Issue #4 - Leading in Disruption
Overview. |
Are different skills required to lead in disruptive times versus at all other times? And what makes disruption so…. well, disruptive? Do things seem at least as uncertain – if not more so – than when COVID first hit? Are you and your team feeling fatigued and uncertain about how to deal with that continuing uncertainty?
If you can answer “yes” to some or all of the questions above, you mirror many of the conversations I’ve had over the last month with those in leadership roles. In response, the articles and sources this month primarily deal with the uncertainty caused by disruption – and what, as leaders, you might do to help yourself and others access your best thinking during these uncertain times. Scan these titles quickly, read my short summaries if the titles grab you, and/or delve more fully in places as your time allows. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and comments about your lived experiences in these areas of leadership! |
Opportunities. |
“A short introduction to making multiple interpretations” by Andrew Stevens.
For the second newsletter in a row, Andrew Stevens – my co-collaborator on a variety of leadership programs and co-founder and director of Uncharted Leadership Institute, Australia - has graciously provided this month’s ‘mini-development’ piece. His five-minute video introduces the skill needed for making multiple interpretations and why that is so critical to individuals and organizations grappling with complex challenges. This thinking capacity is one of the cornerstones for the work he and I do with leaders and organizations. Enjoy! |
Useful Resources. |
“Leadership in Disruptive Times”
(General Mark Welsh III, at the 2019 Air Warfare Symposium, 2/28/19) Comment: This 44-minute video of General Welsh is a must-watch. General Welsh is former Chief of Staff of the Air Force and is the current Dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. He offers 5 practical and inspiring recommendations for leading in disruption. If you can only read/watch one piece of this newsletter, make it this one. Key ideas (almost exclusively in his words): We are always in disruptive times - in literally every decade over the last hundred years. Great leadership principles are needed now as in those times – such lasting principles are never complicated but are also never easy. Five recommendations for leading in disruptive times:
"SCARF: A brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others" (David Rock, Neuroleadership Journal, Issue 1, 2008). Comment: This 2008, research-based article bears reviewing as a way of better understanding our reactions to the uncertainties in our world. The author describes the common factors that activate our threat-or-reward responses and interfere with our best thinking. Merely knowing about these factors can help reduce the threat responses that otherwise limit our effectiveness. Key ideas (almost exclusively in his words): The approach-avoid response is a survival mechanism designed to help people stay alive by quickly and easily remembering what is good and bad in the environment. This approach-avoid response is a reflexive activity; when activated, it decreases the overall executive functioning in the pre-frontal cortex (e.g. our best thinking). This threat response is often just below the surface and easily triggered. The five most powerful activators seem to be:
Knowing about the domains of SCARF helps one to label and reappraise experiences that might otherwise reduce performance. ____________ "Why managing uncertainty is a key leadership skill" (Michele Wucker, June 10, 2020, in strategy+business) Comment: The future is not predictable, and if our brain-wiring predisposes us to be activated by uncertainty – as David Rock suggests – then we better get good at coping with uncertainty. This article suggests some practices that will help develop that skill. Key ideas (mostly in the author’s words):
“How people learn to become resilient” (Maria Konnikova, February 11, 2016, in the New Yorker). Comment: There is a lot of research about resilience – how and when it’s developed, etc. – but it seems clear that having high levels of resilience can help one better cope with adversity/uncertainty. Can resilience be developed? Yes! Key ideas (mostly in the author’s words): Quoting the work of several developmental psychologists, the author explores why – given we all possess the same fundamental stress-response system – some of us seem to use the system so much more effectively than others.
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Book Review. |
“Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: how to thrive in complexity”
(Jennifer Garvey Berger, 2019). Comment: This third book by Jennifer Garvey Berger, head of Cultivating Leadership, grew out of her work around the globe over several decades in helping leaders navigate complexity – and from feedback she got that her first two books on complexity were too complex to understand! In this easy-to-read, 137-page book, she identifies (and provides keys for escaping) the “mindtraps” that keep us from being our best in complexity. Key ideas in the book (and mostly in Jennifer’s words, for brevity): We humans are brilliantly designed – for an older, less connected and more predictable version of the world. Our human instincts, shaped for (and craving) a simple world, fundamentally mislead us in a complex, unpredictable world – but that doesn’t seem to make us less likely to use them. These cognitive and emotional shortcuts – “mindtraps” - are part cognitive bias, part neurological quirk, and part adaptive response to a simple world that doesn’t exist anymore. We are:
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[In addition to subject matter expertise, organizational acumen, and higher-level thinking skills, effective executive leadership requires the sometimes-hard-to-define practices and skills that are embodied in ‘executive presence.’ Executive presence is an elusive concept, but we know it when we see it….and one can grow her executive presence.]
EP Tip of the Month: “Discipline.” Being on time when you usually aren’t. Practicing your speech for the 10th time. Discipline's value transcends the battlefield. Discipline drives you to do the work you don't enjoy but is required to enhance your leadership effectiveness. Discipline conquers fear. Discipline keeps you going when your curiosity, motivation, and excitement evaporate. Be reflective and proactive this week about when (and for what) your discipline is needed. |
Thanks, all! Let me hear from you, share this with others who might be interested, and please connect with me on LinkedIn!
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