We like the agile description of organisational change “fixing the plane while it flies”. It resonates with us as a start-up, as we obsess about solving problems – learning with our users, all the while testing, iterating and improving.
During this pandemic, leadership has taken a new turn and for many of us “we are not fixing the plane in mid-air, we’re building it”. This is how Deloitte describes the new agile change.
Resilient leaders are defined by five essential qualities of who they are, and then by what they do across three critical time-frames: Respond, Recover and Thrive.
At this stage in the crisis, many leaders are still moving in and out of the Respond and Recover phases with the prospect of further outbreaks and an uncertain economic and societal future.
“Amid these uncertainties, resilient leadership requires even greater followership, which must be nurtured and catalyzed by building greater trust.” Deloitte Insights
As we get a better feel for treading new territory, resilient leaders recognise the shift from a ‘today’ to a ‘tomorrow’ mindset for their teams.
The ‘tomorrow’ mindset of resilient leaders must accept the ‘interim’ normal, look outward and face the market and reenergise the workforce by reinventing itself and positioning for the next normal.
While the tragedy of the COVID-19 crisis has taken much attention away from the threat of climate change, resilient leaders are in a position to ensure ‘tomorrow’ does not lose sight of the sustainability agenda.
“A low-carbon, high-growth recovery formula isn’t easy” McKinsery & Co
Analysis by McKinsey & Co suggests that, given the sheer size of government stimulus – US$10 trillion, measures targeting good environmental outcomes can not only initiate the significant emissions reductions needed to halt climate change, but also create more jobs and economic growth than a higher carbon recovery would.
The private sector plays a key role, and we challenge resilient leaders to incorporate sustainability into their forward planning for 'tomorrow'. It is also invigorating from a workforce perspective.
Closer to home, one organisation that works with companies to help their staff embrace change and be more resilient, agile and innovative in their thinking is Oranges Toolkit.
This growing consultancy delivers evidence-based, measurable and practical programs to private and public sector organisations all over Australia. It is also a social enterprise and wholly-owned subsidiary of Camp Quality, with 100% of profits supporting kids facing cancer in Australia.
In this unsettling time, when staff are enduring so much disruption both at work and at home, Oranges Toolkit can help corporate leaders build a more resilient, change responsive and new-agile workforce to boost productivity towards a sustainable economic recovery.
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