While some individuals seem to be born with the gift of great leadership, for many others it is a skill that is learned over time. There is no perfect formula to follow when mastering such a skill. In reality, there are many different paths that people can take in becoming an excellent leader.

Most often, this path starts with a journey of self-discovery. Building off of one’s biggest strengths has proven to be very effective in personal growth. Rather than focusing on areas of weakness, it is much more valuable to focus on an individual’s strengths.

As great leaders develop their skill sets and emerge into the modern age of marketing, huge challenges await them. With this type of constantly evolving environment, leaders must learn to evolve as well.

Future leaders that are willing to adapt and experiment with new technologies, methods, and strategies are much more likely to succeed. As humans, we often resist change, but that does not stop it from happening. This ideal will be key to upcoming leaders in the marketing world.

In particular, columnist Colin Lewis believes that the hiring process will be greatly affected by advancements in the advertising industry. He makes a clear argument over the fact that, “new skills are going to be required that we cannot even imagine today, just like we could not imagine a ‘social media manager’ role 10 years ago.”

Of course, we cannot expect every aspect of the job to change. Cornerstone characteristics of today’s marketing industry such as creativity and exceptional communication abilities are not going anywhere. However, Lewis says that for the future marketing leader, these skills will not be enough.

Instead, future leaders will take on all tasks. This includes ones that definitely fall beneath them to lower ranking employees. These leaders will do it all anyway, because they know that all levels of the marketing process are important and hard work always pays off.