survive and adapt to unpredictable, changing, and potentially unfavourable events)
2. Interpersonal Skills
A key challenge for energy leaders navigating the energy transition is their ability to take people along and inspire others. They need to define a clear purpose (the “why”) and build a shared vision and purpose for the future. These ‘values’ reflect organisational culture, or “the way we do business around here”.
Energy leaders must understand what motivates their internal ‘followers’ and diverse external stakeholders (including regulators, customers, suppliers, partners, and wider society).
Understanding these motivations will help them develop collaborative engagement strategies for sustainable business outcomes. This ongoing process touches on other important leadership areas, such as talent development, mentoring, coaching, and creating an environment of psychological safety.
3. Bias-Free Decision-Making Skills
Decision-making is a key leadership characteristic, especially with incomplete data or during crises. However, Daniel Kahneman’s work, described in ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’, outlines the different biases to be aware of in decision-making, such as:
- Anchoring bias (clinging to the first data point mentioned)
- Confirmation bias (focusing on information that supports our views, not data that challenges)
- Over-confidence bias (overestimating our own powers, abilities, and predictions)
To overcome these biases, leaders need to challenge and support each other, embrace diversity and inclusion, and develop strong influencing skills to handle conflicts and disagreements.
4. Modern Communication Skills
Internal restructuring and international company expansions have seen the rise of remote, virtual, and hybrid teams – a trend further accelerated by the Covid-19 crisis. Technological advances provide us with tools, but leading these teams is more demanding than traditional models. It requires new routines, advanced communication skills and fostering a culture of energy innovation. Adopting these practices will increase empathy and allow individuals to develop unique leadership styles for handling various situations.
Accelerating the development of these skills:
To assist the development of these leadership skills, chartered professional body the Energy Institute has teamed up with a world-leading business school, Hult EF Corporate Education. They are delivering a split 10-day immersive leadership training course, “Executive Leadership in Energy Programme” in both London and Dubai, which I am facilitating.
The programme is bringing together a cohort of 16 high-potential energy leaders and offering them a suite of development methods, industry guest speakers, real-life practical examples, and project work. Leaders will accelerate their development of the aforementioned skills and gain a comprehensive set of tools on how to be an effective leader of the energy transition, make better decisions and motivate organisations across functions, regions, and cultures.
Limited spaces available at: energy-inst.org/executive
Dr Yanos Michopoulos FEI FIoL is a Fellow of the Energy Institute and Fellow of the Institute of Leadership. He is a well-respected chairman and director, with 30+ years of senior experience in various sectors (including energy, infrastructure, transportation and private equity) across the EMEA region.
Recommended for you
