Walking in 2021 on the New Territories of Leadership...

An ancient source of the word ? leadership ? reveals it meant ? crossing a threshold ?; in other words, stepping into a new territory, and taking a stand to be curious, discover new landscapes… and in some ways exploring the future. 

Indeed, Being Curious is one of the leadership qualities that has become essential today, as suggested in a recent article by Heidrick & Struggles, that indicates that "deep curiosity" is at the heart of 2 most critical post-covid skills: agility and inclusion. On one hand, Being Curious leads us to inquire into ourselves, others (clients, colleagues, stakeholders), as well as the organization and its ecosystem, in order to find new routes for success. It actually resonates with the Cynefin framework as explained by Dave Snowden, showing that in a situation of complexity and uncertainty, ? best practices ? do not work: we need to try out experiments and build ? new practices ?. 

But let’s rewind: the COVID crisis has indeed thrown us into a real day-to-day “VUCA world”, with increased complexity and uncertainty. Many faculty, authors & Enterprise leaders have written on the qualities of leadership needed in that “new normal” (as some said) situation. Let me offer a summary and interpretation of many thoughts from MIT Sloan & HBR, from authors as different as Eric J. McNulty, Deborah Ancona, Gianpiero Petriglieri, Linda A. Hill, Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Karthic Krishnan (CEO of Britannica Group) – to mention only some of them.

Being Curious & Connecting, definitely is one – inviting us not only to inquire, connect inside & outside into our networks, but also to leverage diversity: surrounding ourselves with diverse people and thoughts, and unleashing the collective genious of our teams, as Linda A. Hill says: ? Inclusive executives intentionally build time for informal conversations, sharing their struggles & inquiring ?. We must have the courage to not only look at validating our initial thoughts, but at alternative perspectives to challenge our thinking. 

• => If we want to develop curiosity for ourselves and our teams, how much will we, in our meetings this year, take time to challenge our assumptions and ask our colleagues to be sparring partners for each-other thinking? 

Empowering & Cooperating has also been put in the light of distance management, inviting us to put trust before control, rather than the opposite. In a context of constant change and uncertainty, a larger part of business is less and less controllable nor predictable. Facing the crisis, we have seen 2 kinds of reactions from Central Teams in large organizations (including administrations…) as reported by Fran?ois Dupuy: proposing more processes to control the sanitary situations, or simplifying the processes to enable people on the ground to make the best decisions: what do you think worked best? Indeed the crisis invites us to move forward in “distributed leadership” and cooperation.

• => If we are true in companies to state that ? everybody can be a leader”, who much will we walk the talk in 2021, and create the context to enable each employee to do their best, individually and collectively, in flexible ways?

Experimenting & Learning – the famous ? learning agility ?, already in a lot of “high potential” models, has also become essential in today’s world, in particular to nourish the capability of resilience that many thinkers report as critical. COVID has forced us to try out more (like tele-medicine, or learning @ distance): experimenting new approaches, getting feed-back rapidly and iterating, has proven to be a good way to build the path forward, instead of being obsessed by mistakes and adding more control. It is time to remember the lesson of Sumantra Goshal in his speech at the World Economic Forum, on “the smell of the place”: if we want people to demonstrate certain qualities, we should first change the context in which they operate!

• => If we want as managers to develop “learning agility” among our teams, are we ready to create the context of combining work & learning? Will 2021 be the year of embedding learning in the ways of working? 

Resilience is nourished by experimentation & learning; but it is also the ability to bounce back when knocked down by life, to endure and thrive, to cope with stress in a disruptive world, where new challenges become mainstays of life. What can help as leaders?  Here we come to the essence of leadership:  Committing to a ? desired ? future; in other words, remembering what we stand for, with grounded optimism.  And this commitment itself takes its energy into 3 sources: 

-        First, Sensemaking of the complex world we are living in; learning through inquiry from our networks, from others inside & outside the organization; looking for insights, context, and clarity. And then, sharing and inspiring others with the purpose that we see ;  

-        Second, Critical Thinking, to decide with integrity and discernment, through data but also intuition & experience – as data are only a testimony of the past, not necessarily a good prediction of a new future ; 

-        Third, Taking Responsibility to create this future: it is in creating a context for action that leaders can truly unleash an organization’s power - such as, in France, Renault & PSA deciding to build respirators to face the COVID crisis.

In a context of crisis, the lack of sense of purpose can create despair. This “commitment for the future” is the real way to “cross the threshold” and step into the future – or rather, start & build it.

• => In 2021, we need to not only react to the crisis, but to act upon the future we want. We need an inspiration, a vision of a desired future. And then stand into this future and decide what to do to create it. 

Knowing & Caring for self & others is also, more than ever, at the core of leadership –applying to both physical as emotional states. The need of ? physical distance ? during the crisis has revealed how much ? social proximity ? is important; and many managers have (re) discovered that knowing & caring for people, before caring for their roles & results, is at the heart of engagement and performance: an HBR article reports for instance, that a leader’s ability to enable a compassionate response directly affects the organization’s ability to maintain high performance in difficult times. And caring for others can only happen if we care for ourselves, cultivate self-awareness, recognize our talents and vulnerabilities – as Gareth Jones & Rob Goffee stated in their book “Why should anyone be led by me”, and source the energy we need. Indeed, social-emotional competencies are more than ever key, as mentioned by the World Economic Forum.

• => In 2021, how will we create moments and sanctuaries to reflect on events and regain perspective, and help our teams to do so? How much will you allow ourselves and our teams, to bring more of your emotional self to the workplace?

Being Curious & Connecting, Empowering & Cooperating, Experimenting & Learning, Commiting to a desired Future through Sense-making, Critical Thinking, and Responsibility, Knowing & Caring for Self & Others: here are I believe 5 “future-fit” leadership qualities … certainly more “being” than “doing” qualities, but therefore more powerful than “only" behaviors... and leaving to each of us the liberty (and responsibility !) to decide if & how to walk in 2021 on those new territories of leadership.

According to BJ Fogg, Director of Stanford University’s Behavior Design Lab, one way to develop personally is to encounter an “epiphany”, or to operate a “mindset change” ; another way, he says, is to develop “Tiny Habits”:  in other words, “little big things” that we can try out in our lives, long enough, to test the impact, learn from them, and if it makes sense, integrate in our ways of being . 

• => So, if some of this sharing was useful, which “tiny habits” will you try in 2021?