Tag Archives: Transformation

GOING BACK TO THE OFFICE, REALLY? (1)

Stimulating exchanges yesterday at Bits20 about the future of office work during the pandemic and beyond…
“You will go (back) to the office because you expect an added-value”

Do you know for your organisation what is this expected added-value?
Can the answer be just “the value of really (=physically) meeting each other”? or “free fruits and table soccer”. I doubt.
Find out!

an office with a desk and chair in a room

Stop seeing the return as a destination!

“Stop seeing the return as a destination!”. It will be a transition on your path to some profound organizational transformation opportunities. This article offers many foods for thoughts and shifting perspectives, discussing which attitudes or practices businesses should stop, which they should start, and which they should accelerate.

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/from-thinking-about-the-next-normal-to-making-it-work-what-to-stop-start-and-accelerate

Crises speed up 3 key leadership transformations

Profound transformations usually take a long-time. But only a few weeks into Corona clearly confirm that crises can be powerful catalysts for changes. For businesses and leaders alike.

Here are 3 key leadership transformations we are experiencing:

1 – Shorter consultations, quick and courageous decisions

In the past, as a leader, you would aim at allowing reasonable amounts of space and time to be set aside to weigh up key decisions and their impact. But crises require leaders to make many critical decisions very quickly and implement them with courage in a very short time. Because companies have currently no other choice but to move swiftly and adapt.

Let me take a simple example: Before the crisis, some leaders were still asking: ” How much home office should I allow, what are the ramifications, and what could be the potential impacts, in terms of upsides and downsides?”.

In the early days following confinement decisions, however, this wasn’t the question anymore. The question changed to: WHAT MUST I DO so that people CAN work from home?”Entire operations had then to be digitized in an unprecedented short time, equipment had to be purchased and installed, security protocols adapted. Because what started as a theoretical possibility had turned into a practical and even critical necessity.

 2 – From process control to outcome-based trust

What I’m seeing today is that leaders who may have had a tendency to micro-manage their teams (maybe in a stress-handling mode), now have no choice but to trust more. They practically have had to make that behavioural change overnight. With no personal transition time to gradually develop new habits. If you can´t monitor every step of the process, you have to focus on its outcome. If you can´t observe what your employees are working on and how, you have no choice but to trust that they are making progress. Don´t waste time and energy by worrying and over-controlling whether people do their work. Believe me: If you have not adapted your leadership style by now, you are probably driving your employees nuts – and yourself as well 😉 – and will not positively impact any outcomes. However, what you can and must do, is to ensure goals are clear and aligned.

3 – From command chains to engaging communication

Another major observation is that internal communication and the kind of conversations teams are having are changing.

All of a sudden, the need for sound internal communication has become transparently obvious. Leaders are learning that communication in times of uncertainty and crisis can enhance their leadership presence and proximity. Leaders are used and trained to communicate about results and outcomes. In times of crisis, communication ALONG THE WAY is key. Leaders, it’s okay -yes even necessary- to inform your employees about what you are trying to implement and about progresses of unfinished processes.

In addition, I am so pleased to see that conversations are changing. Not only because they often now start with: “How are you doing?”. But also because they are much more engaging. Take the example of protective measures (e.g. protective clothing, exclusive digital access, short-time work or going on furlough) which had to be implemented: They will be only effective if accepted and implemented by the entire workforce. This is where traditional one-way management turns into engaging two-way conversations. And by the way, small things, like “seeing each other” during conference calls or virtual coffee breaks can be of high value.

If I had ONE WISH. Let us not go back to “before, how things used to be”. Let us ensure that the leadership lessons we have had to learn with courage over the past weeks, with no transition time, will last.

I am curious to hear what YOUR key leadership lesson of the past weeks has been. Let us learn from one another, please share generously here in your comments!

Here are 3 key leadership transformations we are experiencing:

1 – Shorter consultations, quick and courageous decisions

In the past, as a leader, you would aim at allowing reasonable amounts of space and time to be set aside to weigh up key decisions and their impact. But crises require leaders to make many critical decisions very quickly and implement them with courage in a very short time. Because companies have currently no other choice but to move swiftly and adapt.

Let me take a simple example: Before the crisis, some leaders were still asking: ” How much home office should I allow, what are the ramifications, and what could be the potential impacts, in terms of upsides and downsides?”.

In the early days following confinement decisions, however, this wasn’t the question anymore. The question changed to: WHAT MUST I DO so that people CAN work from home?”Entire operations had then to be digitized in an unprecedented short time, equipment had to be purchased and installed, security protocols adapted. Because what started as a theoretical possibility had turned into a practical and even critical necessity.

 2 – From process control to outcome-based trust

What I’m seeing today is that leaders who may have had a tendency to micro-manage their teams (maybe in a stress-handling mode), now have no choice but to trust more. They practically have had to make that behavioural change overnight. With no personal transition time to gradually develop new habits. If you can´t monitor every step of the process, you have to focus on its outcome. If you can´t observe what your employees are working on and how, you have no choice but to trust that they are making progress. Don´t waste time and energy by worrying and over-controlling whether people do their work. Believe me: If you have not adapted your leadership style by now, you are probably driving your employees nuts – and yourself as well 😉 – and will not positively impact any outcomes. However, what you can and must do, is to ensure goals are clear and aligned.

3 – From command chains to engaging communication

Another major observation is that internal communication and the kind of conversations teams are having are changing.

All of a sudden, the need for sound internal communication has become transparently obvious. Leaders are learning that communication in times of uncertainty and crisis can enhance their leadership presence and proximity. Leaders are used and trained to communicate about results and outcomes. In times of crisis, communication ALONG THE WAY is key. Leaders, it’s okay -yes even necessary- to inform your employees about what you are trying to implement and about progresses of unfinished processes.

In addition, I am so pleased to see that conversations are changing. Not only because they often now start with: “How are you doing?”. But also because they are much more engaging. Take the example of protective measures (e.g. protective clothing, exclusive digital access, short-time work or going on furlough) which had to be implemented: They will be only effective if accepted and implemented by the entire workforce. This is where traditional one-way management turns into engaging two-way conversations. And by the way, small things, like “seeing each other” during conference calls or virtual coffee breaks can be of high value.

If I had ONE WISH. Let us not go back to “before, how things used to be”. Let us ensure that the leadership lessons we have had to learn with courage over the past weeks, with no transition time, will last.

I am curious to hear what YOUR key leadership lesson of the past weeks has been. Let us learn from one another, please share generously here in your comments!

You are doing such a great job!

Let me tell you, leaders: “You are doing currently such a great job!” It takes a lot of courage to stand up and lead in the face of this new uncertainty. In “normal times”, it’s not always easy to choose when to listen to your heart or your head; and right now, you have to do both simultaneously. You need to implement measures to protect your employees, and at the same time keep the business going as long and as well as possible while also reassuring partners and shareholders.

I am very impressed by all the small stories I currently hear from leaders I work with, fighting for their business, taking courageously some of the toughest and most disruptive decisions they ever had to take. Whether you had to split up your teams, sent people home or even temporarily closed your business – you are stepping up to protect what is important and what you have built together with your teams. I hear and can feel your dedication, your determination, your passion, I am seeing you not shying away but developing an incredible energy, so that whenever this is over, you will have done your very best to have saved lives and our economies. This is what true leadership means. Thank you for your courage!

Courage in crises​

How do you work on your resilience? Train it – Gain from it! Here are a few thoughts on where to start.

In times of extreme stress, people often ask me for insights on how to stay the course and continue to show leadership. For me, leadership is all about courage, and courage is the spark that gets us all moving. It is at the heart of what we do as leaders.

But in times of transformation we are constantly faced with the pressure of new challenges, new situations. Our workload can be unforgiving. This is why an essential part of being a leader is finding a way to pick oneself up and get going again when the pressure cranks up and results turn against you.

Because resilience can in fact be developed and trained. It’s not some inherent, immutable character trait. To a large extent, it is conditioned through the experiences that life brings. Both positive and negative experiences contribute to our resilience. “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,” as we often say.

One approach I like to use for talking about resilience is the Robertson Cooper model. According to this model, developed by psychologists Ivan Robertson and Cary Cooper, resilience is determined by four key aspects: confidence, adaptability, social support and purposefulness.

Confidence comes with experience and the knowledge that we have overcome previous challenges. Your adaptability likewise grows with an awareness that you have faced change in the past and have coped and managed its impact. You can train and enhance both your confidence and adaptability by recalling previous challenges you have faced.

Social support and purposefulness relate to specific aspects of courage. Social support starts with having the courage to admit weakness, to articulate when the going gets tough and ask for support. Purposefulness is having a clear set of values which give you an overriding sense of direction even in the most challenging times. Purposefulness is about knowing WHY and understanding the benefits at the end.

Be proud of what you’ve done already and gather the courage to take the necessary step to keep going.

Is digital transformation also on your agenda?

If so, have you mastered the basics?

Supporting leaders in very various organisations I need to be able to hold and initiate video-conferencing from many different plattforms.

Are you experiencing the same as I do often? : How often does it happen that your scheduled Video Call is not functioning correctly, that you cannot share screens but don’t know why as it functioned very well last time, that your security wall does not allow Skype for business, or zoom, or any other common video plattform?

And that you therefore struggle to align with important counterparts on how ot best hold your meeting via video-conferencing?

Interestingly, I also have clients from the same organisation but different locations who are not using the same VC plattforms and, for security reasons , are not able to use oneanother’s VC provider.

Isn’t that where digital transformation starts? let ‘s make sure we get the basics right!