How to Lead in 2020.
The festive period has given me the opportunity to recharge and reflect and consider how I’m going to lead myself throughout 2020 and support others with their Leadership challenges.
I believe it is useful to consider and be open to the “system” or environment that we are working within. Whilst this is not a blog on politics, we do need to understand the mindset, attitude and beliefs of those who will be designing and delivering policy over the coming years. We have a political leadership that is right wing, believes in disruption, has a very strong focus on the utilization of data and is a firm believer in capitalism and the free market as the answer to most challenges.
Some of your people will be happy with this system, some will not and some will want something in between! Obviously your role is not to please everyone, however, you will be appreciated for considering everyone’s health and well-being as your business/organisation faces into the challenges presented in 2020.
A key challenge of Leadership is to work out how these beliefs will affect and influence day to day behaviours, thought processes and decision-making.
For example, when I work with clients to help them understand what VUCA really means, we always mention that “change is constant”, which I appreciate is a sentence that has been around for decades, however, we need to be aware just how much this new government believes in disruption as a means to getting things done (no pun intended!). We also need to be mindful of the intent and value system behind the disruption they support; with a right wing influence this means they are more comfortable with the (slight misinterpretation) of Darwinian theory of “survival of the fittest”.
How are you going to take care of all your people within this environment? I don’t mean that you have to be personally responsible for everyone’s health and well-being, however, how are you going to support all your people to find their path and perform to their best?
I am currently reading Will Storr’s book, The Science of Storytelling and one of the chapters helped me understand my own struggles with how come there appears to be such a split between some people believing in community and social cohesion and others believing in a self-first approach.
Will talks about the early development of the human race and within Greek mythology, because the terrain, in Europe, did not lend itself to community farming; stories about individual personal endeavor, strength to overcome others, winning against all odds and survival were deemed as the “heroes” in a story, Within early stories from the Asian continent, which did lend itself better to communal farming and building societies the stories “heroes” are those that sacrificed themselves for the betterment of the community. This was a light bulb moment for me in considering what may have influenced different people’s beliefs, over the centuries.
What stories do you want to be told about you as a leader? What stories do you want to be told within and about your organisation? How will these stories affect the culture of your organisation? What might be some, unhelpful, unintended consequences?
For me, Leadership in 2020 needs to be about:
What type of human do you want to be?
What Values are you going to live by?
When you have to adapt (because you will!) - how will you still stay true to your Values?
How will you support your people to enjoy themselves?
With regards to enjoyment and well-being, I am noticing a significant amount of consistent commentary about the importance of human connection, therefore, how will you enable your people to feel connected in 2020?
If you haven’t considered your Values recently, then use this link to help you and then discuss the (free) report you get through, with someone.
Use these values to inform your decision-making, purpose and direction of travel for the opportunities that all this disruption can bring.
How can you use your values to find the right leadership path for you?
One of the clear mantras that I’ve noticed from our newly-elected Prime Minister, is that Britain is “open for business” and I’ve been reflecting on the realities of what this might mean and I remember listening to one radio show that discussed Mr Johnson’s approach as Mayor of London. This might be an indication of how past performance may inform future trends. If so, then we can expect an influx of investment from the USA, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China and Russia and this may be the approach that will boost the economies and communities in the so-called “red wall” in the North of England. This may, finally, kick start the Northern Powerhouse.
How the varying communities, individuals, businesses and councils take advantage of this influx of investment, will be affected by their own belief systems around the individual first versus community.
As I stated at the start of this blog, some of you may be comfortable with the political system and economic approach that we will be living in over the coming years, some of you may not and some of you may want something in between. Ultimately, I’m a pragmatist, I believe in balance and know we are nothing without our people.
One of the conversations that I always have with my clients is that within our VUCA environment, leaders need to “feel comfortable feeling uncomfortable”. Therefore, consider how you can live to your values, go with the flow that this disruption will bring; whilst being aware of how often you are feeling stretched.
Have a fantastic and energising 2020.
Russell