This is a BIG topic. Leadership has been disrupted.

In times of deep uncertainty, it’s no surprise we need new ways of leading. Right now, it’s an ideal time for leaders to reflect on what they learned from a period of crisis where we experienced imposed change along with rapid decision making and adoption.

Which path will they take?

Which characteristics will best equip leaders to navigate a business environment of increased complexity and ambiguity?

And how might they build change leadership capability to remain future-fit?

What got you here won’t always take you there

The skills and personal qualities that served leaders well in the past are often not the best ones to navigate this environment of deep uncertainty.

Along with capabilities, there are characteristics that good change leaders possess. You could call these superpowers:

  1. Curiosity: We know that the best leaders are continuous learners!
  2. An adaptive, agile mindset: This is the mindset that prepares us for an environment of deep uncertainty and agility.
  3. Courage: Being brave to experiment with new practices, and vulnerable enough to say, “I don’t know”, making it safe for others to do the same.

 

What is for change managers, what is for change leaders?

Part of what disrupts leadership is recognising that leaders have to take a more active role in change. Whereas once they could delegate to the change management team, now they have fewer dedicated change resources and are expected to do more themselves. This necessitates a rapid upskilling in domains previously unfamiliar. Our counsel is for really large enterprise change or big portfolios of change you still need dedicated change resourcing. Increasingly though change-as-usual means leaders take accountability for designing, and executing change well.

 

Building change capabilities in the face of ‘infobesity’

A word for the times! Our design principles also carefully consider that leaders are overwhelmed with information. We make sure the learning is brain-friendly so:

  • It’s delivered in small bites – gone are the days of 2-day or 3-day long training programs.
  • It’s experienced in a safe place – with peers, with space created for anonymous or optional contribution and participation.
  • It enables immediate application with experiments leaders can test and learn as part of their day to day interactions and activity
  • It’s less about theory, more about making it real and practical with tools to promote self-awareness and to help leaders facilitate team awareness
  • The content is relevant and contemporary.

In case you missed our earlier posts, here’s the links that explain all 18 topics (across six modules) we cover in our Certificate of Agile Change Leadership that we believe are the most important for leaders today. They need to be confident and capable in addressing these areas to lead people through fast paced change and agile transformation:

Want to check our your agile change leadership capability? Try our latest online self-assessment!