Tweet

Leadership in the Emerging New World

Written by: Chris Majer

Article Overview: Chris Majer & Dr. Fernando Flores If the events of the last year have shown us anything it is that our current practices for business leadership and management are increasingly irrelevant and that it is time for a deep, dramatic, and permanent overhaul.

Leadership in the Emerging New World

If the events of the last year have shown us anything it is that our current practices for business leadership and management are increasingly irrelevant and that it is time for a deep, dramatic, and permanent overhaul. The architects of the financial and corporate mess that we are just beginning to make our way out of are all graduates of the best business schools and it is clear from the panicked responses of business "leaders" around the world that the standard fare of analytical and financial skills are not sufficient to the task of reshaping the business world. It is time for a new focus on what people and organizations really need to cope and thrive in the new emerging reality. If we look at this new world a curious paradox emerges. People today are feeling more and more isolated in the increasingly global, interconnected world. As our access to information and web-enabled networks grows, and our capacity to connect virtually to other people expands, people and organizations are generally increasingly lost as they seek to articulate their identities, build a reputation, and develop new offers. Many people and companies have come to realize that they simply don't have the skills necessary to navigate in a constantly changing world, but don't know what to do about it. Hence, many organizations and individuals are increasingly living in fear and anxiety about the future, and lack confidence not only in their capacity to cope with the reality at hand, but with their leaders' capacity as well. There is little comfort or power to be had in more recitations of earnings reports, cash flow projections, and clearly irrelevant strategic plans.

Yet, in the midst of all of this there are some who are not lost. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are interesting case studies for all of us of people who have been able to successfully navigate the realities of the world today. None of these men have degrees in management - two of them did not even finish college - yet, they were receptive and responsive to the world around them, knew how to listen to and resonate with situations they found themselves in, and they all invented and reinvented themselves, and their companies accordingly. We can also look to the designers of President Obama's campaign as good examples of what it means to read the world and quickly mobilize resources and the power of networks to respond to it. As Alan Kay once said: " the best way to predict the future is to invent it." But how were these people able to configure the world that they invented? Were they born with this capacity? Why aren't there more examples of people like Gates, Jobs, Page and Brin? Where is the business world's innovation to match the President's campaign team? A simple answer is that all of our traditions for educating leaders and managers have been focused on the acquisition of knowledge and the application of concepts, but as knowledge becomes a universal commodity, it is increasingly evident that this is not what we need to cope and thrive in today's world. It is time for a new view of learning. Instead of being seen as the acquisition of new knowledge and information we hold that learning must be seen as the development of new competence, a new capacity for action. No amount of studying books, listening to tapes, or reading simplistic tips and techniques will produce new competence. The only way to develop new competence is through practice and it is time for the development of new practices of leadership and management. We need new practices that are not trivial, which is what we have all to often settled for of late. We need practices that allow us to cope with an increasingly global, constantly changing world, where communication is instant, and our identities and offers are examined and in play at all times.

Practices are new ways of being and behaving that evolve over time. To configure and master them requires somatic transformation, social mastery and spiritual strength. If people only study and read about what we are talking about, they will not learn to act, because in the end, learning happens in the body. The mind understands and understanding can indeed occur in an instant, but it is the body that learns and as we noted the body only learns through practice and like it or not, practice takes time. In our view a person is said to "know" only once he or she is able to do something they were not able to do before. As such, immersion in a space and process where action is required is critical for embodied learning to take place. There are no magic pills, instant results, or secret short cuts.

The technological advances of today, combined with our solid body of knowledge, opens up the possibility to move people quickly from theory to practice, allowing us to produce a significant breakthrough in the embodied learning of skills and practices that are critical for the 21st century. Using innovative methods and hands on work we have been able to create processes and practices for embodied learning where people learn to:

• work with others in teams both locally and across distance
• work with other cultures
• innovate, strategize, and design new futures
• manage moods and design and deliver powerful leadership narratives
• create trust and intimacy with others, particularly with people from different organizational and national cultures
• mobilize resources, take action and generate results in a focused coherent manner
• and develop "mastery of network mobilization," a term that captures the idea of being able to mobilize many resources in a network, external to an individual or to the organization he or she belongs.

The dilemma we face is simple to articulate and not so simple to attend to. As a business community we are deeply wedded to a series of ideas and practices about leadership and management that are largely relics of WWII. We have not done much in terms of rethinking the fundamental premises of management since then. Instead we have added technology to outdated practices and thus today we can do a number of things that are increasingly irrelevant if not dangerous to the health of an organization but we can do them quickly. We are then mystified when people are not engaged, productivity is largely flat, and people are increasingly cynical and distrustful. Trivial "fix it" programs or more motivational pabulum are not the answer.

As we all know, everyone is in favor of change as long as it doesn't mean me and it doesn't mean now. When times are great the story is," Why should we change anything now? Everything is going great and we are too busy." Then when we hit white water like we currently find ourselves in the story is, " We can't do anything now, we have to focus on our core functions, streamline things, and we can't afford anything new now, there is no budget for it." Real leaders know that what makes the time right for change is nothing more complex that their simple declaration, " We are going to change and we are going to do it now." Real leaders know that their fundamental role is that of designer of the future. As such they never let themselves be captive to fixed strategies or budgets as all they do is limit possibilities and drive flexibility out of the business at a time when it is most needed.

There is a new world emerging around us on a daily basis. If we are going to reinvent ourselves to be as effective in this new world as we were in the old one we must let go of the tired practices of the past, embrace a new view of leadership and management, and build new practices for learning. Each day we delay we fall further behind and endanger our future. These are risks that we need not take and with some authentic leadership can turn to our advantage. What are you waiting for?

Related Articles
  Sacramento Financial Advisor Keith Springer Quoted In Bloomberg Businessweek
  Train Your Workers, Develop Your Leaders
  Quote: Taking African products where there’s no bias
  Money is Tip Toeing Back into the Emerging Markets
  Awakening Leaders: The Greatness We Seek Is Within

Article Tags: best business schools, bill gates, business leaders, business leadership, business world, cash flow projections, curious paradox, earnings reports, lack confidence, larry page, larry page and sergey brin, leadership and management, living in fear, new focus, realities, recitations, sergey brin, steve jobs, strategic plans, world today



Related Forum Posts
Name for website - Hmmmm Authors World Authors Network Authors World Wide Weblog World Wide Authors Arboretum (or some other alliterative word) WritertoWriter Writer to Reader WritersWorld WritersConnect AuthorsandtheirReadersBlog
Re: Business Women Peer Mentoring Spotlight - Hi Everyone, Gosh, I REALLY appreciate your concrete feedback. This was far more than I expected and I'm glad you said what you thought straight out. Each of you have shared something of value and I want to take some more time to think and really go over what each of you have said. However, I can see there are some things I need to change right away. What an interesting point about a NEW program perhaps making people think they are guinea pigs! This is NOT what I want to convey! It's funny how we can see some things so clearly in others while not always seeing it for ourselves! I must admit there are a few things I've been meaning to change (like my bio which is very outdated). Obviously, these things need to be higher on my priority list. You caught me like the plumber who puts his clients first and doesn't get around to fixing his own tap! As far as my target market, I do feel quite strongly about working with Women Leaders and doing Leadership Coaching with them. It's non-negotiable in my books. In my Executive Coaching training, the terms "Leaders" and "Executives" are interchangable. To me, an Executive is a Leader and so is the Business Woman or Entrepreneur who is CEO of her own business. I love working with decision makers! What I did learn is that I need to avoid opening up the Leadership term beyond what I described above. I'm also wondering if there is a misunderstanding with the general public as to what Leadership Coaching really is. Leadership Coaching is all about developing your leadership skills, both as a people manager and in more effectively running and growing the business. There is ALWAYS room for growth in some way. As well, sometimes, we just need a sounding board to clarify what our next BEST step is. In fact, if a woman thinks she has nothing to work on, then we aren't a good Client/Coach fit anyway. How can she grow if she doesn't see the value of expressing ALL of the great ability within her? How can her company grow if she doesn't see the value of strategic planning for the next best level? Thanks again to you all! I will go back to my website and really question whether I am conveying the right message. I got more than I bargained for in this Spotlight... you generously offered way more than I was asking. I think we could be on to something great for the Forum. Now it's time to let someone else have the spotlight. It would be great if everyone took a turn! In gratitude, Tami
The Old Girl's Network - (2003) - Haven't read this one yet... Contents A business of one's own: setting the stage Passion: Turning what you love into a real business Vision: Bringing Your Idea Into the World Pioneering Spirit: Discovering new frontiers Tenacity: Passions Bulldog Raising Capital: Translating your vision into dollars and cents Focus, feedback and flexibility Leadership lessons Life after the survival stage: Managing onward There's a Took Kit in the back that has lots of good stuff, including: Outline for competitive analysis: the basic issues to address before starting your company Outline for executive summary and business plan, with sample summary Explanation of non-disclosure agreement Milestone setting "Do you have what it takes" quiz Sample financing term sheet Due Diligence checklist Sample advisory agreement Process and systems review Outsourcing overview
Re: 3 Ways I Used Twitter To Grow My Business This Week - Hi Olivia, It seems you are working in the area of leadership area. Is Leadership = Learning? I am looking for some good books on strategy? Which one do you recommend? Thanks, Robert
Who Said Twitter Doesn't Work...? - Last month, the BBC World Service programme, The Strand, featured 21 year-old Icelandic pianist/composer Olafur Arnalds. Arnalds achieved extraordinary success through his internet-led project to compose 7 tunes in 7 days, post them on his website and then post links to it via TWITTER. As a result his website got thousands of visitors eager to listen to his music, catapulting him to fame and bringing his music to the attention of the BBC, who featured an interview with him on the World Service programme, The Strand! So who says Twitter doesn't work? (HINT: It does help if you have something uniquely your own that other people want to get hold of...)


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Stress: What Causes It and How To Deal With It

Purchasing Real Estate using the SBA 504 Loan

How to Ask for a Flexible Work Arrangement

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.