For organisations to thrive in the disruptive world, apart from knowing how to live and learn in this new reality, it is crucial that they have leaders who really know how to lead in turbulent times.
When it comes to driving organisational change, the key is a strong leader who provides direction and support to his or her people. According to The Ken Blanchard Companies, leaders affect success in three critical areas.
The first focal point is the importance of clarity and alignment of goals, not only for the leader himself or herself, but also their people. Many organisations still see communication about goals as a periodic event, say once a year, rather than the framework for continuous dialogue. It is vital to understand that goals should be a constant conversation that is clear, compelling and documented so that the leader understands how to help and support his or her people.
This brings us to the second focal point. Once leaders understand their own goals as well as the goals of their people, this allows them to develop the ideal leadership style to match the needs of those they are leading. This is to say, leaders need to be aware of their own leadership style and develop the flexibility to adapt styles to match the needs of subordinates and/or changing contexts. After all, not every single person reacts positively to the same type of leadership style; therefore, leaders should be able to adapt accordingly.
Effective deployment of the right leadership styles helps to support the third critical area of facilitating trust-based and transparent conversations around goals. As previously mentioned, without constant conversation about goals, leaders will never be able to understand the needs of their people. As a leader, it is imperative to understand that as the business environment changes, so do your people; hence, regular conversations are indispensable.
Another important concept worth mentioning from a study by The Ken Blanchard Companies is the “leadership profit chain”. This concept is meant to convey the impact of great operational leadership on employee passion, customer devotion and organisational vitality. The connection to these elements is clear: by taking care of your people, they in turn take care of the customers, which ultimately contributes to profit.
Conclusively, leaders evolve into a language of leadership. Understanding what their people’s needs are and how to address them is vital for anyone who aspires to evolve from a good leader to a great one. The most influential leaders are those who are able to hold people accountable and also ensure productivity, as well as their ability to affect their employees’ mood, attitude and engagement at work.
In the world we are living in today, if we’re not disrupting ourselves, we will soon be disrupted. In other words, to change before we have to is a much better path to take than to change because we have to.
Similarly, at the organisational level, your organisation needs to be disruptive or else it will eventually be disrupted. For an organisation to become disruptive, however, it has to start with having disruptive leaders.
I know that in the world of unknowns and uncertainty, it may not always be possible for leaders to provide clear direction and guidance for the team. Leaders these days often find themselves in situations where they have no answers, and this trend is expected to become even more prevalent in the future.
Nonetheless, leaders will need to make sure that they are stretching their perspectives sufficiently and seeing the world from different angles. They have to be able to tell stories and engage people in ways that make them feel inspired and connected. Moreover, leaders have to develop a mindset that allows them to stay positive and spot the opportunities rather than problems in the situation they are facing.
Also, to survive in a much more complex world, leaders must empower their people to execute new ideas. This does not necessary imply that leaders need to be creative, but it’s more about them leading the organisation in ways that help their people to continuously see and embrace outside perspectives, dare to take risks and be creative.
Simply put, to lead through a disruptive change, we need leaders who don’t have to know the best answers, but who can inspire people with the possibility. They will be there to support their people throughout the journey, promoting collaboration and innovative thinking through their outward mindset for the betterment of their organisations.
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Arinya Talerngsri is Chief Capability Officer and Managing Director at SEAC (formerly APMGroup) Southeast Asia's leading executive, leadership and innovation capability development centre. She can be reached by email at arinya_t@seasiacenter.com or www.linkedin.com/in/arinya-talerngsri-53b81aa
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