What do leaders who excel when facing complex challenges possess? What tools do they have in their arsenal, and what do they do differently?
Old-style leadership, stressing direct control and fixed outcomes, is becoming less effective in addressing today's complex organizational challenges.
What, then, defines the leader who thrives in such an environment?
We'll explore vital skills modern leaders require to guide their teams through uncertainty and swift changes efficiently.
Drawing insights from a riveting talk between industry professionals, Tom Kerwin, 'Innovation Tactics' author, and John Cutler, Toast's Senior Director of Product Enablement.
These capabilities go beyond the conventional "soft skills" and "culture fit" to address the real-life complexities of today's workplace.
- Acknowledgment of Complexity: Leaders recognize their role in contributing to complex scenarios and understand that solutions often require acknowledging this complexity rather than oversimplifying it.
- Encouraging New Dynamics: They facilitate new ways for people to interact, breaking traditional silos and fostering new ideas.
- Embracing Ambiguity: Leaders who embrace ambiguity foster a variety of ideas and perspectives, thereby enhancing the exploration of potential opportunities, instead of hastily settling for a single solution.
- Multi-causality: They consider multiple contributing factors to issues, avoiding the simplification of problems to single causes.
- Present-Focused Action: Effective leaders utilize the current situation's potential rather than solely aiming for future goals, recognizing and building on what currently works.
- Diversity of Perspectives: They actively seek out and blend different viewpoints, understanding that true innovation comes from challenging one's preconceptions.
- Patience and Minimal Intervention: They understand the value of patience and allow processes to unfold naturally to some extent without premature interference.
- Anticipatory Thinking: These leaders are adept at anticipating potential effects and outcomes, and preparing for multiple scenarios.
- Curiosity Over Judgment: They approach challenges with an open mind, prioritizing curiosity over snap judgments.
- Balancing Contradictions: They navigate through 'both/and' scenarios, understanding the coexistence of opposing forces or ideas.
- Safe Experimentation: They intervene in ways that are safe and likely to yield positive outcomes, being mindful of potential negative side effects.
- Intuitive Decision Making: Balancing data-driven decisions with intuition, recognizing patterns where logic alone may not suffice.
- Valuing Diverse Skills: Acknowledging and appreciating a broad array of strengths and skills, even those they may not personally resonate with.
- Collaborative Problem Solving: Engaging others in understanding and shaping their environment collaboratively rather than dictating solutions.
- Coherence Over Alignment: Seeking coherent actions among team members without forcing a rigid alignment, thus fostering resilience.
- Organic Development: Viewing progress as organic growth that evolves, rather than rigidly planned outcomes.
- Adaptive Methods: Tailoring approaches to fit the specific context and challenge, recognizing that one size does not fit all.
- Navigating Uncertainty: Balancing the drive towards uncertain areas with the need for achievable 'quick wins'.
The truth is that no one can elude adversity forever. Whether you love to live your life on the edge or are someone who prefers playing things safe, life will never be a bed of roses. It will inevitably and eventually throw unpleasant surprises and challenges in your direction.
Acknowledgment, collaboration, and preparation are among the keys that all the best leaders embrace.
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