Leading in disruptive times

Leading in disruptive times calls for a leader who uses their inner agility and embraces change. Someone who implements mindset shifts in themselves and others to lead through the fog of uncertainty and ambiguity.

As business leaders we are constantly being tested by disruption. Around the clock there is always something that is changing. Technology and the digital landscape are ever evolving, and in more recent times the global pandemic saw a new level of disruption that most people of this generation have never experienced before. 

As a result, there is increasing importance on being a leader who is agile, forward thinking all while providing guidance, support and motivation to our team. 

How can leaders become more agile when facing uncertainty?

Leading through disruption often means dealing with quickly changing circumstances and uncertainty. For instance, the recent shift for many teams to work from home, required leaders who were agile, could think quickly and take decisive action. As a leader, versatility and listening to the needs of your team is essential when facing challenges, particularly in disruptive times.

This isn’t always as clear cut and easy as it sounds. Even leaders can feel intimidated by disruption and uncertainty in the world, and workplace. They can snap under pressure, make poor judgement calls and let their old habits take over resulting in even more stressful situations.

Learning to adopt new behaviours, strategies and skills is key when looking to improve agility within ourselves and others. Leaders don’t magically improve their agility overnight. It takes persistent and consistent action to learn and adopt new behaviours. 

Strategies for leading through disruption

To become more agile when facing uncertainty, there are a number of strategies leaders can implement to help them lead through disruption, including:

• Becoming more adaptable and open to change
• Considering situations with varying degrees of perspective
• Practicing empathy for people both internally and externally to the business
• Staying true to personal values and business values
• Keeping lines of communication open, honest and transparent

By consciously adopting these strategies and reframing challenging situations as they happen, we will improve our agility and have a greater sense of understanding and perspective.

As we work through challenging times we might feel like our team expects us to have all the answers for them. But it’s not our job to have all the answers. Instead we need to lead our team by asking them the right questions. To help them focus on what they need to do, to encourage them to look for alternatives, to think on a bigger scale, and to look for opportunities amidst the disruption and uncertainty.

While strategies form an essential part in leading in disruptive times, the success of implementing these new behaviours and actions is underpinned by successfully shifting our mindset.

Mindset shifts leaders can use in disruptive times

To ensure we successfully lead our business or organisation through disruptive times, we need to embrace the disruption and practice shifting our mindset. 

There are a number of techniques we can use to shift our mindset when addressing complex problems or challenges, that have the potential to support us in providing strong leadership to our team.

• Creating space for self awareness (taking a step back to move forward)
• Using ignorance to push further
• Pursuing a question greater than the initial ‘problem’
• Setting a purpose-driven direction
• Creating ‘safe to fail’ experiments 

Shifting our mindset is a continual process and is something that can be improved upon at any time, and not only during times of stress and uncertainty. By understanding that we don’t need to have all the answers all of the time can help us create the space we need to grow and improve our inner agility.

How can organisations embrace inner agility?

Learning to embrace inner agility as an organisation stems from modelling behaviour, implementing strategies and taking decisive action at the leadership level. To ensure that an organisation as a whole embraces inner agility, it’s also essential to support and encourage employees to embrace their own inner agility. 

Working through the strategies and mindset shifts that leaders can use in disruptive times may feel overwhelming. If you want to be held to a higher standard and need someone to not only provide you with guidance and support, but accountability to improve your agility, then get in touch with one of our business coaches today. We’ve helped many business leaders improve their agility and feel more confident to lead their teams through challenging times.