Leading Through Uncertainty
As industries, businesses, and mindsets shift to recenter their proverbial gravity, I can’t help but lose myself in the possibility of what this change will bring. Must bring.
In the past several decades, the world has seen unprecedented change led by technology, businesses, and changing social constructs. While we have achieved great feats and introduced realities that were mere fiction to those before us, we did not predict this version of 2020’s series premiere. What an opener.
As we navigate what is the seemingly elusive end of an unpredictable, static unknowing, I can’t help but think of the imminent transformation of everything we’ve ever known. How are leaders, in every industry and community managing themselves, let alone their teams, through this change? How are they preparing for their return and what is empowering them to think with an appetite for transformational change, if anything?
While some companies have been able to make immediate structural, strategic, and operating decisions that have dramatically changed and improved their performance in the face of this unprecedented volatility and uncertainty, others have fallen. Not just in their ability to strategize and operate in a new capacity, but in their ability to reformulate their teams as proactive enablers of innovation and not reactive agents to chaos.
What did they do to effectively lead through this change?
Audited existing business processes and restructure operations accordingly.
Integrated and trained on data-driven decision making.
Implemented cross-functional design thinking as part of organizational culture to capture new opportunities and anticipate challenges faster and better.
Built agile team capabilities that facilitate sudden and future pivots -- this includes developing a tactical remote management strategy that allowed for seamless digitally-enabled business continuity.
I have no idea what life will look like by the end of this year. No one does. But I do know this: if there was ever a moment for innovation out of crisis and progress out of discipline, to occur simultaneously and in conjunction with one another, it is now.
