Developing Leaders That Are Future Proof with Leadership Agility

In this digital age, we can no longer afford to be reactive in this ever-changing VUCA world which stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. Leadership agility is crucial for survival given the context where the world has become more interconnected and boundaries are blurred which sheds light on the need to invest more in human connections rather than just focusing on work structures. Research shows that agile organisations consistently have higher business performance and greater value creation from market share, customer satisfaction, revenue growth and profitability (Joiner, 2013, 2014). 

What does agile leadership actually mean? 

Leadership agility is more than just a behaviour to add to your leadership toolkit – it’s a master competency critical for organisational success in a volatile economy. Leadership agility is defined as a leader’s ability to effectively navigate unstable and complex conditions by making wise, informed decisions. (Joiner & Joseph, 2007). 

What does it mean to be an agile leader?

In order to develop leadership agility, we need to understand the behavioural competencies that make an agile leader. Research shows there are four key competencies, and they share the same commonality – stepping back to gain greater insight and approaching an action plan with enhanced perspective (Joiner & Joseph, 2007).  These competencies include:

• Acute situational awareness
  

Leaders must have an advanced awareness of their environment in order to assess and anticipate change and base their strategic decisions. When leaders understand what’s happening in their surroundings, they can determine the scale and impact of new initiatives, and provide clarity on the outcomes for their people.

• Outstanding stakeholder management

Leaders must identify key stakeholders and assess how their views and objectives are aligned with their own. When they engage in a dialogue, it is not simply to get buy-in but to improve the quality of their ideas.

• Disruptive creativity 

Leaders must have the ability to transform complex and novel issues into desired results. They question underlying assumptions and explore various viewpoints. Their willingness to facilitate creativity in their people and organisation, increases their capacity to discover innovative outcomes. 

• Self-mastery 

Leaders need to become more self aware. They need to be honest with themselves to truly understand their abilities – strengths, weaknesses, and the type of leader they wish to develop into so they can lead themselves more effectively (Manx and Neck, 2003). They need to understand the kind of leader they strive to be, and take action to bring them closer to this goal. Making the time for self-reflection is key.  

Tips on becoming an agile leader

• Model agility behaviour 

When leaders model these four behaviours, they set an example that directly conveys the values that are encouraged in an organisation. The next generation of leaders will have been nurtured in agile surroundings increasing their readiness to become an agile leader.

• Step back and reflect

Evidently, the two themes that bind the four competencies in demonstrating leadership agility are reflection and self-awareness. Leaders must make the time to step back and reflect on their work environment. Doing so, will help them gather key insights that can be acted upon.

Watch out for a common pitfall: When leaders are too consumed performing tasks in an auto-pilot mode, they lose sense of their awareness and this restricts their ability to optimise their intelligence to adapt to changes and innovate (Joiner, 2008). This leads to companies failing in a VUCA world, as we’ve seen with many FTSE companies in recent years.

If you want to develop leadership agility in your organisation to thrive in this VUCA world but are uncertain on how to embark on this journey of growth, send us an email at carla@cfs-psychology.com

References

Cole, B., 2019. Innovate Or Die: How A Lack Of Innovation Can Cause Business Failure. https://www.forbes.com/.

Joiner, B. (2019). Leadership agility for organizational agility. Journal of Creating Value, 5(2), 139-149.

Joiner, B. (2013/2014, December-February). Leadership agility: A global imperative. Dialog, pp. 48–53.

Joiner, B., & Josephs, S. (2007). Leadership Agility, Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Manz, C.C. and Neck, C.P. (2003), Mastering Self-Leadership: Empowering Yourself for Personal Excellence, 3rd ed., Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. 

Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (2011), ‘‘The wise leader’’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 89, pp. 58-67.

Tushman, M.L., Smith, W.K. and Binns, A. (2011), ‘‘The ambidextrous CEO’’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 89, pp. 74-80.

Uyun, Q. (2019). Leadership Agility, The Influence On The Organizational Learning And Organizational Innovation And How To Reduce Imitation Orientation. International Journal for Quality Research, 13(2).