Leadership is about who you are. It is about character. It is about looking inwards in order to lead outwards. The best leaders are those know themselves, know their strengths and play to those strengths. They understand something of the connected, relational and paradoxical nature of the world in which they live and lead. They embrace change as an opportunity rather than a threat and they remain humble, lifelong learners who find wisdom in the small, the simple and the overlooked. So just what will it take to lead in a relational economy? Well here at least are 13 practical pointers as to what it takes…
Charlie Parker, a genius when it comes to the saxophone once said, “Jazz comes from who you are, where you’ve been, what you’ve done. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out your horn.”
Charlie was spot-on; at least when it comes to leadership…I wouldn’t know about jazz!
Leadership is about who you are. It is about character. It is about looking inwards in order to lead outwards. The source of leadership is within rather than a set of external skills. The best leaders are those know themselves, know their strengths and play to those strengths. They understand something of the connected, relational and paradoxical nature of the world in which they live and lead. They embrace change as an opportunity rather than a threat and they remain humble, lifelong learners who find wisdom in the small, the simple and the overlooked.
Kevin Kelly, executive editor of Wired magazine, and member of the Global Business Network, writes in Rethinking the Future that, “The network economy is reshaping and revolutionizing every sector of business” (p258). In this network economy, relationship forms the core organizing principle. It represents a fundamental shift in the way we think about the world and in how we understand leadership. For leaders to grasp this and begin translating it into tangible corporate practice is in essence to plot true north in navigating the future. Smart leaders will be those who are able to create and built process and relationship into the very DNA of their company. They will change what they pay attention to in the organization. They will focus on things more fundamental to strong relationships and will be attentive to the workplace’s capacity for healthy relationships rather than its organizational form in terms of tasks, functions, span of control, and hierarchies. Smart leaders will need to become savvy about how to foster relationships and participate in networks as a means of nurturing growth and development.
So just what will it take to lead in a relational economy? Well here at least are 13 practical pointers as to what it takes:
1.Value relationships more than transactions. In the new economy, relationships will ultimately be more important than transactions. In other words a fundamental understanding that in this relational economy, relationship transcends transaction. Whilst efficient, cost effective transactions remain important business practices, more will be required in tomorrow’s world. The customer will demand relationship and that is what will determine loyalty and create word of mouth sales.
2.Listen to customers, staff, suppliers, others really listen!
3.Ensure reliable feedback (of course this is another way of saying really listen) is not only gathered but is acted on or synthesised. All growth, be that in the biological world or that of organisations, occurs through what has been described as the ‘feedback loop’: Action – Feedback – Synthesis. Without feedback there can be no growth, assuming of course it is incorporated into new actions. What systems do you as a leader have in place whereby you can benefit from reliable feedback?
4.Who you are matters most. Who you are (character) and how you life (behaviour) must be aligned / are important.
5.Understand paradox. Paradox is part of life / business: understand it (as opposed to trying to resolve it), work with it and learn from it. Examples of some of the paradoxical forces at work would include: global v local, big v small, relational v technological, centralised v decentralised.
6.Imprint adaptability. Business growth comes about not through planning but through adapting. Adapting becomes the new way of living, of changing (in a predicable, ordered world, planning was possible. No longer is this the case given the systemic nature of the world in which we do business. Systems theory holds that the more complex the system the less predictable it becomes). Delete (or perhaps shred) the elaborate plans that stretch beyond even where the Starship Enterprise has ventured and rather focus on ensuring that the inherent capacity for adaptation is imprinted throughout your business.
7.Change from Controller to Collaborator. In a relational / networked world, leadership is no longer about control but rather about collaboration.
8.Invite participation, create ownership at every level. Make a note of this point. Write it some place where it will shout at you daily. Look at it and think about how you can do it.
9.Embrace diversity. Diversity is the soil from which the twin challenges of (healthy) conflict and innovation will grow and flourish
10.It will be more important to remain curious rather than be certain. This means that success will emerge from failure or as Porras and Collins put it in their ‘Built to Last’ research, it will be about, ‘trying a lot of stuff and keeping what works’. It was Joseph Cambell who wrote, ‘Where you stumble, there your treasure lies’ Work environments need to become ‘safe sandboxes’ – places where experimentation and risk-taking are encouraged. Places of sheer play. What then are the questions you should be asking, questions that will spark learning and curiosity?
11.Embrace the marginal, the fringe. This is where the future is. Physicist, David Bohm once said: “The ability to perceive or think differently is more important than the knowledge gained”. Smart leaders know where to find the fringe and how best to manage it in order to create change and stimulate progress. Who represents ‘the fringe’ in your business? Contact them now and set-up a time when you can take them to coffee and explore their thinking and ideas.
12.Know yourself. For smart leaders this is not negotiable. We see and interpret the world through who we are and so it is critical for leaders to be aware of their own filters / lenses. The Shakespearian wisdom which states, ‘This above all, to thine own self be true,’ acts as a guiding maxim. Ensure that you get to see the TomorrowToday.biz presentation, Understanding why we don’t Understand or log onto http://www.tomorrowtoday.biz and follow the Enneagram links.
13.Become a Storyteller. Stories matter. So to stories about stories. Smart leaders will increasingly be seen as the ‘Storytellers’ within the organisations they lead. Stories inform life. They hold us together and keep us apart. We inhabit the great stories of our culture. We live through stories. We are lived by the stories of our race and place. Look for the stories! Next time you are in a book store browse through the children’s section or if that is too difficult then buy, Who Moved my Cheese and read that (it requires lower literacy ability than any of the Harry Potter series…yet becomes a business best seller!)
For many CEO’s all this represents foreign territory, a place which will require discovering and /or creating a new set of reference points altogether. It involves learning a whole new language and new customs. Acquiring these navigation points and skills, unfamiliar as they may be, will ultimately determine whether or not companies heading for tomorrow will thrive, or forever be, “lost at sea”.
Go on, take Charlie’s advice: live it!