The era of intelligent leadership is waning as it has become an integral part of the skill set. Those lacking it are either departing or awaiting removal. Furthermore, excessive time has been devoted to cultivating future leaders, and this aspect has undoubtedly been overemphasized.

The focus has now shifted to skilled employees. Rather than maintaining a large workforce, organizations are compelled to retain only a fraction of employees who are skilled, tech-savvy, and empowered with ownership. This approach is driven from the bottom up, with skilled employees discovering innovative solutions to customer problems. Innovation emanates from the lower rungs of the hierarchy. Where ownership is evident, rewards follow suit. Boards will likely reevaluate the compensation packages of leaders, given the widening gap between the average median salaries of CEOs and employees.

However, the question remains: what will become of the rest?

This poses a significant challenge for organizations, which have a social responsibility to uphold and cannot simply dismiss employees.

It is imperative for leaders to step forward and create new opportunities, secure new clients, spawn new businesses, collaborate with peers and start-ups, rather than merely focusing on protecting the bottom line and appeasing investors with dividends.

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