Leadership Blog

This is a question every leader of any business (for profit or non-profit) of any size and any industry or market needs to regularly ask themselves. It is a critical question in that it establishes the very reason a leader earns the privilege of being called a leader.

In a recent LinkedIn post, the conversation centered on the Dr. W. Edwards Deming quote, “94% of problems in business are systems driven and only 6% are people driven.”

...is a privilege.”  As the year progresses, we find ourselves having consistently more conversations with our client leaders around the stresses of leading in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) business environment. So much so that we will make it the core topic of this month’s discussion. The title of this edition comes from a YouTube video a client recently referred to us in which the actor, Tom Hiddleston, used the phrase in a sports context. However, we believe it also sets up a broader discussion around the stresses of leadership.

...what he thinks he already knows.” This business cycle has already generated a multitude of discussions among leaders from all types of businesses on how to navigate the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) business environment. From individual client leaders to groups of leaders in the multiple leadership institutes we facilitate, the challenge is always how they think about, or frame, the challenges in front of them. In past articles, we tended to focus on critical thinking as the core answer to these challenges. However, in this discussion, we step back a bit and focus on a broader view of the challenges through the lens of systems thinking. In our book, “ Finding the Missing Piece , The Impact of Effective Communication on Sustainable Success”, we define systems thinking as a holistic approach focusing on how a system’s components work together, how a system operates over time as well as how it operates in the context of other larger systems. It is the foundation of our organizational Business Alignment Maturity Model ( BAMM ) we use when coaching business leaders. In the leader conversations, we hear challenges of finding THE problem to solve that will help generate desired results.

..but wisdom listens.”  There is little question as to how much effective communications occupies leader’s mindspace in today’s VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) business environment. Leaders in every industry, large or small, public or private, for profit or nonprofit, all face the continuous challenge to communicate effectively to their teams and successfully advance their business strategies. It is fair to say most leaders view themselves as problem solvers. In that vein, it is easy for them to take on the role of problem solvers when issues are brought to their attention. Due to the speed of business, this, in turn, leads to directing resources, monetary or non-monetary, in the direction of the issue to resolve it as quickly as possible. What gets missed is the contextual changes occurring in real time in any dynamic business environment so that whatever knowledge the leader thinks they know in the moment may well be outdated without making the time to listen for current verifiable context. The title quote by the late great rock star Jimi Hendrix succinctly outlines the value of listening for greater leadership success.

...you are choosing.”  Lately, we’ve written extensively about effectively leading in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) business environment. It is an environment that begs for change given the ever changing external drivers and conditions. Regardless of business type (for profit or nonprofit), industry, or size (corporate leader or SMB business owner), the current environment presents an ongoing stream of challenges leaders must tackle. The title quote by Laurie Buchanan, Coach and Author, suggests any choices made to address these challenges that does not include change still contain a level of accountability to the consequences of those decisions.

...is like administering medicine to the dead.” As we begin a new year, leaders continue to face off against influences and challenges to their businesses requiring level-headed thinking and courage to navigate effectively. One only has to gain access to a technology screen to see what is happening (mostly negative) in the world having some impact on people’s perceptions and thinking. While we have written extensively about critical thinking, most recently in July of last year , we are taking a slightly different approach this time and focusing on the use of reason. Reason is defined as the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic (dictionary.com). What inspired the focus on reason was the title quote by Thomas Paine, an English American political activist, author, and political theorist whose writings influenced American thinking at the beginning of the revolutionary war.

...the only certainty there is,...”  In a recent gathering of business leaders, the discussion centered on the results of a recent economic forecast many of us had just attended hosted by our local chamber of commerce. The conclusion that many in the room came to was that the overall message from the panel of economists and experts about next year’s economy was a shoulder shrug accompanied by a collective, “We don't know”. We made the point then, and will make it again here, this level of uncertainty is, in fact, certainty. The title quote above from Temple University professor John Allen Paulos sums it up quite nicely along with the rest of the quote when he said, “...and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.”