Leadership Versatility
Hosni Mubarak
knew how to lead Egypt...in a certain way. Faced with a true democratic revolution, his old ways of leading fit the new Egypt like the pants he wore 30 years ago. No matter how hard you try...
How versatile are you?
We live in an age of specialties, even regarding leadership styles. Leadership assessments (and there are thousands of them) provide us with not only a galaxy of descriptors to narrow down our leadership style, but specific strategies to build on our strengths. But if I am a Conceptualizer (which I am), does just becoming an even better Conceptualizer help me as an organizational leader? Is that kind of narrow focus serving the leadership needs of our organizations well?
I am not arguing that in response we all become generalists. Generalist is not the same as Versatile. “Generalist” can sometimes mean you are good enough at most things and in most contexts, to fake your way through! I am emphasizing VERSATILITY, which I define as the emotional intelligence to shift leadership style according to the need of the team/organization.
Continuing my blog’s metaphor, the nomadic leader comes across multiple landscapes in their career. Just when you have made it around the proverbial corner, there’s a new mountain that represents obstacle, opportunity or perhaps an OMG! response. If you were a real-life nomad, you had better be prepared for everything and either have the resources at hand or the ingenuity to find a solution.
How versatile are you?
The specialist mentality approaches change with the same perspective they do with any other problem. When you are a hammer, everything is a nail. But when you are pounding on that nail and discover it’s now an egg, will you keep pounding? That’s OK if the goal is to break the egg, but what if the task is to incubate it? What resources will you draw from when your default style isn’t cutting it? Are you versatile enough to adjust, or does the organization need another leader? It’s not that we can be all things to all people at all times. That’s not possible. Sometimes we need to outsource, hand off, assign, or even resign. However, inherent in all of us is a wider range of leadership expression than we currently exercise.
What might it mean to the life and legacy of your organization if you were even 10% more versatile as a leader? Multiply that 10% though your entire circle of influence and it will have an effect on a much higher order of magnitude.
So, conduct your own 360 to discover the types of leadership behaviours that would better serve your organization. Use formal assessments if you wish. But I am challenging you to get out of the virtual assessment world and into the personal assessment arena. GO TALK TO THOSE YOU LEAD. If that’s a novel idea to you, then this is obviously the first place where you must become more versatile. It’s not possible to effectively lead those with whom you are not communicating!
It may be very awkward at first if you have not shown up enough “on the shop floor”, or your current communication style builds walls rather than opens doors. Perhaps you just need to start with a few general conversations, taking more time with employees and direct reports than in the past. But at some point, INVITE them to be part of a deeper conversation. WARNING – if you ask the questions I am about to propose, but then DON’T make any attempt to change, you will breed cynicism in your organization and block further effective communication. So, this is a risk and unless you are serious about changing yourself for the benefit of your organization, don’t start.
While not exhaustive, here are 7 questions you can ask employees and direct reports to help identify areas where you can develop versatility.
1. What inspires you to be your best?
2. What would free you to work to your optimal capacity?
3. Tell me the things that deflate your enthusiasm for doing a great job here.
4. When you are discouraged about your work, what picks you up?
5. What do you need to do an effective job?
6. Why do you keep working here?
7. What do we need as an organization to be better than we are today?
You will notice something – ALL these questions are framed to revolve around the person you are talking to. It’s not about YOU. By discovering what motivates them, you learn what is required of YOU as a leader. Where you see gaps in your default mode of operating will then define the areas where you can begin to exercise versatility.
Good thoughts, my friend. In our day when everyone seems to want be a specialist and no one seems to want to be a general practitioner, we end up not being able to serve, or worse yet not being willing to serve, the very people that we so often claim to want to serve. Keep is thinking!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ken - I have been challenged by my own thoughts on this as I anticipate moving from leading something that is totally in my creative, freelance zone, to transitioning to more of an operational mode.
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