Leadership effectiveness, as in past socio-economic eras, is taking new meaning in today’s uncertainty-riddled post-industrial-digital age. With that, I invite you to join me in examining two truths and a lie with regards to leadership in today’s ever-changing context.
The Digital Age, post-pandemic disruption, and the global socio-political state continue to trigger new challenges, causing a building upon and ‘reprioritization’ of Industrial Age operating models and mindsets that previously birthed the dawn of human resource management.
Granted, the high stakes’ Industrial Revolution birthed management models needed to scale organizations — structure & consistency being critical to efficiently scale operating models.
Today’s human capital context comes with its own high stakes – a shaking and challenging of organizational models and mindsets that have long held true. Though effective in the Industrial Age, these models and mindsets may no longer be the differentiator in today’s age.
With this context, let’s explore Two Truths & a Lie – Leadership in Unprecedented Times:
- Structure and Consistency Still Rule!
- Not Knowing May Not Matter Much!
- You Default to Your Personality!
Let’s examine each of these in more detail by asking a few questions. Tip: these are not necessarily ‘either/or’ questions. Consider application context and possibility of ‘&’.
1. Structure and Consistency Still Rule! True or False?
- If you cannot scale it, does it really matter? Is it still viable and feasible? Or is the foundational ability to scale it the differentiator?
- Does being neurotypical (if that even a thing), have advantages over being neurodivergent? Are neurodivergent traits advantageous given the differentiators that come with being ‘afar’ from the norm? Aren’t we all unique (not neurotypical) anyway?
2. Not Knowing May Not Matter Much! True or False?
- Isn’t knowledge still power? Doesn’t knowing bring peace of mind? Or doesn’t knowing get in the way of knowing? Isn’t enquiry and seeking to understand more important?
- Is it possible that diligence and certainty may adversely impact leadership effectiveness?
3. You Default to Your Personality! True or False?
- Don’t hard wired traits mater more? Or doesn’t leadership development matter more?
- Am I not predictable based on my personality? Or can’t EQ and behaviors be molded through leadership development, even though IQ may stay more consistent?
A few parting thoughts:
Advances in neuroscience point to an important key to navigating today’s unprecedented times, Resilience. This comes with ‘rest’ — the ‘letting go’ vs ‘trying to figure things’ out! A rest that comes with consistently switching between the Executive Control Network & Default Mode Network, thereby unleashing the breakthroughs that come with being in the state of flow. A sample of the research literature can be found here and here.
Resilience comes with organizational models and mindsets that are not defined as ‘either/or’. I invite you to consider open-minded growth mindsets, with an emphasis on building resilience, by honing in on balancing the paradoxes of &:‘on’ & ‘off’, ‘being’ & ‘doing’, ‘letting go’ & ‘holding on’, and ‘the goal within’ & ‘the goal out there’!
In the big scheme of things, here are my responses: Two Truths: Not Knowing May Not Matter Much & You Default to Your Personality! Not knowing means that you can own up to it and get some help – nothing wrong with that. You do indeed default to your personality when the stakes are high and when you are not self-monitoring your behavior. Self-awareness and behavior adjustment are important aspects in Leadership development. The Lie: Structure and Consistency Still Rules! Structure and Consistency are important but are not sufficient in navigating today’s post-industrial age – being agile and resilient have the edge. After all, don’t the foundations of Structure and Consistency become ‘non-brainers’, to be easily automated.
Feel free to join the conversation by adding your comments here.
#WEF #digitalage #softskills #leadership #newnormal #resilience #reimaginationcoach #operatingmodels #organizationalmodels #postindustrialmindsets #neuroscience #mindsets
Additional Recommended Reading:
World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2023
“Analytical thinking and creative thinking remain the most important skills for workers in 2023. Analytical thinking is considered a core skill by more companies than any other skill and constitutes, on average, 9% of the core skills reported by companies. Creative thinking, another cognitive skill, ranks second, ahead of three self-efficacy skills – resilience, flexibility and agility; motivation and self-awareness; and curiosity and lifelong learning – in recognition of the importance of workers ability to adapt to disrupted workplaces. Dependability and attention to detail, ranks seventh, behind technological literacy. The core skills top 10 is completed by two attitudes relating to working with others – empathy and active listening and leadership and social influence – as well as quality control.”
McKinsey & Company’s Raising the resilience of your organization
“Repeatedly rebounding from disruption is tough, but some companies have a recipe for success: a systems mindset emphasizing agility, psychological safety, adaptable leadership, and cohesive culture.”