Scaling Leadership Adaptability: the new strategic imperative for leadership

As leaders and their teams emerge from the “heaviness” of the past year it is evident that there have been many learnings that are being carried into the new meaning of work. As leaders endeavour to re-invigorate and re-contract with their displaced teams and organisations, the environment in which they now operate looks and feels very different. The defining characteristic of our world now is uncertainty and with it follows complexity at a scale never experienced before.

We hear from many leaders that the connectedness and sense of purpose they had before is now elusive. The question we hear them ask is “how do we lead with meaning in this new hybrid world”?

 We believe that what leaders should be doing now is to transform their relationship with uncertainty and adapt to fully embrace the changes ahead. The key lies in cultivating a new leadership renaissance that centres around adaptability. However, equipping leadership with the ability to outpace these complexities requires fresh perspective.

Over the last 21 months, we have experienced many organisations in a strong “reactive” mode which enabled them to manage many difficulties and opportunities. Responding to the complexity of their working landscape has taught leadership and their teams the importance of being resilient and compassionate to react well to a multitude of internal and external events, often impacting each other.

As we now look towards 2022 and continue to work with much complexity and the threat of Covid 19 variants, many leaders and organisations continue to operate in a state of “flux”. The question we are asking leaders today is “are you humanising leadership adaptability enough?” What if you could be equipped to outpace these complexities and drive out fresh thinking to define the ‘New Meaning of work’? What if you were able to cultivate adaptative leadership as a unifying force?

We understand that the more familiar path can be perceived as less effort, especially in a time of great uncertainty. However, falling back on proven, effective, reliable ways of reacting during a shift in how leadership lead may in fact have the opposite effect intend. This “adaptability paradox” can emerge for leaders when there is a need to learn and change, they stick to what is familiar and as a result the learning and shift required is stifled.

According to a recent McKinsey article, “Adaptability moves us from enduring a challenge to thriving beyond it”. We don’t just bounce back from difficult situations - we bounce forward into new realms, learning to be more adaptable as our circumstances evolve and change” (August 2021)

We believe that leaders need to prepare for a continuance of a volatile and complex world of constant transformation. By building the adaptability muscle, leaders can learn how to apply learning agility, emotional flexibility, and openness to experience innovative thinking while dealing with multi-dimensional organisational and team challenges. This simply is our new world and the leadership required need an adaptive approach.

The key lies in cultivating leadership and organisational adaptability - at the same time.

We look forward to a more sustainable future where we can celebrate the triumphant success for all adaptive leaders and their teams.

To become part of our movement towards Scaling Leadership Adaptability, get in touch.