BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Five Strategies For Creating Powerful Dissonance Agility

Forbes Coaches Council

Leadership cultivator, innovation incubator and thought leadership coach. Co-Founder of BlueEggLeadership leadership originator coaching.

Although the study of leadership discusses the need for adapting to change, navigating change and reacting to change, there is a more powerful and deliberate way that leaders need to look at this. Change is inevitable, it is constant and, in essence, it is continually occurring. As both a leader and a coach, what I can realize is that leaders really need to build a new agility skill, which I have coined as “dissonance agility.” I define dissonance agility as the practice of combining brain brilliance, team cohesiveness and emotional intelligence to anticipate and learn quickly in times of disharmony, conflict or unexpected economic shifts.

When working with leaders and entrepreneurs, I find that those who work on dissonance agility have both resilience and energy to succeed at higher levels than entrepreneurs who do not study this. Imagine as a leader that your team functions faster, with optimism, and anticipates moves while they environmentally scan.

The structure for dissonance agility includes five strategies. These strategies will give leaders and entrepreneurs a framework for beginning to gain a meta-view for not only navigating change but exploring it with the intent to make it work for them or create a new path for change.

1. Invest in culture agility.

Culture agility is in essence creating team(s) that are emotionally intelligent, loyal to each other's success and clear about their culture code. Cultural agility has been defined as the ability of organizations to comprehend the context and change that occurs in their area of business. For today’s global organizations, cultural agility is the new competitive edge. While individual capacities are important, successful organizations build an institutional level of a global mindset and skills for effectively coordinating, negotiating and influencing across boundaries. Cultural agility is about investing in your team to build their capacity to grow, adapt and maneuver without misalignment from the main goals or interpersonal emotional triggers.

2. Make the intangibles tangible.

There is a new wave of purpose-driven, strong lean entrepreneurs who are realizing that the crucial foundation of change is the need to make emotional intelligence and nuero-language a concrete measure structure or practice in their culture. Soft skills are no longer considered soft; in fact, they are powerful assets that are very tangible now by use of inventories and both qualitative and quantitative research. I go as far as coaching for somatic and three-brain techniques so that my teams clearly can unhook from any triggers and keep the focus on their high brain (brain brilliance) in order to move quickly to solutions, connections and innovations.

3. Utilize neuro-language to communicate.

Considering that effective communication is key to successful results, teams and decision-making, I coach my clients to use neuro-language to navigate conversations so they are clear, compassionate and highly effective. What this entails is that you remove all words that create triggers, hedgers, softeners and sarcasm. Language then focuses on transparency, trust and collective solutions.

4. Strengthen fearless courage, commitment and compassion.

As you review your culture code, it is important to see where courage, commitment and compassion emanate. Go as far as teaching your team to define what these concepts mean in decision-making and collaboration. Instead of trying to only move when they feel confident in their capabilities, practice uncertainty by leaning into uncomfortable new solutions and decisions.

5. Define your 'red block theory.'

I define "red block theory" as a structure that my clients use to environmentally scan for information. Green flags show the project, decision or interaction is strong and effective; yellow flags are those situations that if not addressed could, will or might lead to a derailment, negative paradox or loss of trust for the team; and red flags are those situations that need to be addressed immediately to pivot and change direction to fix major mistakes, relationships or situations. Start by having your team define what these three would look like in your organization. Write them out clearly so everyone can watch for them, and then in your bi-weekly strategy meetings, discuss and collaborate on these.

When things are going smoothly, most leaders and entrepreneurs will remark how they feel they are comfortable and empowered with change and making decisions. What I want for them is to be as comfortable and empowered when there is dissonance externally or internally. When teams build their dissonance agility, they navigate much more smoothly in any situation.


Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?


Follow me on LinkedInCheck out my website