With the business landscape more challenging than ever, many leaders are feeling overwhelmed and ill-equipped to handle today’s problems. The solution is not a one-size-fits-all answer, but a personalized approach.
Company culture is built from its leaders, with ideology and ethos trickling from the top down. Traditional leadership and development strategies aren’t working for the modern landscape anymore, be it because of short-term focus, outdated beliefs, theory over application or a lack of alignment. Many are trying to make the practices learned in the last 10 years sustainable or reacting to quick changes.
Today’s business environment can be described using the term VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. It’s a challenging space for leaders and innovators to find themselves in. They must work within it while simultaneously working to change it. And the volatility leaves many understandably unprepared. Sometimes, even the best intentions are ineffective.
Balancing threats and opportunities is a unique and challenging position to be in. It creates more stress and even more uncertainty, demanding more and more of leaders, and previously learned skill sets just aren’t enough to face challenges that are often unprecedented. Many admit to being in over their heads, and feel like there is not enough time – or that they are ill-equipped – to handle it all.
A new approach is needed – one that offers new strategies that do not necessarily take on specific issues, but offer broader skills that can be applied to a variety of situations. More than that, a key piece of combating those VUCA workspaces is pushing back against the idea of one-and-done training. Challenges and opportunities are nuanced, specific, and must be tailored to every individual leader, every team, and of course, every organization. And they are vital to a business’ success.
People in HR and L&D roles who are tasked with finding development opportunities within this space certainly face a challenge, but are in the perfect position to facilitate real, actionable opportunities among their company’s leaders. They’re given the reins to ensure a culture of continuous development, and a desire to be the best leader possible for themselves and within the organization.
Part of the solution, coincidentally, can also be described using the VUCA acronym: vision, understanding, clarification and agility. Leaders must be able to correctly identify both threats and opportunities, understand the best strategy to approach each challenge, be able to clearly and effectively communicate tasks and goals, and adapt to changes and pivots as they come. Leaders need to feel prepared to meet the needs of the moment – wherever that moment will lead to next.
Good leadership is what makes a good company and sets an organization apart from the rest. After all, a business cannot outpace its leaders. A person who can understand these key pillars, customize them and implement them into a company culture is vital in creating success and fostering a company-wide ethos of continuous development, making that ideology the driver of the entire operation.
Creating a plan that aligns a leader’s priorities with a company’s, tailors the methodology and thinks about the long-term goals of the business is what helps leaders deliver. It creates a tangible return on investment that translates into success. It takes a lot of research, understanding and effort to create a plan, and requires a deep understanding of the individual, the company and the landscape as a whole.
With over two decades of experience in the industry and a diverse range of clients and success stories that sees 75% of the women I work with promoted to senior leadership, I’m in a unique position to be able to help people tailor their leadership goals and strategies. I help leaders thrive in the new business landscape. I help leaders lead. Book a free consultation today.