Going Deep, Playing Wide

Diversity in Action

I recently headed to this beautiful location to kick off an eight-part Future-Focused Leadership Masterclass. The cohort of twenty people heralded from around the world, each leading functions or teams in different countries and regions.

As I scanned the faces in the room we were working in, it struck me that I was observing the epitome of diversity. Not the diversity we bang on about in corporate speak. Rather, I was taking in a rich, visceral symphony of diversity in action. An array of dynamic personalities, each of us shaped by our upbringing, education, culture, social norms and a lifetime of experiences. All connecting, contributing, and collaborating with ease.?

The feeling stayed with me as I headed back to London, only interrupted by my news feeds determinedly pushing headlines of conflict, disaster and existential threat. The latter centred around war and AI.

It made me think of Yuval Harari’s new book: ‘Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI’. Harari makes the point that whilst we must uphold our individual rights to freedom of speech, our platforms should be legally responsible for the AI algorithms designed to curate and amplify ‘engaging’ content.

“AI can process information by itself, and thereby replace humans in decision making. AI isn’t a tool—it’s an agent.” Yuval Harari

Right now, there isn’t much we can do about the runaway effects of amplified dodgy and anxiety-inducing content, except to curate our feeds and create space between what’s going on ‘out there’ and our vast inner worlds.

Later that week, I was having a conversation with a friend who asked me what my new book was about. I told her it's about my experience helping execs and teams evolve and grow, and a series of future-focused lenses needed to create space in our minds and better navigate our world of work.

She looked at me quizzically, and I said, "You know, it's based on the three things I do", and she shot back, with a touch of irony, "I don't really know exactly what you do.”

I was rooted to the spot as a penny dropped, gently clinking as it landed in my mind's eye. I watched it with fascination as it lazily rolled around on its ridged edges until it came to a stop, shining up at me.

I love moments like this. The seeds that land, take root and open doors in our minds to what's missing, what's not clear, and what needs to change. I realised that I assume people know about the three core things I do. They have been consistent over the last couple of decades and as a result, I don't talk about them a great deal.

Going Deep

It reminded me of David Epstein's brilliant book 'Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World'. Epstein suggests the way to succeed is by gaining broad experiences, experimenting relentlessly, taking detours, and exploring many interests.

And yes, we still need a firm foundation of expertise to build on. For me, it's coaching leaders and executive teams, designing and delivering masterclasses, and keynote speaking. Three things I have decades of experience and expertise in. These are the foundations I invest a great deal in, going deep, honing my capabilities, and constantly adapting to better serve my clients.

Playing Wide

When I worked in Executive Search, over two decades ago, organisations were not looking for range - if anything, they were looking for demonstrable skills and a good fit. Executives had a specific job to do in a well-defined structure, and diversity was not top of the list. It made better sense in the business context of the time.

Today, you're unlikely to read a job or corporate culture description that doesn't go wide. People with diverse thinking, perspectives, attributes, capabilities and lived experiences are in high demand, along with the usual prerequisites of skills and expertise. However, many of our corporate structures, cultures and the systems they’re built on are lagging behind the rhetoric. The thinking at the top is often rooted in previous eras.

As a result, many orgs are not set up to utilise the breadth of human capabilities and the creativity and wisdom inherent in their people. Unless they transform, they are likely to simply slide into irrelevance. They will be unable to attract and retain great talent and compete with their creative, innovative competitors in this AI-infused era.

"Economic optimism doubles, yet almost half of CEOs do not believe their businesses will be viable in a decade as tech and climate pressures accelerate." PwC Global CEO Survey

AI is Deep, Humans are Wide

As AI thankfully laps up the mundane tasks in many of our roles, we are fast awakening to employing its capabilities to go deep, very deep. Yet, how we use AI needs an ethical, philosophical approach, and the breadth of uniquely human capabilities.

This calls for us to hone many of our attributes that have been undervalued and overlooked for some time. Attributes that allow us to be comfortable with ambiguity, adapt, get creative and dance lightly with our changing context.?It’s also time for us to be more discerning when thinking of joining a new company or taking on a new client. How an organisation markets itself may be very different to the reality of their culture. And as we all know, culture is slow to change.

Qs Worth Asking Ourselves

What's your depth of expertise?

How much time and energy do you invest in honing and developing it?

Do people know exactly what it is, and what value you deliver? [note to self]

What's your 'wide', and do you get to use and hone it in your current role?

What actions can you take today to develop your much-needed human capabilities in our AI-infused world?

Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to explore more for yourself, your team or your organisation.

Until next time, take good care of yourself.

Best, Louise

Useful Links

• Executive Coaching | Team Coaching
• Masterclasses
• Keynotes

More Depth

If you’re reading, Relevant: Future-Focused Leadership, you’ll find more depth on the topics I’ve mentioned:

1. Diversity: Part II, Chapter 11: People, Culture and Connection (in a section titled: Diversity, the Lifeblood of Business)
2. Attributes: Part I, Chapter 2: Being Future-Fit (in a section titled: Future-Fit Attributes)
3. Wisdom: Part I, Chapter 4: Becoming Wiser
4. Creativity: Part II, Chapter 8: The Art and Science of Flow (in a section titled: The Creative Itch)
5. AI: Part III, Chapter 14: Living in an AI-Infused World