Reading the Room for Better Empathic LeadershipCan you read the room? This may seem like a small question, but for leaders in large, matrix and complex organisations, the answer can have big implications. In Australia, and throughout the Anglo-world, we are conditioned to be quite explicit in the way we communicate. Being explicit means stating the obvious and working with the obvious. But as we all know when we are working with the obvious, we can miss the nuances in a conversation or the underlying dynamics playing out in a team. And there’s the catch. Even though we are living and working in a culture where being explicit is a requirement, we are leading, and working with, people. And we are just a bit more complicated. We will engage in passive-aggressive behaviours. We will pay lip service. We will want help but not ask for it. And that’s where our ability to really be present in the moment counts. It’s where we pick up that small inflection in the way something is said that alerts us that everything may not be as it seems. Like a colleague who walks out of a meeting as soon as it finishes without so much as a thanks or bye, when this is the one person who would normally be last to leave and engaging in the small talk as you leave the meeting. It’s the little things like this that may not be something; but they may just be. If reading the room isn’t your strong suit that’s ok. The good news is that it’s something you can practice and get better at – even if you don’t master it. The three things you can do immediately are:
Picking up a small cue, or interaction between team-members in a meeting can allow you to adjust course in the moment or ask a question that allows a voice to be heard that can add value to a conversation. Reading the room simply offers you the opportunity to lead and engage in a more empathic way.
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Successful Hybrid LeadershipIf the last couple of years have taught us anything about leadership, it’s that the way we once led isn’t so fit for purpose in a hybrid or completely remote team environment. Yes, we need to be flexible, adaptable and keeping up with change at rates like never before. And then there are the fundamental things that, if we aren’t doing, will make it harder to adapt, lead through change and truly engage with our people. The things that if we aren’t doing them at a basic level, will erode trust. The trust you have in your team and the trust that you have in yourself to be able to lead effectively.
Below I hit the high points for what you can be doing to get the basics right in a hybrid or remote team environment. 1. Ensure alignment with clear directional objectives Ensure your team are pulling in the same direction, no matter where they are located, and that everyone in the team is on the same page regarding the:
When we are clear and transparent about these three directional levels, your people will know where and how they need to be investing their energy. Importantly, our experience shows that it also creates a collaborative and connective team dynamic that is so essential for success in teams that are virtual or hybrid in nature. Be brave enough to ask your team how they feel about sharing their individual objectives; introducing this level of transparency can help reduce the psychological distance and increase collaboration when we realise that our actions, no matter where we are located, may be able to contribute to the success of a colleague and therefore the team. Track and discuss all team objectives openly and regularly – they are the binding factor of your team – so use them to your advantage. 2. Set Your Team Up for Success When we don’t trust our people to get on with things in a remote or hybrid environment, this can often say more about us than our people. We’ll talk more about us a bit further on, but when it comes to our team, we can remove doubt by applying a couple of simple strategies:
3. Set Yourself Up for Success
The final word…Reflect Carve out time each week to reflect on the team and yourself. This is a practice that is fast becoming a non-negotiable for leaders in a hybrid world that helps us stay in touch with reality, ourselves and our team. Reflect on yourself and your team through the lens of the points in this article. What’s working well? What could be better? Then build this discipline into your week, because leading to get things done through others is the big part of your job…and how we do this is changing faster than ever. How often do we see it that the results of an employee engagement survey come out, and one of the main messages is that your leaders aren’t engaging enough. Whether this is due to poor communication, not managing performance or giving feedback, or knowing how to recognise or acknowledge their people. The reasons are often varied, and sometimes the survey output isn’t granular enough to let you know where the focus for development needs to be. But that’s not the purpose of this article. What we often overlook is that results like this create some of the most unnecessary, and unspoken, challenges felt by managers. That is, the immediate pressure to become an engaging leader overnight. The idea that there needs to be immediate improvement is backed up by the rhetoric that comes with the results, the way they are shared (often without thought to framing, context or a supporting plan) and the fact that there will be another engagement survey next year and possibly some pulse surveys in between. What is the Engagement False Reality Trap?And in this moment we have created the ‘Engagement False Reality Trap’. And this is why it’s a false reality:
If the above factors are even partly true, and the managers of the groups with the poor results are not great people leaders, then we tend to see the following scenarios play out:
How to avoid the ‘Engagement False Reality Trap’? The premise of the Engagement False Reality Trap is that we place an artificial, 12-month timeframe on how quickly we should be building engagement and trust. So, the choice is simple; either offer meaningful development and support for developing engagement, or manage the expectations around what can realistically be achieved in a 12-month period. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking this can be solved with anything less than genuine intent to want to shift the engagement dial, and a medium to long-term outlook.
I read often about the idea that the aim of groups is to be able to ‘work together’. In the context of the world today, and what we've all been through recently (and are still going through), I wonder if ‘working together’ is enough? My experience is that if we are 'working together' then we are in a state of getting on with the job; doing what needs to be done to meet an outcome. In the past that may have sufficed, however we find ourselves in a position today where increasingly we are seeing transactional and administrative type tasks going the way of self-service and automation. This process is eliminating an important layer of ‘the work’ that we once got on with, and creates a new definition of what it means to get on with the job. This new foundation layer is more transformational than it is transactional. It means getting on with the job in an era defined by continually changing technologies that influence rapidly shifting business expectations, and with a generation of younger, more world-aware, and ‘instantaneous’ employees. Underpinning this is a business environment influenced by global uncertainty, a more mature understanding and regard of the impact of culture and an environment that is more disrupted today than in recent decades. This shift brings with it a whole new set of challenges that redefines what it means to work and to lead. So, coming back to my initial question…is ‘working together’ enough to ensure organisational success today? I think it’s a good start, though the real goal is to progress to the frame of ‘winning together’. The table below summarises some of the key transitions will help an organisation move from Working Together to Winning Together: Whilst not every team or organisation could attest to being completely in the frame of Winning Together, when I speak and work with those who are fortunate enough to be in organisations who appear to be Winning Together, what I experience in the words they use, and see in the things they do, is a real sense of liberation. They speak of the freedom to experiment and exercise entrepreneurialism within a clearly defined set of boundaries. They speak of leaders who are more interested in feeding and guiding their energy around a task rather than micro-managing the task. Above all, they speak about how they are encouraged to bring their whole self to work…not just the part that completes the job. They fully participate in ‘how’ the job is done, and not just that it is done. They therefore have a vested interest in success, and finding ways to be successful; for themselves and for the business.
In addition, when we consider the literature on how to work with each coming generation, we know that ‘working together’ isn’t going to cut it for much longer. Anyone who is currently leading a team of Millennial’s will most likely already be cutting their teeth on the attributes listed in the Winning Together column above. All of this is compounded by the impact of the pandemic and the shift to hybrid (and other) ways of working. I’m not sure that merely ‘working together’ will be enough to ensure organisational longevity and success. A 'Winning Together' mindset may be the new non-negotiable basis from which we work and lead. Importantly though, if you are to embrace hybrid or fully virtual teams, you will need to be mastering the Winning Together philosophy as a leader to ensure any measure of success...because what Winning Together looks like for a hybrid team will be different to a fully remote team and different again to a co-located team in the office. Three things you can do to be an eclectic leader1. Be comfortable in your own skin. Being eclectic needs to come from an organic base. You are building a style that works for ‘who’ you are. So, being comfortable with who you are is important. I know that, for some, this is easier said than done; however the more comfortable you are with being yourself and not feeling you have to be someone you’re not, the more natural being eclectic will feel. The key here is to have a sense of your beliefs and values. What is important to you? What do you stand for? What can you live with? What can you live without? There is no point looking to build a strong assertive style if your energy is more subdued and you value a more subtle or nuanced way of leading. 2. Look for Inspiration in "Out of the Way Places". When working out who you want to be as a leader and how you want to be leading, be prepared to get inspiration in places you least expect. As an example, if you want to find ways to keep things real whilst at the same time bringing a sense of optimism and hope to your style observe the style of people like Turia Pitt, Kurt Fearnley or go back a bit further and get acquainted with Helen Keller. When leading in times of uncertainty what better place to be looking for ideas on these leadership attributes than in the people who have had to achieve success in the most uncertain of circumstances. 3. Experiment and Evolve. If you are comfortable in your own skin, and getting good at observing those around you for ideas on leading, the next step is to start experimenting with different techniques, ways of thinking or behaviours until you get to a place where it becomes natural for you. A good sportsperson doesn’t just get that way. They practice. Sometimes they need to experiment with their style. And then practice some more until it becomes natural. It’s the same with being eclectic. Truly eclectic leaders don’t stop at the experimenting stage. They get that the world is continually changing and that over time they may need to tweak aspects of their style to remain relevant. Being eclectic isn’t about giving yourself a makeover. It’s not about giving up who you are (unless it makes sense to let go of some stuff). It’s about understanding who you are and knowing where you could strengthen your style…then acknowledging that you could go some way to filling those gaps or enhancing your style by learning from the world around you. And being brave enough to look beyond your immediate environment and beyond your culture and your biases for those ideas. David MorleyWhen we think of what’s needed to lead in VUCA environments, we tend to overthink how we need to be leading to be effective. And why wouldn’t we? Complex environments aren’t straightforward, so it makes sense that how we lead would need to have some semblance of complexity attached to it as well. Or does it? There is ONE thing you can do to lead meaningfully and effectively in a VUCA environment. Be consistent Beyond our capacity to meaningfully connect with those we lead and those we need to deal with in the business, possibly the only other big thing we need to think about is consistency in our leadership approach. And the best thing? Being consistent is fully within our control! And when we look at it through that lens, no matter how volatile our world, if we are consistent in how we show up each day then that’s one less distraction for our team, one less thing they need to be worrying about, because they know how you will be showing up…everyday. And that’s the key to VUCA leadership; to be leading from a place that you own. When we master this, there is no place for luck, chance or fate. We don’t need to be thrown from pillar to post at the behest and whims of others. Because we are owning our space. Being consistent. David MorleyBusiness Partners play a critical role in many organisations, and some of the best I’ve experienced are those who are invited to the important discussions ahead of time to contribute to decisions. They aren’t left out until it’s too late…and then need to clean up the mess whilst thinking ‘why wasn’t I included in this conversation in the first place?’ Do those partners do anything special. Anything different? Well, yes, they do. Let your experience and knowledge be your safety netFirstly, they are competent in the area they specialise. That may seem like a no-brainer; but the role of a Business Partner is first and foremost about bringing specialised knowledge to the parts of the business that they support. Being knowledgeable and experienced also plays a special role in countries considered to be Individualist where the door to trust is opened through competence and delivering on what is expected of us. Those countries include the Anglo, Scandinavian and Germanic clusters of countries. But that’s only part of the equation. That’s the ‘what’. The ‘content’. What about the ‘how’…the means by which we deliver our knowledge and experience? This is where the difference lies between good and great Business Partners. The difference between good and great Business Partners - curiosityThe ‘how’ has a couple of elements to it, but if we are talking about how we build trust to the point that we are actively engaging, and being engaged, in the business, then we really want to be focusing on the idea of building a rapport that, over time, creates a resilience in your relationship. Our safety net is our technical expertise, so relax on that front and take the time to get to know your stakeholders and their part of the business. Listen to their stories. Be interested without feeling the need to be interesting. And that right there can be one of the early mistakes of a Business Partner. We feel the need to push our knowledge, rather than seeing it as our safety net. The business, and your stakeholders know why you are there; so invest in being curious. Let your stakeholders talk, and leverage off their contributions. Listen for what is being said and what’s not being said. Often, it’s what’s not said that allows us to address a hidden need, or something that is bubbling away below the surface. And of course, as we hear their stories, we can be taking mental notes on how we can be aligning and suggesting how we can engage with the business. If we lead with interest, more often than not, that interest is returned; and the process of rapport naturally occurs. But there will be those we partner with who just aren’t interested in establishing a rapport and just want a service provider. Or that’s how it seems on the surface. Becoming a highly effective Business PartnerHighly effective Business Partners don’t assume that the business knows ‘how’ to work with them. And that is an important thing to understand. Sometimes we need to lead a little on that front and create some experiences that allow your stakeholders to see how the partnership can work. Even better, when you are first assigned to partner with a leader and their function, arrange an up-front meeting where you can iron out some of the ‘working together’ details. Share your expectations on how you see working together, including what good collaboration looks like and when you expect to be included in conversations. It’s better to create this shared awareness right from the start and eliminate as many of the surprises, and disappointments, right from the outset. Play for the long gameFinally, play for the long game. Trust builds over time. In fact it needs time. It doesn’t mean you aren’t delivering, but it also doesn’t mean you aren’t creating any pressure for a relationship to build ahead of its time. In fact the more we try to force the development of trust over a short time (or just expect it to be there!) the more likely we are to push our stakeholders away from us and no one wins. So…
Author: David MorleyDavid is a developer of global-minded leaders, teams and organisations. The high performing team…. key to an organisation’s competitive advantage? Well, yes. The research consistently demonstrates that great teamwork delivers higher quality outputs resulting in better customer satisfaction. But despite huge investments in the recruitment and development of key talent, and leadership and team building interventions, truly high performing teams remain a somewhat elusive concept for many companies. And today, with the shifting dynamic of work, more and more teams are facing the likelihood of permanent remote working – making this an increasingly complex issue for leaders. Before we explore this further, let’s consider what we mean by high performing team. In its simplest terms we are talking about a team that delivers its stated objectives consistently, considers all team members to be equal (and not dependent on a stand-out ‘quarter-back’), and continuously innovates to stay ahead of changes in the external market and its customers’ requirements. The question is how you create and then maintain such a team. Is it just a matter of recruiting the smartest, high potential individuals? Or is it about recruiting a specific blend of personality profiles, a unique human algorithm whose output ultimately results in high performance? Numerous studies over the past decade by leading institutions including Gallup, Harvard, and McKinsey, have sought to answer these questions and uncover the elements of high-performance cultures. They have consistently found that high performing groups share certain characteristics such as a common focus on effective performance management, autonomy, accountability for results, and a culture of innovation and learning. And indeed, these are certainly critical to team performance. But a push towards optimizing these areas does not always yield better business results for organisations. Something deeper is at play. The four elements to team collaborationA longitudinal study by Google over a period of two years shed some further light on this. They found that team performance across their business was less about who they hired, and much more heavily related to the environment they worked within and how this enabled (or not) team members to work together constructively. More specifically, this was about the environment created by the leader to build trust among team members, and to allow them to put forward ideas and have healthy dialogue without conflict. The Google findings and subsequent publications identified four key elements critical to team collaboration and ultimately high performance: 1. Psychological safety – essentially, this is the ability for team members to speak their mind (respectfully, of course), float their ideas, and take measured risk without fear of reproach. A team environment where members feel psychologically safe is now consistently recognized as the most critical element in driving high performance. Such an environment is a prerequisite for innovation and autonomy. Physiologically this can be explained by the fact that when we feel criticized or judged, the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response is activated by the amygdala (the part of our brain that controls reasoning and decision making), rendering us unable to respond rationally and think laterally – let alone strategically. 2. Trust between team members – closely linked to the culture of safety within the team, the strength of the relationships between its members is key to its overall performance. Teams with high trust depend upon each other, support each other, and ultimately collaborate to achieve a common goal; this last point being very important. The distinction here is that high performing teams are more focussed on the overall team’s outcomes than their individual results because the inherent trust between team members serves to override the potential human inclination to compete with other team members in order to prove our own worth. 3. Role and goal clarity – it stands to reason that the team must have a clear understanding of its ‘north star’ in order to deliver exemplary results. This also means that team members must have absolute clarity of their own accountabilities and how each member of the team contributes equally to its overall success. This belief that each member of the team is equally vital to its success is another key element driving genuine collaboration. 4. Autonomy and purpose – as identified by Daniel Pink in his book “Drive” it is the intrinsic motivators of role autonomy, mastery and purpose that have the greatest impact on human performance. Pink found that as a collective, we are motivated far more by our connection to our work and how it contributes some way to the greater good, than by extrinsic rewards such as salary, bonuses, and recognition awards – although we must clearly feel we are compensated fairly and equitably for this to be the case. The confidence to effectively exercise our own skills in the team environment, our sense of autonomy, is also directly related to the levels of trust between team members and with the leader. In these complex and ever uncertain times, the role of the leader in creating clarity for the team regarding strategy, direction and priorities cannot be underestimated. But even more important is the leader’s role in connecting team members, building rapport, interdependency, and trust. Especially when team members cannot connect physically in natural and organic ways as perhaps previously taken for granted. The current work context requires leaders to role model the behaviours which engender trust: authenticity, consistency, empathy, honesty – and personal vulnerability. This is the bedrock for establishing a psychologically safe team culture where people can generate ideas together and truly perform to their highest levels. Author: Suzanne Jenner-WallSuzanne is an experienced international HR leader, coach and organisational development facilitator with a background in biochemistry.
Are you ready to work abroad?There is no doubt that the idea of working in a foreign country holds great excitement for most of us; the opportunity to travel, learn new skills, and grow our professional currency back home is tantalising indeed. But traversing the oceans for a new job also means traversing different cultures – and success or failure in this respect is contingent upon how well you have prepared for the changes that lie ahead. Those of us who have lived and worked overseas will tell you that these were some of the most amazing experiences of our lives. And alas, some of the most difficult! But it doesn’t have to be so difficult. A little investment of time researching, planning, and preparing for life in your new destination will pay huge dividends in the long run and set you up for a happy and successful time abroad. The benefits of working abroadSpreading your wings into a new country brings many personal and professional benefits, including:
The challenges of working abroadOf course, all this of this does not come without some challenge. Some things to consider and be aware of before you depart on your new career adventure include:
While it is important to be aware of these potential challenges, much of this can also be exciting to navigate, if approached with sensitivity and a positive mindset. Below are a few things to consider before you embark on your new job abroad….or as you develop yourself for a potential future move. Planning for working abroad1. Research the culture of the country you will be moving to (or want to move to) The deeper your understanding of elements such as the history, social norms and politics of your destination country, the greater will be your ability to build rapport and connect with people respectfully, avoiding inadvertently offending anyone. This will help you build critical networks during your time abroad. Understanding how people work and play (like standard work hours, norms for socializing – or not – with work colleagues, important rituals at work – such as taking lunch together) will help you understand what work will feel like in your new role and prevent unnecessary surprises. 2. Research the culture of the company you will be moving to (or want to move to) If you have an overseas post already secured, or you have set your sights on a particular organisation overseas, invest some time in researching their company culture. What does their website and/or other platforms indicate about their culture? Are their cited values aligned with your own? Can you talk to people within the organisation about what working in this company looks and feels like? If applicable, ask your new manager what it takes to be a successful team member in this company. 3. Understand your own working style Understanding how you think, and your approach to work is the first step in identifying where you may need to modify or adjust your approach in a different cultural context. Take the time to elicit feedback from your manager, peers, and direct reports about how you work. For example, what kind of leader are you? Are you direct or indirect in your communications? Are you directive or participative? How do you respond to problems? What pitfalls might you face working in a culturally different context where people have the opposite approach to you? 4. Get ahead of the curve with respect to learning the local language (before you go!) I cannot stress enough the importance of being able to communicate effectively with people in your new environment. Yes, you will learn the language (in time) when you are immersed abroad. But it is very difficult to build relationships with people when you can only communicate in rudimentary ways and the ability to share stories together is impossible. And building relationships in your new post and life is key to your assimilation. Not to mention the day-to-day difficulties of living in a new environment when you cannot speak the language. When working in France a few years ago I couldn’t even set the voicemail on my phone at work when I first arrived because I couldn’t understand the furiously fast Interactive Voice Response! And that is one tiny example of how the simplest things can quickly become overwhelming when you constantly need to ask for help because of the language barrier. 5. Enlist a relocation assistant to help navigate the tactical elements of your move Engage a relocation specialist to assist you and your family (if applicable) to transition abroad. Having a local expert assist you in the search for appropriate accommodation and schools, and facilitating practicalities such as opening back accounts, will go a long way to streamlining your assimilation into life in your new location. 6. Set yourself some goals for your time abroad Someone once highlighted to me before an overseas move the importance of identifying your key objective or objectives for your time abroad – and the importance of reminding yourself of this higher goal whenever things were tough. This was the best advice I ever received. Whether your goal is to become fluent in a new language, tick 25 new cities off your bucket list, or gain specific international work experience – it will anchor you and transport you through any moments of culture shock or loneliness. So should you embark on an overseas post or start to ready yourself for working abroad, I make one final comment. The culture shock passes. The loneliness passes. But the magic, the memories and the invaluable learnings from your time abroad stay with you forever. Need some support before starting your expat journey? Have a look at our expat optimiser coaching program Author: Suzanne Jenner-WallSuzanne is an experienced international HR leader, coach and organisational development facilitator with a background in biochemistry.
For the first time in recent history, thanks to the pandemic, leaders of the world over are sharing the same impacts on the way they lead. Dealing with the volatility of change, feeling largely the same way (exhausted), and being forced to embrace different ways of leading to drive engagement and at the same time remain relevant. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was probably the last time we came close to this, but even then, we could still maintain social and business norms, and know that (if you still had a job) you could still head into the office. But not every country was impacted by the GFC in the same way that all countries have been impacted by Covid. This is what makes this such a unique time in the world of leadership development right now. When I think of the soft skills that will be necessary for leaders to be effective this year as we transition to living and working alongside Covid, there are three that stand out for me. Depending on where you are reading this article you may need to make some nuanced changes to what I’m sharing, but by and large, I do think these leadership skills should be making their way into the playbook of any corporate leadership development programs around the globe this year. Have the Courage (and discipline) to Exercise Self-EmpathyWe need to be in touch with what’s going on inside of us and understand how our mindset and emotions may be impacting our decision-making and behaviours. Why is this important? The last two years have not been easy, and right now we are heading into 2022 leading the fatigued, when we ourselves can be counted amongst the fatigued and battle-weary. It’s common knowledge that we don’t make the best decisions when we are tired, stressed or just not in the right headspace. It’s up to us as leaders to firstly acknowledge that it’s ok to be feeling a bit tired (even the most self-aware leaders would be coming into 2022 with some residual fatigue!). By making this acknowledgment internally, we are also making room for the same acknowledgment to be made amongst our team. This is a conversation that probably needs to be had sooner rather than later…is your team doing ok? Being in touch with our mental and physical well-being also means we can do something about it so we can be setting ourselves up for success. There’s nothing selfish about this. How can we be fully present for our people if we are running low on fuel and barely making it to the end of the day or week? We can get in our own way on this front and inhibit our efforts to look after ourselves. Sometimes it’s pride, other times we can be unnecessarily self-sacrificing or just poor at delegating. Perhaps we just put ourselves second, whether that’s due to lower self-esteem, self-confidence, or other factors. Whatever the reason, own it and be brave; do something about it. Otherwise, the other factors below won’t be so easy to address. Accept that Rituals are a Necessary Leadership PracticeThe last two years could be considered practice for this capability; and this year could be considered ‘game day’! Before we transitioned to virtual and then hybrid ways of working it was taken for granted that we could more easily connect with our peers and team members and build relationships spontaneously and organically. That doesn’t mean we were consistently good at it, but that was our norm. Now, we need to think about how we build relationships in a virtual world, where it is still normal not to have met your own manager, peers, or direct reports in person after many months. It would be nice to think that building relationships virtually has become easier, maybe even natural for some, but we can’t assume that we have nailed it. Because I can guarantee you that we haven’t. This year we need to get good at creating rituals with each of our individual team members that allow them to feel recognised despite the physical distance. (Have you checked out our Lead2Remotely Engage program?) Rituals tailored to your individual team members creates the opportunity for trust to be built, and the space for genuine conversations and sharing. Equally important are rituals for the whole team; moments when you come together to connect and share. Rituals have always been important for building engaging relationships however it was seen as a ‘nice to have’…getting the job done always tended to be more important, especially in Anglo or Germanic cultures. We can’t afford to keep this mindset; not if we want a genuinely engaged workforce in a virtual or hybrid world. Creating rituals allows your people to feel connected with and to feel acknowledged. And when it becomes a ‘business as usual’ practice, it creates a natural momentum in your relationship that leads to trust and a reduction in the psychological distance that we are always aiming for. Get Comfortable with VUCA LeadershipIt’s going to be some time before we can settle into a normal rhythm without disruption driven by the pandemic. There are still factors we can’t be sure about, and even though we try to keep pace with and anticipate how things will be, the reality is (as we’ve all experienced) that we will get curveballs. Our ability to remain balanced, resilient and adapt to shifting norms is now a critical skill and mindset for leaders. In large complex organisations, this has always been the case and experienced leaders in global and matrix style organisations may already be well-versed in dealing with ambiguity. Now it’s time for leaders to make their peace with the V, U and C of VUCA, and not just the Ambiguity where the focus in leadership development has been for many years: Volatility: The Volatility and rate of change we’ve experienced these last two years isn’t something we should be looking back on and thinking ‘thank goodness that’s over with’. This year effective leaders will be reflecting on that volatility and what they learned about themselves, and who they were as a leader, throughout that time. The questions to ask include:
Uncertainty: Over the last couple of years, to what extent did we as leaders offer a version of certainty in the daily lives of our team when not a whole lot else seemed certain? If we weren’t exercising much self-empathy, and were leading inconsistently, then we mightn’t have offered a whole lot of structure or certainty. When we put ourselves in the shoes of our team, the one thing that isn’t changing daily are the people in my team and my manager. And at a fundamental level, that is a form of structure and certainty that we often underestimate as leaders. So; to what extent did you offer certainty in the lives of your team – and what can you be doing to improve it for 2022 (and beyond)? Complexity: An essential skill always, and a little more necessary today than previously, is the ability to extract yourself from the day to day so you can see your whole landscape. Sometimes referred to as taking the helicopter view, it’s also an opportunity to take a more rational view of your world. It’s one of the simplest ways to make sense of the complexity that can sometimes seem overwhelming. When our senses are being battered from all angles, our ability to rise above it and see things for how they really are is a life saver. Whilst ever the pace and volatility of change remains moderate to high, this capability is often your best counter-measures. What missed the cut?Of course, there are many other capabilities that will support you as a leader in the context of this year and some that fall just outside my top three include being able to have meaningful conversations, creating a healthy virtual/hybrid team culture, leading collaboratively and leading change. However, even these capabilities rely on my top three to be effective. As the globe begins the transition to an endemic view of Covid, there will be a higher frequency uncertainty in our lives at home and at work. No, they may not be as high impacting as the experiences of 2020 and 2021. But they will require that leaders maintain forward momentum so that their teams can see how they need to be investing their energy each day, week, and month. The three capabilities shared here offer leaders the best opportunity to do this in 2022 and beyond. Author: David MorleyDavid is a developer of global-minded leaders, teams and organisations. |
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