Leadership in Turbulent Times

What does it mean to lead during turbulent times??During calm times, everything is in order, and change can happen slowly. Many leaders can be successful in that kind of environment; it’s not that hard. However, leading in turbulent times is a different story altogether. In this article, we’ll discuss?how to be an effective leader?during periods of rapid change, upheaval, and crises such as the COVID pandemic.

Doing Business in a VUCA World

Leading in turbulent times is challenging because there’s chaos embedded with a state of rapid change. There’s a common business term called “VUCA,” which represents the business world: It is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. One can say that in business there is always uncertainty and there can always be a crisis.?

Our world is changing faster and faster, and?the pace of change itself has increased.?As a result, the “VUCA-ness,” or level of volatility in our world, has increased.

Many leaders and organizations are experiencing a high sense of turbulence and change. It’s hard for them to be grounded, stable, and clear enough to lead their organizations to success. Leaders are being called to step up to the challenge. How do we succeed with that??

The first step to success is to understand that we are falling into the traps. From there the patterns for success become clear and compelling.

Trap #1: Looking To the Past

One of the most common traps for leaders during turbulent times is looking toward the past and trying to find solutions for today from the solutions of yesterday.?While it’s important to look at the past for guidance and understanding, we need to look toward new solutions for present challenges.?

“A problem cannot be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it”- A. Einstein?

Overweighting on past information and putting our faith in tradition is a very common trap that disallows leaders from functioning effectively in turbulent times. Thinking, “This is the way we’ve always handled it,” is a trap. Besides, why would anyone do the same thing and expect it to change or solve problems??

Success Pattern: Openness to Change

Progressive leaders are ready to challenge anything and everything.?They ask, “Why are we doing this? How does this serve us now?” This success pattern is an openness to change.?

History or tradition is not relevant to discovering what is needed to thrive in this current business climate. What’s relevant is asking, “What do I need to do as a leader?” or “what do we need to do as an organizational system?” Business as usual will not make anything more efficient or sustain success.

Continue reading the blog, where we discuss how to be a strong leader during times of rapid change, upheavals, and crises, such as the COVID breakout, and learn the additional traps by?clicking here.