This time of massive change that we are living through is calling us to develop a new approach to leadership, both for leading ourselves and for leading other people.
By acquiring these new skills and competencies we will gain benefits on five levels.
First, by applying each tool individually, we will solve the immediate problem we face: we will stay calmer and more connected in a crisis, we will see situations more clearly, we will find more opportunities to move forward, we will become better at moving to action, even when the outcome is uncertain, and so on.
Second, by applying these tools in sequence we will become more joined-up leaders of ourselves and other people: we will become more able to navigate not just the individual issues of change but also the whole process of change.
Third, as we repeat this process we will find that staying calm in a crisis helps us to see the situation more clearly, which helps us to find more and better opportunities, which makes us feel more inspired, so we stay calmer in a crisis, which helps us to see the situation more clearly, and so on… As we repeat the process we will create a virtuous circle, a self-reinforcing loop, that enables us not only to cope with change but actually to thrive because of change. We will become able to use change to become stronger and more valuable.
And there are still two more levels of benefits to come.
Einstein told us that we cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it. The volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world that we are living in is the direct result of the leadership decisions we have taken in the past — both individually and collectively. If we want to create a less volatile, less uncertain, less complex, and less ambiguous world then we have to change the way we take decisions — both individually and collectively.
This happens each time one of us becomes antifragile. And the more people become antifragile, the more stable the world as a whole becomes, and then the VUCA times recede. This is the fourth level of benefit.
And finally, the fifth level of benefit is Joy. Because the more antifragile we are, the more clearly we know what matters most to us, and the more able we become to achieve it. And both these things then bring us Joy.
Which of these five benefits would be most valuable to you today? What steps are you taking to achieve it? Would it be useful for you to start to learn a simple framework of practical tools, whose benefits will build in stages as you strengthen your abilities?
Adapted from Inner Leadership: a framework and tools for building inspiration in times of change.
You can sign up to daily posts here.
You can buy the book here and the workbook here.
(And remember: you can’t learn to swim just by reading about swimming, you also have to do the practice.)
Photo By woodleywonderworks via StockPholio.net