One of the most influential trends happening right now is the organisational imperative to equip your people with the skills they’ll need to respond to change in a highly uncertain and rapidly evolving world.
The sheer size and scale of our VUCA landscape forces organisations to re-evaluate what it actually means to BE an organisation and challenges deep-rooted assumptions about what good leadership looks like.
Let’s take a brief look at some of the anticipated outcomes of a VUCA world…
7 OUTCOMES OF A VUCA WORLD
Technology will change the nature of jobs
As jobs are increasingly automated, technical and professional skills will become redundant; the soft skills needed to build relationships and communicate will be challenged, stretched and reinvented.
New models of leadership and management will come to the forefront
Transactional, process driven leadership practices based on instruction, obedience and appraisal will become irrelevant. A traditional leadership modus operandi will fail to connect with the needs and motivations of individuals who are capable of thriving in the new world.
Narrow and deep knowledge will be valued
Higher level jobs will be carried out by those with deep specialist knowledge and they will draw upon the specific skills of others as the need arises. General Managers will become Project Managers who move frequently between initiatives as the business develops.
Discretionary effort will be maximised with insightful leadership
Engaging with a dispersed, diverse and highly intelligent workforce will require new mental models about leadership. Leaders will need to be able to leverage the discretionary effort of their networks through collaboration and innovation and build relationships that are individualised, inspiring and insightful.
Multi-faceted careers will become the norm
Traditional linear career paths will be replaced by experience portfolios and careers will be punctuated by knowledge development, thought leadership, innovation, interest and choice. Consequently, attracting and retaining talent will be based on how successfully an organisation can continually deliver these opportunities.
Multigenerational workforces will unite
In 2017 Generation Z entered the workplace for the first time. With the merging of five generations, the workplace is more diverse and changeable than ever before. Established organisational structures will become invalid and modes of attracting, recruiting, developing, leveraging and retaining talent will strain under the multitude of competing employee needs.
Congruence and meaning will offer security
In uncertain and volatile times people will look for an ‘inner’ security; this will generate a greater desire to attain a higher sense of purpose and meaning. Work conditions that are congruent with an individual’s identity, values, beliefs and motivations will be sought after.
What these outcomes make plainly clear, is that in a VUCA world, you need to build and flex new muscles that help you take more of an ‘enquiry-led approach’ and to continually question and re-assess what’s happening around you.
You need to become a master of reinvention to enable your team to deal with the barrage of change coming their way. But, they can’t do it on their own – they also need to enable these behaviours in others.
Because, it’s here that you’ll find people who possess the necessary qualities that if harnessed effectively and deployed widely, can deliver the resilience needed to outperform in times of significant change.
VUCA requires behaviour change at a leadership level.
VUCA has brought into sharp focus the need for all leaders and managers to change their behaviours so that they can fully engage the potential of their workforces in these unprecedented times.
Operational Coaching® is an effective way to help people to unpack the last vestige of old habits in order to clear the way for genuine behavioural change. By helping people to adopt coaching-related behaviours, organisations can stimulate a level of questioning that comes from a place of genuine interest and confidence that people have all the resources they need to develop the appropriate insights.
Taking an ‘Enquiry-led Approach’ (ELA®), which is at the heart of operational coaching, encourages better answers and better outcomes for individuals, teams and organisations. Indeed, a coaching style of engagement that is multidirectional within the organisation will prove to be an invaluable skill that builds independence, enables performance – and in the face of change – creates resilience.
Please do contact us to learn more about our range of transformational and virtual management development programmes, including the award-winning STAR® Manager programme.
Read about how VUCA changes the role of leadership in our New Frontiers white paper >>> Download our brochure to learn more about some of our management qualifications >>> Arrange an informal chat to learn how your organisation can thrive in a VUCA world >>>
