Who do you have around you that has the type of crystal ball you need to see who you need to be and what to focus on to lead in our complex and fast-changing world?
A key element of my own role with clients is to bring both an outside perspective and also one that is wide-ranging and forward-looking. This adds value to leaders who are often so focussed on running their business that they have little time or space to build the type of highly diverse network of people and ideas that can really add value to them, their leadership, and their business.
One additional element is that, while I do not profess to have a crystal ball, I can sometimes see just a little into the future in terms of what lies ahead.
This week I spoke with a client who noted “the world has become so complex and so much of it makes it difficult to lead”
I wrote a post on March 10th 2020, just as the Pandemic was about to close down the world, called: “Time to invest in Leadership“. In that post, I focussed on what I am about to repeat now in this story around my client. Perhaps I had some foresight of what was ahead in terms of the type of change we would face in the future and what we would need to do to lead through it.
So, back to my client struggling with how to lead through change. On our call, I chose to teach them two things. First, the mental model of VUCA, that our world is increasingly : “Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous“. They immediately got the conceptual model, but it provided no relief to the feeling of pressure of leading through such a world. I then talked about a reframe of VUCA around the leadership we need, known as VUCA 2.0 (see this Forbes post). What we need as leaders is to focus on:
- Vision – A leader must provide clarity on the “True North” for the business
- Understanding – what are your organization’s capabilities and strategies to take advantage of rapidly changing circumstances by playing to their strengths while minimizing their weaknesses. Put another way, are you “anti-fragile”? (see this post on that model)
- Courage – in the face of a VUCA world, doing things the same way will not work. Incremental change will likely only work for a time. Leaders need to be courageous, to make brave and audacious decisions. Oh, and these are my clients, see how I describe the client fit I seek on my home page.
- Adaptability – this feels obvious, but this piece from the Forbes post leapt out at me: “Long-range plans are often obsolete by the time they are approved“. I open my core post on “Are you ready for Open Leadership” with this: “How long from when you put your Strategic Plan into action until it is not worth the paper it is written on?” In 2016 I asked this question of 25 leaders around the world. The average and median answers? Six months. SIX MONTHS!“
The #OpenLeadership model is what I designed from many conversations with leaders as one that gives the attributes we need in order to focus on Vision, Understanding, Courage and Adaptability.
I may not have a crystal ball, but at the same time my curiosity and the diversity of people and ideas I talk to enabled me to see that our model of leadership was not fit for purpose in our fast-changing and VUCA world and that in order to deliver leadership that works with VUCA2.0 one needs to model #OpenLeadership, ie being Brave, Hungry, Open and Humble, all attributes that, in combination, complement each other.
So, as you read this story, do ask yourself, who do you have around you that has the type of crystal ball you need to see who you need to be and what to focus on to lead in our complex and fast-changing world?