It’s easy to listen when an article, podcast, or speaker begins with platitudes about the speed at which the world is changing, perhaps referring to generative AI or the recent pandemic. Anything else new?
Change is constant, but managing change or managing through change can be a huge challenge. There are even acronyms of military origin that describe things leaders face on a daily basis. It's called VUCA: volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Or, as the author of the Harvard His Business review article blithely described this phenomenon a few years ago: “Hey, it's crazy out there!”
Frankly, leadership in such an environment, especially in a large, complex organization, is probably more difficult than any individual can handle, and you shouldn't even try to. No one can do it all.
This isn't to say that the days of iconic rock star leaders are over. The business world has always had its share of industry and organizational giants who command attention when they walk into a room, such as Jeff Bezos, Jamie Dimon, Bill Gates, and Satya Nadella.
But they are the exception. And we don't always know what's going on behind the scenes on a day-to-day basis. For example, over four decades, Charlie Munger made many of the decisions that created Berkshire Hathaway's financial success and helped establish Warren Buffett's reputation as the “Smart Man of Omaha.” The late Munger seemed content to be Berkshire Hathaway's lesser-known No. 2.
The reality is that even superhero CEOs who are always in the news can't see all the corners. And they cannot single-handedly quickly adapt the massive organizations they lead to all the new whack-a-mole challenges we face in today's world. It's impossible.
What many large organizations need instead is solid, stable leadership, where CEOs and other senior executives must mobilize, empower, and sense strong teams, team leaders, and talent. We focus on being responsive and adaptable. That's what you need to succeed in a VUCA environment.
What kind of team are we? A diverse team. I'm not just talking about diversity in the usual sense. As human nature, our bias is to surround ourselves with people with whom we feel comfortable. People who have a lot in common with us. That's what people do.
For example, a survey conducted a few years ago by the online job site Indeed found that 37% of managers who “identified as having come from a top school” said they only wanted to hire candidates from top educational institutions. I found out that there is.
Not only does it create blind spots, it can reduce your talent pool and prevent you from finding great talent from unexpected places.
Yes, we want our team, especially our management team, to build strong personal connections and ensure we get along. But the bigger challenge many CEOs face is bringing diverse perspectives to the table before making big decisions. Because even many executives tend to “get along,” as the saying goes. That's why leaders need to surround themselves with people from different backgrounds and with different perspectives to help them arrive at a stronger vision and strategy for their organization.
A few years ago, I was helping a senior leadership team undertake a culture change. The CEO knew that the company, which had been a market leader for many years, had to change. how We are working to drive the innovation and agility required for digital transformation so we can remain market leaders.
We spent a lot of time focusing on the behaviors we expect from corporate leaders. One is productive disagreement, or speaking your mind.
When executive team members evaluated themselves against various target behaviors, one thing in particular stood out. That's how bad I rated myself when it came to productive disagreements.
When I shared this assessment with the CEO and management team, the conversation went something like this:
CEO (looking shocked and surprised): “What do you mean by not speaking your mind? We are the management team. We meet every week. Why do we meet if no one speaks openly about what they really think?”
Management: Silence.
Management: Please be more silent.
Management: What a really uncomfortable silence.
Head of business unit (finally): “Well, let me tell you… it's dangerous to disagree with your opinion.”
Total silence.
CEO: “Please tell me more…”
They continued a productive (and highly facilitated) conversation about team dynamics. The business leader bravely explained how the CEO had strong opinions and would argue back every time someone disagreed with him. The CEO was promoted from within, but did not appreciate the new dynamic that was created when he went from being a peer to being in charge. They work it out, let the CEO have the last say on agenda items, ask for dissenting opinions on everything, challenge everything where there is immediate agreement, and push many decisions onto the team to resolve. We've made a few changes, including:
The gist of this story is that in hierarchical organizations, and by that I mean almost all organizations, leaders must 1) strive to elicit diverse and opposing views from their teams; 2) Listen and discuss rather than argue. 3) Move from hierarchical decision-making to true teamwork whenever possible.
It may sound trite, like the phrase often used about disagreements, but not offensively: “Teamwork makes dreams come true.”
follow me LinkedIn. check out my website.
