Leaders go DEEP? to avoid a crisis in leadership

There is a hidden truth being whispered in Board rooms behind closed doors. An open secret is being shared across your organisation and hollered on social media. You already know what it is, the truth that no one will state.

There is a crisis in leadership.?

There is a crisis in leadership and it’s threefold.

There is a crisis with how employees are allowed to demonstrate their self-leadership.

There is a crisis with how leaders (with a formal title of manager or leader), leads individually.

There is a crisis with how leaders lead collectively (whether they are junior, senior or exec teams).

How can we tackle this leadership crisis?

The environment we lead in today is complex, and constantly changing. This instability can leave individuals, leaders, and organisations, unprepared and uncertain as to what to do next or who to rely on.?

The?Cambridge Dictionary ?describes being?in crisis?as: ‘experiencing a time of great difficulty, danger or suffering’, which is a realistic way of describing what it is like to lead in the 2020s. Since 2020 we have witnessed organisations crumbling because leadership capability is unstable at all levels, and leaders are unsure how to respond in these uncertain times.

By focusing on leadership capability throughout the organisation, senior leadership can change the way the organisation strategically thinks, considers change and becomes more adept and nuanced in its leadership behaviour and ability to execute. Thus exceeding stakeholder expectations, improving employee engagement and amplifying its ability to adapt and thrive in this new complex and constantly shifting environment.?

The?Maverick Leadership Framework??looks at the four areas required by an organisation to successfully amplify leadership capability and empower individual and collective leadership impact and influence. Each area of the framework can be developed separately (and in any order), enabling the organisation to have engaged employees, with leaders able to strategically think through problems as they occur, innovate the right solutions and effectively execute, even if the situation is one that they haven’t experienced before.

Experiencing a time of great difficulty?

Since 2020 we have seen predictable stability crumble and change quicken. Leadership teams have struggled with the shifting concept of ‘the new normal’, finally realising that the new normal is a combination of the following:

·???????An inability to rely on the past as a predictor of the future

·???????Sweeping social movements outside the organisation effecting how stakeholders perceive the organisation (eg the Black Lives Matter Movement)

·???????Increased versatility required by the organisation and those working within it

·???????An unstable world (health, environmental disasters, political disruptions and increasing social unrest)

·???????Late Millennials and Gen Z insisting on organisations being diverse and taking a leading role in societal change and demonstrating social responsibility?

·???????The shift in workers’ priorities from ‘just earning a living’, to working for an organisation that cares and develops them and reflects the social good

·???????The need to be change eager throughout the organisation

·???????The recognition that to be customer centric, the decision making responsibility needs to be as close to the customer (whether that’s the internal or external customer) as possible. This may necessitate changes in organisational structure, mindset and the need to develop the leaders and employees to make this possible

·???????Evolving ways of working that does not prioritise working together in a centralised location?

Previously, good leadership could occur if leaders were able to reliably learn the lessons of the past and apply them to the future. Today’s leadership teams can find themselves struggling within an organisational culture that no longer supports or nurtures the right leadership behaviours for the organisation to succeed. Leaders who have either experienced little or ineffective development are left grappling to keep up with the changes required to lead in a complex, constantly changing world.

Experiencing a time of danger or suffering?

The?Psychological Contract ?is the fairness or balance (typically as perceived by the employee) between:

• how the employee is treated by the employer, and
• what the employee puts into the job.

Since the 1990s the psychological contract has become more unequal, with employees feeling that the balance of power has shifted inequitably towards the employer, as the nature of work changes. The pandemic of 2020 has highlighted the effects of the rapidly disappearing equity of the psychological contract, as employees experience burnout, reduced emotional resilience and increased uncertainty. Covid restrictions and easements have increased the perception of increased physical danger and the demand for hybrid or fully remote roles. The combination of this and reduced leadership capability has fuelled The Great Resignation, where employees leave organisations that do not provide psychological safety, trusted leaders and a genuine demonstrable care for them. They are leaving despite not have a new job to go to. It’s a ‘flight’ response to perceived danger and psychological suffering.

DEEP? Leadership - the foundation block for change

Successful leaders and organisations tend to utilise DEEP? Leadership as a consistent thread that underlies the changes in leadership capability that they wish to amplify. A brief outline of the acronym is as follows:

D is for Develop

In my previous article?‘It’s your Leadership Identity? which makes your impact personal’ ?I highlighted how a leader can accelerate their leadership capability. Organisations that encourage leaders to develop their Leadership Identity? on an individual and collective basis, discover that their organisation improves its leadership culture, aligns its workforce and restores psychological safety. This development engages employees, builds trust and the effective identification of problems and increases the likelihood of the successful execution of defined solutions.??

E is for Enhance

When organisations encourage their workforce to enhance their ability to impact and influence they focus them towards aligning their values, collaboration and working with the greater good principle in mind.

This focus enables the organisation to become more customer centric, regardless of whether that customer is internal or external to the organisation; enabling a continuous improvement mindset and a learning organisation.

E is for Engage

Poor communication and engagement strategies can fuel organisational distrust and workplace conflict. The need to engage key stakeholders cannot be underestimated especially in times of great uncertainty. When this engagement occurs, changes in strategy and execution are readily accepted, enabling the organisation to increase its adaptability to fluctuations in its marketplace. Workplace turnover is reduced and personal resilience can be heightened.

P is for Perform

When an organisation focuses on amplifying performance and workplace capability, they reduce the likelihood of having reward and appraisal systems that prioritise compliance towards processes and behaviours that do not genuinely enhance performance.

Leadership development goes beyond technical skill acquisition and includes the turnkey skills that make improved capability possible.

There is a hidden truth being whispered in Board rooms behind closed doors. An open secret is being shared across your organisation and hollered on social media. You already know what it is, the truth that no one will state.

There is a crisis in leadership.?

However, this crisis can be averted if leaders are allowed to go DEEP?, and organisations take a lateral thinking approach to how they develop both the art and science of leadership within the workplace.

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Judith Germain ?is the founder and principal consultant of?The Maverick Paradox, ?a leadership consultancy that utilises Maverick Leadership principles to enable business owners, leaders, the C-Suite, and organisations, thrive in complex, constantly changing environments by improving their diversity of thought, impact, influence and leadership capability.?

She is the leading authority on Maverick Leadership, an author, C-Suite and CEO Mentor, consultant, trainer, and speaker. Judith is a Brainz 500 Global honouree, recognised as one of 500 Companies and Influential Leaders who are recognised for their entrepreneurial success, achievements, and dedication to helping others.

Full bio and enquiries on how to hire Judith at?maverickparadox.co.uk