Think Like a Leader
None of us really want to think of ourselves as dinosaur leaders. We might see it in others, but not in ourselves. But when you do a bit of thinking about what makes a leader a dinosaur you realise why it is so easy to become one. Today many leaders are struggling with digital disruption and feeling unable to cope with digital transformation. However being a dinosaur leader is not just about digital change – it means being stuck in the past and this can be about behaviour and attitudes as much as about technical issues.
|
|
|
Feel Like a Leader
Does anyone really feel like a dinosaur leader? Probably we all have so many defence mechanisms in place that we shield ourselves from feeling as if we would ever behave as a dinosaur. And no doubt we would feel insulted if called it – I have never heard it used as a term of endearment. So we need to try and be more self-analytical; are we adapting and changing to the environment around us? And are we putting in the effort to actually look at what is happening in our business and beyond?
|
|
|
Act Like a Leader
Change for the sake of change is seldom progress. In fact it is more likely a recipe for chronic instability and turmoil. Like many aspects of leadership this is about balance. Knowing what is going on, bringing others together for critical analysis and forming a plan of action. And then the hard work begins – implementing it. And knowing that this change may have a multiplier effect requiring other changes to be made. So the adaptive leader is the one least likely to be the dinosaur.
|
|
|
|
Maureen Metcalf is a principal at thoughtLEADERS and in this interview she talks with Steve Caldwell of the Management Mojo podcast series. Here she is discussing her experience of seeing managers become obsolete. She highlights how this is a process of decline – not just a single event. It is about a failure to change and adapt. Stuck in what worked 10 or 20 or 30 years ago. She talks about the importance of consistent and persistent small steps.
|
|
This week’s read comes from Lorne Rubis who writes extensively on personal leadership. This article again features General Stanley McChrystal who I heard speak a few years ago in New York.
‘Leading’ With a Dinosaur’s Tail
'Key Point: Command and control leadership is no longer the way to effectively run an organization. However, my observation is that many self-proclaimed contemporary leaders buy this idea on paper, nod their heads in vigorous agreement, but behave very differently. I think too many current managers really like the idea of being “the boss,” not necessarily being a true LEADER, but definitely the BIG BOSS.
They mostly just expect people to do what they’re told. And they really think, even when outwardly presenting a “team” belief, that they’re smarter and know what’s best. And if you disagree too much, or step on their egos, there will be consequences.
In 2004, General Stanley McChrystal was appointed head of Joint Special Operations Command for the US military in Iraq. He subsequently recorded his experience in 2015’s Team of Teams. The following is a quote from McChrystal’s best selling book:
“I would tell my staff about the ‘dinosaur’s tail’: As a leader grows more senior, his bulk and tail become huge, but like the brontosaurus, his brain remains modestly small. When plans are changed and the huge beast turns, its tail often thoughtlessly knocks over people and things. That the destruction was unintentional doesn’t make it any better.”
In our current whirlwind environment, traditional command and control structures are no longer very effective.
The decision makers at the top of the command chain are too far removed from the relevant information and are two slow to react. When Gen. McChrystal recognized this to be true, he changed the organizational and decision-making structure of the task force to a “Team of Teams” approach. The two primary principles underlying this philosophy are transparent communication and decentralized decision-making.
For those making the decisions under Gen. McChrystal, the maxim was simple: “Use good judgment in all situations.” While this may sound overly simplistic, the irony is that in a scrambled world, simple trumps complexity.
Gen. McChrystal recognized that his role needed to change too. He viewed his primary responsibility as creating a “shared consciousness” or common purpose. One of his great quotes: “Purpose affirms trust, trust affirms purpose, and together they forge individuals into a working team.”
Rather than being the master strategist, the general saw his role as being similar to that of a gardener. He needed to create the right environment to allow these teams to flourish and decisions to be made within the context of this shared consciousness and purpose.'
|
|
This is a short video clip from Jay Scanlan, Partner and Global Digital Strategy Leader at McKinsey. He is focusing here on how companies need to (continuously) respond and adapt to digital disruption – or face becoming historical dinosaurs. He pins many of the leadership failures on an imagination deficit – simply not working to think through what is happening all around. Watch him talk about the need for courageous leadership.
|
|
|
Well you won’t see this walking down Argyll St in Glasgow! (Unless it’s a Saturday night……!)
And it isn’t in the Museum of Scottish Leadership either. However, you will find it nestled in the heart of the Highlands at the Landmark Forest Adventure Park near Aviemore.
This is their new attraction for 2019 and has a great range of dinosaurs roaming freely in Cairngorms National Park. Brilliantly done it shows how learning from dinosaurs can build your business. I loved the irony of that given the theme of this newsletter. Clearly a business that is not stuck in the Jurassic Age.
|
|
Dinosaur to Dynamo How 20 Old Economy Companies Are Winning in the New Economy
By David Stauffer.
This is an upbeat book about how some companies have adapted to the new digital age, so it takes a positive look at the benefits of continuous adaptation. Interestingly although written 18 years ago – probably before we fully realised the scale of digital transformation – it tells the stories of how some old established companies, of varying scale, were evolving.
With the benefit of hindsight we can also see that, in spite of many challenges and a quickening pace of change, these companies are still around today. The key points again are around leadership that is willing to change with the times. No room here for ‘we’ve always done it that way!'
|
|
|
...without a little reflection, there is no Insight Added.
Everybody thinks it’s going to be different for them…... The dinosaurs thought so too.
Kathryn Davis
|
|
|
Lead well
Graham and Lesley
|
|
This email is brought to you by The Leader (Scotland). It encourages leaders at any age or stage, in all sectors, to deliberately improve their leadership.
The Leader also provides confidential support, learning and development for leaders.
Find out more at
|
|
|
|
