Our New Realities Demand New Leadership Skills – And They Are Easier Said Than Done
This is part 3 of a 6-part series.
In its 2021 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte points out that shifting from a survive mindset to a thrive mindset “depends on an organization’s becoming – and remaining – distinctly human at its core, because today’s environment of extreme dynamism calls for a degree of courage, judgment, and flexibility that only humans can bring.”
One way leaders can start tackling this challenge is to pursue dignity at scale and reclaim our humanity. That’s easy to say and hard to do. But leaders who deliberately develop that skill in themselves and in others are the ones who will be able to live up to the new realities – and prepare organizations for even newer realities yet to come.
That’s what this series is all about. In part 1, I introduced the idea that the events of 2020 revealed many long-standing issues that leaders in corporate America, healthcare and higher education – and society as a whole – have been too slow to address. These issues are rooted in one particular unfortunate truth: we’ve ignored and suppressed people’s individuality at every turn.
In part 2 I shared from leaders across business, healthcare and academia about the reality that transformation is happening whether you’re ready for it or not. We’re confronting new realities – some related to the pandemic, and many as a result of advances in technology and in how people want to work and live.
Leaders who don’t evolve to meet these new realities will not last long – they’ll spend time and resources solving for the wrong things while missing the real opportunities to help their organizations and their teams grow.
This article is part 3 of a series that features a blend of written content and short videos of individuals from across industries (doctors, professors, executives, deans and more) sharing their thoughts and expertise during the 2020 Leadership in the Age of Personalization Virtual Summit.
In this first video, Annette Walker, President of City of Hope Orange County talks about how important it is to recognize and unleash people’s talent and passion, and to help leaders learn how to do that. She also says she’s never been more proud to be part of the healthcare community than she has been during this pandemic.
Gyasi Chisley, President of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, challenges healthcare leaders to change their mindset to see healthcare as a horizontal – so the industry isn’t so detached from other sectors or society. He also shares what he sees as one of the most important changes needed in how people access healthcare in the United States.
There’s No ‘Back to Normal’
In an era when we can know ourselves and know each other better than ever, thanks to social media platforms, we still hold onto our old ways of standardization that make it harder for people to contribute at their full capacities. In this next video, learn why Gisel Ruiz, Former EVP at Walmart and Independent Director of Vital Farms, believes we have a lot to learn from Gen Z about understanding the advantage of individuality.
Many sectors are also facing the fact that the ways they operated in the past will never return. Fred Diaz, Former President, CEO and Chairman of Mitsubishi Motors North America, shares what that means for leaders in the automotive sector, and why leaders will not be able to rely on the leadership skills they developed and were measured against in the past.
Don’t Miss This Opportunity
Learn why Wendy York, Dean of Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business at Clemson University, says we now have the biggest single opportunity to re-examine how we deliver higher education since the 15th century. See what skills she lists as the most critical to cultivate in order for leaders to empower others, and hear her describe how to strengthen your ability to adapt.
Richard Greenwald, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University, talks about how a fear mentality makes adaptation harder – then shares an example of how Fairfield faculty leaned into the challenges of the year by creating an interdisciplinary course focused on the pandemic.
Dr. Greenwald also reminds us that the flipside of fear is trust – and that while progress can often be slow, sometimes we’re able to move swiftly. But we can’t move faster or be agile in our response to what’s going on in the world without trust.
So, how can we as leaders develop the trust needed in order to adapt to new realities?
There’s no magic formula for building trust, but I do think there are three skills we can develop as leaders that will help build that foundation of trust over time – because these are skills that help us focus on letting people be who they are and achieve at their full capacity.
The three skills are:
- Agility – This begins with a mindset of constructively interrupting our auto-pilot thoughts about who belongs where, doing what.
- Experimentation – Don’t just tell people to “be innovative.” Help them discover what they are uniquely suited to achieve, then give them room to follow their ideas and try.
- Empathy – Be mindful of your employees’ unique differences, which means you have to make a point of seeing and valuing those differences rather than forcing everyone to work and behave as if they’re all the same.
I’ll close with one more quote from the summit, from Nancy Hubbard, DPhil, Dean and Professor at the University of Lynchburg College of Business: “We teach innovation, we teach creativity – how dare we turn around and say we’re not willing to do it ourselves!”
We must overhaul the way we lead. In part 4 of this series, I’ll offer leaders’ perspectives on how we can plan our futures even while so much is unknown and unpredictable.
Watch more videos from the Age of Personalization series.
