Flex Your Agility Muscle

The article, "Flex Your Agility Muscle" is part of LinkedIn's Newsletter Series. To get weekly insights hit the "subscribe" button above.

As the constant state of uncertainty threatens to unnerve even the hardiest of personalities, the power skill most likely to succeed in helping you get grounded is agility.

Yet, how often do you test your agility muscle in response to the changes that mimic a cyclone, rather than a gentle breeze? 

As a professional speaking coach, Catherine Johns recommends keeping your feet flat on the ground before starting that next Zoom meeting. As she mentions “It’s easy to get caught up in the swirl of thoughts and fears and hopes” focusing on what you will say next, rather than grounding yourself.

Here are a five agility habits for managers and individual contributors that will help keep you grounded in these times of disruption and change.

1?? Stabilize Your Career in a VUCA World

Regardless of its unwelcome status, the pandemic is an agent of change. The storm cloud of uncertainty has caused a number of domino effects across the workplace.

Now, more than ever, we live in a VUCA world, a term that means volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Students used this term at the U.S. Army War College to describe the world after the cold war ended.

Applying this to our current situation, VUCA has contributed to a crazy existence, and we are pushing our resources and resilience to the limit.

Here are 4 things you can do now to create career stability:

? Adopt an attitude of self-direction, rather than relying solely on direction from managers.

? Upskill or reskill for workplace needs. As a business learn what your clients need by asking them. Revamp your offerings to address needs.

? Reflect, rethink and/or reinvent. Take time to reflect.

? Choose the alternative workforce, offering on-demand skills, temporary, or project work.

2?? To Keep Your Best Employees, Prepare Them to Leave

I used to help people leave organizations. To get what they want in the workplace.

Now I help individuals stay by growing within their current roles.

The key?

For employers: Give employees what they need to learn and grow.

For employees: Learn and grow within your current role to gain access to another project or a new role.

Consider cultivating employees through leadership training, empowerment, and relevant skills development.

Do you know what's most important to your best people?

While speaking with hundreds of workers, this is what I found:

? Opportunity to grow beyond their current role

? Challenging and interesting projects

? Technical or industry training

? Soft skills training

? Leadership development and access to coaching

? Flexibility to custom-fit their lives into work

? Competitive salary

? Acknowledgement for their accomplishments

3?? Open Your Mind to Possibilities Rather than Constraints

When an artist dies, the body of work left behind is more prominent and cherished. This is particularly true when the prolific output has influenced the design profession for decades.

Milton Glaser, the graphic designer who created the iconic “I ?? NY” logo and inspired generations of creative thinkers, died on his birthday last Friday, June 26 at the age of 91.

Born in the Bronx and a student of Cooper Union, Glaser founded two organizations: Push Pin Studios shortly after graduation in 1954 and New York Magazine in 1968. Both of these current entities are a testament to his enduring ideas and work.

When I studied graphic design in college, we knew him as one of the most influencer thinkers of the graphic design profession.

His beautifully styled art invoked the sensitivities of fine art and sensibilities of commercial appeal manifested in his poster creations. Some may remember his psychedelic Bob Dylan album cover or the stunning graphic created for AMC’s 7th season of Mad Men.

What I remembered the most, however, was a video interview conducted by Jonathan Fields of the Good Life Project in 2014. Thanks to Jonathan, I revisited the wonder of how to think about life and a career through the eyes and brain of a treasured master. Milton Glaser: Certainty is a Closing of the Mind video.

Two spectacular quotes from Milton Glaser: .

?? When you do something that is guaranteed to succeed, you close the door to the possibility of discovery

?? Drawing is thinking

4?? Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go

While following up on network introductions, I had the awesome experience of meeting Bev Kaye.

She is a pioneer in the area of career development, employee engagement and retention and has been doing this for 40 years!

I finished her book Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, where she introduced her framework around managers having career conversations, rather than the conventional performance reviews.

She and co-author Julie Winkle Giulioni explain the importance of developing relationships with all of the individuals who do the work.

The people include part-time workers, freelancers, contract works, and the many who participate in the gig economy.

A few ideas:

?? Engage in 10-15 minute conversations more frequently with individuals, rather than wait for the yearly review.

?? You don’t have to finish every conversation because unfinished business sparks action.

?? Look back at what you’ve done, understand the patterns and themes, and understand how you feel about your work. This is required to move forward.

?? People starve for feedback.

?? Everyone can give feedback

Their model of Hindsight, Insight, Foresight is a perfect complement to the Career Agility Model.

Assemble the Best Available Talent for Your Project

In the height of the Hollywood studio system’s dominance in the movie industry, actors, directors, video producers, and the vast number of movie contributors worked for the studio.

If you’ve ever studied the closing credits of any movie, there are hundreds of different disciplines necessary to produce and launch a movie.

For the past 50 years, the Hollywood model gradually flipped to key collaborators who work on creative projects.

Also referred to as the alternative workforce, the teams assemble and work together for months or years until the production is completed. Members of the team come and go as needed.

Let’s take a look at some of the characteristics, behaviors, and attitudes stimulated by working on a project:

? Shorter time span

? Higher engagement

? Ownership initiative

? Sustained momentum vs. inevitable protracted slumps from the long haul

? Increased focus

? Heightened productivity

? Reduced boredom

? Projects are learning opportunities

How to Flex Your Agility Muscle

If you are interested in specific exercises or an overview for you or your organization on how to utilize one of the most important power skills in an uncertain world, contact me: [email protected]. I work with organizations and associations.

My processes and exercises will help you cultivate observation skills, flex your personal agility muscle, and apply agile principles to your business strategies.

Virtual Speaking, Training, and Workshops

Ask me about my agility and adaptability workshops that will help you, your teams, and your organization rebound in a time of a change and disruption. Available for teams, managers, and senior leaders.

We've adapted our content for virtual platforms. Looking for a keynote, workshop, or training on the topics of agility, change management, personal branding, or future of work for your organization? Send an email: [email protected] and we will schedule a call. Check out topic ideas for speaking and training. 

?Konstant Change, 2020