Four in-demand Capabilities to lead in VUCA world

When you give away control over others, we create space for joy, creativity and love. When we start influencing our own actions over which we have absolute control then we start configuring the software to perform better.

When we think about capabilities, we often think about skills and knowledge that we can acquire externally and though that's important, I want to focus on four things that we could configure differently within us. This world has changed dramatically compared to our own evolution but thankfully our inner core can be configured to perform better in these changed circumstances.?

When sailors make a start, they take with them maps, travelers, ships and a navigator and hopefully what I am describing below will help us sail through this VUCA world.

Think long term - I have two stories to share - One is from Viktor Frankl. When you read the book ``Man's search for meaning", you get a sense of the wrongness of future prediction. The events and story is gripping in itself but what he goes on to achieve by establishing Logotherapy as a school of psychotherapy is phenomenal. Second story is that of Rajendran who participated in a full marathon when he was 79 years young. He completed his first full marathon within a time little over 6 hrs and has now gone ahead and completed many full marathons traveling all around.?

What connects these stories for me is they all found a purpose for their existence when they were being put to test by the circumstances. Victor Frankl, wanted to understand the why behind his sufferings and wanted to lead a life that would be worthy not only for himself but for others. Rajendran wanted to stress on the idea of better late than never and took up running marathons when he turned 74. We never know when we will peak, such is the beauty of our existence, our potential keeps surprising us and others. Knowing that we have a bigger purpose and haven't peaked yet puts the onus on us to act and challenge our known boundaries.

Carol S Dweck talked about the power of Yet, a high school in Chicago gave students grades as Not Yet instead of fail. Similarly, when we pursue our goals, we have to think long term and think that we are not there Yet rather than thinking that we can't be there at all.

When you believe in your potential, it's not taking a bet or living in hope, you are investing continuously in tomorrow's capabilities and taking a long term view. The goal is to have a vision for your life, such that all things considered that it justifies your effort.?

I have mentored many people in my life and always feel proud of their achievements but can't take credit for the same. My job was to plant a seed, the environment and continuous watering to that idea came from the individuals themselves. Kudos to them that they kept on believing in their abilities, thought long term and today are doing much better

Expanding Perception - Very rarely we can see things from another's perspective, most of the time our thoughts cloud the streams of thinking that exist but we just can't see. Similar to having blind spots while driving, we have and develop blind spots in life. The only way out is to take help and expand your perceptions and reduce these spots. Our perspectives are like snapshots that we store based on what we experience and it's within our gift to re-do these snapshots so that we don't get stuck in/with our thinking.

We conduct interesting exercises with our leaders and ask them to collect feedback, critical and otherwise. We ask them not to react to some of the feedback that they might hear for the first time in their life but rather accept and thank the person giving feedback for taking time. We even ask them to come forward and share their feedback with others. Many chose to do this even though this is purely voluntary. The whole experience is very humbling for most.?

This is probably the first time in a professional context, they feel vulnerable and exposed but once they know that this will make them stronger and grounded, they feel a weight being lifted from their shoulders and more importantly they realize the power of feedback and start changing their perspectives.

People also do few other things to change their perspectives on things like traveling, running, walking, or even going to space. I came across one such story recently called "Walk of Hope" in India, where people walked from Kanyakumari (one southernmost tip of the country) to Kashmir (the northernmost tip). One such traveler stated that though externally he changed a lot, the real change has come from Inside.

People after some of the experiences have great appreciation for simple things in life that they otherwise were taking for granted like drinking water, shoes etc.. these experiences helps us change our perspective of things

Connection - Connection is why we are here and I will go further and add that that's the reason that you are reading this :) We all yearn for connection, especially when the connection gives you a special sense of belonging, togetherness and joy. We would love to be part of a network where we feel respected and listened to. Networking helps us expand our thinking.

When we form a coalition, we may not find like minded people all around but each one of us are connected because together we do something that each one of us can't do individually. The impact of our collective strength is far reaching than the miniscule collection of our faults which might drag us down.?

Don’t discard people because you think they won’t be useful to you. Instead, do build a network that contains people you like, and enjoy spending time with, and who enjoy spending time with you—because those are the easiest and most pleasant relationships to nurture. These are also the people who are most likely to help you when you need it. However, also engage with those who challenge your views and opinions, and make you think.

I believe in this that you are only one person away from a life-changing opportunity. I worked in a call center when I started my career and a caller, told me about an interview that's scheduled for the coming weekend. I didn't know the person who was talking to me but I listened to him and then disconnected. That thought about the interview lingered on in my mind and I went ahead and reached this place where the interview was scheduled. I was skeptical but wanted to check anyway, one thing was certain, I didn't go there to give an interview (Read this - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/green-pants-slipper-sriram-mecheri/) To my surprise I got that job and then that started me realizing my potential and power of connecting with people outside my work. To this date, I don't know who the person was and I guess it's immaterial. I have tried to be that person in other’s life and that's my way of contributing to this powerful network called life.

Having a sound network is key for essentialism, our brain's potential is endless but developing skills to leverage our brain as a whole is a lifelong process and networking helps us do that. Please focus on building a genuine network and giving more, not because you want to take more but because you want to help more.

Stop controlling and predicting - We underestimate our long term and overestimate our short term. This mean that we are not good at predicting the future and always think we can do so much more in the present?

Whatever your goals are, be aware that you are likely to get frustrated in the short term. With consistent effort, the circumstances and your perspective will change over time. One of the best pieces of advice that I have received in life is that you overcome fear with action and whenever I have followed that, I never got it wrong and it always helped. Don’t give up easily in the face of initial failures. Always keep in mind that you will get better with repeated effort and changed perspectives

Underestimate your abilities in the short run and you will not quit in the face of temporary failure. Overestimate your abilities in the long run and you will set bigger goals for yourself.

Always break your big dreams into manageable, tangible and time bound actions, take those actions, learn and adjust. I am sure this sounds simple but as you know, simple things are difficult and become incredibly difficult to sustain. Having a personal to-do list is a great way to stop procrastinating, plan your great day, quarter and a year as well.

The truth is, you can’t control the world around you. You have as much control over others as you do over the weather, natural disasters, or the past. It’s a waste of energy to focus your efforts on controlling external forces.

But while you can’t control what happens to you, you can always choose how you respond. I think the solution for tackling the VUCA world may have many forms but it all starts with you. Maybe you can start with four above, if not these then your own four, if not four then something that makes sense to you. We just have to be Agile about this whole thing!