What's Required of Leadership Now
Anthony (Tony) Rogers, PhD
Senior Talent Management Consultant ? Global Leadership & Executive Coaching ? Cross-Cultural & Inclusive Leadership ? Safety Leadership ? Helping organizations and leaders create cultures of inclusion and safety
The pandemic COVID-19 is the most recent example of our earthly interconnectedness and the need for joint solutions. Our business leaders are now navigating the complexity of restarting the economy safety. Yet, individually, no leader has the capacity to sense and make sense of all the change swirling around us. Our wisest leaders know that their individual perspectives are limited and biased, enabled and constrained, by what they can see and know through others in their organizations and communities.
To grapple with the reality of the pandemic requires disciplined, collaborative effort. We can’t solve complex problems together unless we have a way of aligning our realities. Leaders’ will need to convene other voices to discern the patterns emerging from the complexity swirling around them. There's a paradox to be managed: confidently set a course of action and remain open to multiple perceptions about the best course of action.
Everyone has a stake in these imminent decisions. Leader will need to think carefully about how to use their "convening power." Which venues and conversations and what different voices should be put into dialogue? This includes internal constituents, such as employees, as well as external constituents. Discerning the best direction is dependent on the quality of the dialogues that leaders will create around them. The most adaptive response will be based on the way they hear and see patterns emerging from the complexity swirling around them and then interpret it to point the way forward.
Committed followership is more likely realized when people recognize that their leaders have the best handle on their multiple interests. Hence, curiosity and empathy are crucial as we deal with the pandemic. This gives the best handle on reality, both in terms of the organizational realities that only can be known through these voices and the commitment that comes from stakeholders who feel their vital interests are being addressed.
A key role for leadership is to prevent premature foreclosure of dialogue and keep these differences from splitting off and becoming even more difficult to integrate in the future. It’s the well-managed interplay of difference that allows organizations to be creative and vital amid the volatility and complexity that defines our situation today.
The leader’s influence is undermined to the extent that members of the organization are not open with her about their actions. Hence, she must model transparency as a value and skill for it to be practiced and reciprocated by others in the organization; otherwise, the strategy going forward is built on sand.
This dialogic leader understands the multiple goods, interests, and stakeholders that exist. She has a tolerance for multiplicity and complexity. Dialogic leaders realize that they must creatively integrate diverse inputs into new wholes to shape a relevant strategy. Most important, today’s leaders must bring a moral stance to discern the interests of others. She shows how she desires the best for those she serves. To this end, dialogic leaders are adept at discovering, articulating, and modeling shared values for their organizations.
Our results and successes going forward will depend on how to work through conflict toward collaboration and mutual understanding. It will be rocky. Yet, even strongly held differences in perspective when transparently acknowledged, can illuminate biases, challenge closed minds, and offer a broader horizon. The lack of formal agreement on one occasion doesn’t preclude the deepening and broadening of understanding over time. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.
Experience shows us that leadership will be limited in time and scope if it does not have critical insight into organizational reality. This critical insight will only come from orchestrating the best mix of organizational dialogues to make sense of an ever-growing complexity ahead of us.
Meaning, values, recognition, and significance are even more at stake in organizational communication right now. By articulating shared values, leaders create a foothold for dialogue as a way of working through conflicting perspectives. When we can point to shared values and purposes, we are able to put ourselves on a unique footing with others—in a shared space. To the extent that these shared purposes can transcend private, personal interests (profit, money, personal advancement), we’ll have a greater chance of reaching a common view on the best way forward to save lives and sustain prosperity for future generations.
To assess your own dialogic skills, complete a free self-questionnaire and receive a personalized report. Follow the link below. Use this access code: 52euvub8
https://t3.talkingtowardtruth.org/#/
Read more about the “dialogical” leader in my book Talking Toward Truth: Inspiring New Options Through Dialogue.
Leadership Consultant/Coach with Behavioral Science & Systems Perspective for C-Suite and Senior Leaders internationally
4 年Thank you for such a thoughtful and helpful article on the practice of Empathy from a leaders perspective!
Executive Coach / Principal Consultant at Momentum Change Solutions / Trusted partner to leaders around the globe
4 年I also recommend Talking Toward Truth for all leaders and practitioners seeking insights and tools to lead through complex situations.
Executive Coaching & Leadership Development | 11,000+ hours
4 年Tony is a colleague of mine. This article is a taste of the excellent book he wrote, which I highly recommend. If you want to take a deeper dive, order Talking Toward Truth on Amazon.