Copyright Executive Excellence Publishing Jun 2007| [Headnote] |
| It's now the new must-have capability. |
EXECUTIVES WHO FOCUS ON DEVELOPing leadership agility not only have the best chance of survival, but also the highest potential to thrive in today's competitive environment. Today's leaders must contend with accelerating change, growing complexity, and interdependence (all driven by a global economy).
To develop and lead highly adaptive companies, executives and senior managers will need to have the ability to move in and out of situations and make decisions with the grace of a dancer. In other words, this new breed of leader will need to be agile.
Only about 10 percent of today's managers have developed the levels of "leadership agility" needed.
Five Stages
Leadership agility is the ability to take wise and effective action amid complex, changing conditions. There are five distinct stages in the mastery of leadership agility: Expert, Achiever, Catalyst, Co-Creator, and Synergist.
* Experts have a tactical, problem-solving orientation. They assume that a leader's power comes from expertise and positional authority.
* Achievers are strategic thinkers, highly motivated to accomplish valued outcomes. They realize that a leader's power comes not only from authority and expertise, but also from motivating others by making it challenging and satisfying to contribute to important outcomes.
Most managers operate from the "heroic leadership" mind-set. They assume sole responsibility for setting objectives, coordinating the activities of subordinates, and managing their performance. This style can be effective in certain situations; however, heroic leadership usually over-controls and underutilizes talent. Leaders who develop beyond the Achiever level retain ultimate accountability and authority, but they also create highly participative teams characterized by shared commitment.
* Catalysts are visionary, open to change, willing to rethink assumptions.
* Co-Creators have a principled commitment to the common good. They develop genuinely collaborative teams rooted in a sense of shared purpose.
* Synergists access "synergistic intuitions" that transform seemingly intractable conflicts into solutions that are beneficial for all parties involved.
Even though each level has its own orientation and skill set, everything is cumulative. Each time you move to a new level of agility, you retain the ability to use the capacities and skills you developed at previous levels.
Three Practices
Here are three things you can do now to become n more agile leader.
1. Learn the poiver of reflective action. The process of reflective action is the essence of leadership agility and the best way to develop it. Reflective action is a cyclical four-step process that allows you to make wiser decisions, then engage in what needs to be done next. You first scan your environment and focus on the issues (problems or opportunities) that most need your attention. You then diagnose the situation: before you take action, you try to understand what's causing the problem or preventing the opportunity from being realized. Next, you set your intention: Clarify the results you want to achieve and determine how you can achieve them. And then you take action by carrying out the steps you've decided to take. To keep the cycle going, you assess the results of your actions. We all move through the reflective action cycle many times a day, often unconsciously, and so we miss much of the power it has to offer.
To be more proactive in your use of reflective action, pick one issue each day that you want to address in a more intentional manner. Before you jump to a solution, make sure you understand the issue. Clarify your desired outcomes and what you'll do to achieve them. After taking action, reflect and learn from what happened.
2. Develop n resilient attitude, Reflective action involves experimenting with new behaviors and looking honestly at yourself. This takes curiosity, courage, self-confidence, and conviction that you're responsible for your development and for your response to whatever life brings your way. The motivating force of the resilient attitude gives reflective action its juice.
To maintain a resilient attitude, you might try these daily practices: aerobic exercise, a centering practice (using a relaxation or meditation technique), and a simple "creative practice" that you find satisfying and invigorating. Doing these practices for 15 minutes a day builds a palpable feeling of well-being and a reservoir of resilience.
3. Adopt an "attentional practice." Attention (presence and mindfulness) is the direct, non-conceptual awareness of physical, mental, and emotional experience in the present moment. To grow into the more advanced levels of agility, you need to develop more sustained attention to thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. One way to do this is meditation. Other ways to develop your "attentional" abilities include: psychotherapy, drumming circles, and yoga. Find a practice that works for you and carve out a brief period of "alone time" to do it each day.
The development of these three skills can help you develop the leadership capabilities necessary to thrive amid mounting complexity and accelerating change. The ability to be consistently in the present moment, attentive and aware, may make the difference between being ground down by your work-or being polished like the jewel that you truly are.
ACTION: Develop your agility.
| [Author Affiliation] |
| Bill Joiner and Stephen Josephs are principals of Changewise, a leadership and organization development firm, and authors of Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change. Visit www.leadershipagility.com |
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