This month’s Harvard Business Review has a photo of an office chair with a five-point seatbelt on it, as in, “Prepare for turbulence!”
What?!
As it is, we’ve been dancing on a rolling log for the past few years. It’s like a guy with a “mua-hah-hah!” laugh is about to throw a bucket of oil on the log, just for kicks.
No fair.
What?!
As it is, we’ve been dancing on a rolling log for the past few years. It’s like a guy with a “mua-hah-hah!” laugh is about to throw a bucket of oil on the log, just for kicks.
No fair.
Thing is, that most leaders under these circumstances bear down and hyper-focus. They do more of what they were already doing. Maybe they’ll get lucky and that will work. But it’s not a strategy.
In that same HBR issue was this article on building a dynamic, living strategy. And, from my perspective working with middle and senior leaders every day, good, flexible strategies need to be supported by practices that develop thriving, flexible teams. Specifically:
- Create a culture of listening:
- When things feel uncertain, it’s tempting to plow ahead. After all, getting something done feels good. The trouble is that you miss so many of the solutions, ideas and observations that can help. Amgen CEO on listening
- Learn everything you can from trial and error:
- One of the strategies in the HBR article is to experiment. Amazon has learned as much from failed experiments as it has from its successes. To do that well, you have to take the shame out of failure. That starts with setting the example as a leader — not beating others up when things don’t go right. And not beating yourself up when things don’t go right. Your team is watching and they’ll take your lead.
- Let things get a little personal:
- I’m delivering my I to the 4th Power program again to Visa this year. What I notice every time I deliver this program, is that when people share a little about themselves, others see their intelligence and talent instead of their boundaries and limitations. That means they create more trust. Where there is trust, there is safety…and more creativity and bigger ideas.
If you can get these things working together, your team increases its bandwidth for innovation and solutions, reduces risk from business realities, and delivers results.
Years ago I trained several groups of middle and senior managers at a multi-national. Those leaders consistently reported:
- Feeling motivated and focused
- Collaborating better with others and wasting less energy on frustration and gossip
- Having the willingness to go the extra mile
During the four years I worked with that organization, they were #1 in their hyper-competitive market and were able to keep that position even during turbulent times.
If you’re interested in the possibilities and impact these ideas can have for your organization, or have questions about your specific situation, reach out to schedule a time to talk. We will discuss where your organization is, where you’d like to be, and whether one of our Clear Strategy Coaching Programs could be a fit.