Leadership in a crazy world
Sibylle Chaudhuri
18th June 2022
Images (left to right) by Lucy Kaef, Engin Akyurt, Dariusz Sankowski from Pixabay
We are living in a time where we have the feeling our outside world has gone nuts and unfortunately pretty much out of control. Actually, this is a fallacy; we humans never had any control over our outside world. But with the media throwing negative news at us all day long, we get the feeling of loss of control more than ever.
All this affects all of us in one way or another. Sometimes events keep bothering us 24/7.
How does this influence the employees of an organisation?
The separation, ‘Business is business, and private is private’ never worked – I think we can agree on that, right? We are human beings and always appear holistic as such. This aspect comes even more to the fore in our crazy VUCA* world:
V olatilty
U ncertainty
C omplexity
A mbiguity
Diversity, social media, digitisation, the rapid progress of our mechanisation, globalisation, Corona, natural disaster, terrorist attacks and ever coming closer wars are components we are confronted with on a daily basis. Stress, uncertainty, and fear have become the new norm for many of us.
All this has led to a paradigm shift and a change of working. People want more than just a job and a reasonable income. Humans want an occupation that gives them meaning, where they can experience fun and joy, where they can unfold their true potential and develop themselves further. They want to be integrated into the organisation they work for; they want to be a part of it and shaping it. Employees want more responsibility and freedom of decision. They expect flexible and mobile working and more security and safety at the same time. Hierarchical structures and authoritarian leadership are doomed to fail. Our time calls for empathic leaders with a collaborative, abundant and adventurous mindset.
Modern leadership, servant leadership, scrum, agile … all those current buzzwords. For years and years already, science and consulting companies e.g. Gallup have pointed out increasing numbers of discontent employees and the importance of employee engagement. One of Germany’s leading recruitment companies, Randstad, recently said to the newspaper “Welt am Sonntag” that employment loyalty is on an all-time low. 33% of staff, especially of the generation ‘Z’, are rather unemployed than be unhappy in their job. Already for at least two decades Anselm Gruen, a German Benedictine monk, author, leadership trainer and business economist has been talking about Servant Leadership, the importance of a vision and its meaning, to inspire vitality and joy within your employees, as well as to transform the organisation into a place of inspiration and encouragement.
How can you develop timely and appropriate leadership skills for a crazy world to support your work colleagues – and thereby your organisation?
It all starts with you
“The best reformers the world has ever seen are those who commence on themselves.”
George Bernard Shaw
True, we cannot change the others. And, in most cases we cannot change what happens to us and around us. But we can change ourselves, our point of view, and how we react to something, and then everything else around us changes as well.
Well-balanced
You can only approach turbulences and other challenging events in a calm manner and a clear head when you are well-balanced. The first step could be to reduce and manage your stress and increase your energy levels and your resilience.
Who are you?
Do you know yourself? Your talents, strengths, your full potential? What inspires you? What is your passion? What are your values? What concerns you? What is of importance? What are you standing for? Can you accept yourself with all your quirks and rough edges?
When you really know who you are and can accept yourself the way you are, you can also approach others open-minded and accept them the way they are. You can communicate clearly and understandably. You can acknowledge the potential of your work colleagues and foster it. You will be able to establish strong relationships.
Trust yourself
Do you dare getting out of your comfort zone? Are you allowed to make mistakes? Can you accept honest feedback? By trusting yourself, you will be able to trust others as well. By transferring all this to your team, you will be able to establish a culture of failure, foster creativity, create a safe environment and build a strong team culture.
Into the stillness
Become still and listen to yourself and acknowledge your emotions. Learn to accept, understand, and process them. Then, you can meet others with empathy and to be able to handle their emotions appropriately. Your employees will feel comfortable with you and supported.
This is only a small extract of what is possible but it can support you in many ways with your leadership skills in our crazy world. It could support you in
- developing a more positive and authentic appearance,
- being a role model for others,
- inspiring your work colleagues, and
- creating a motivating work environment.
Employees who are enthused about and committed to their leaders, are more engaged and yield more enthusiasm in their team. They are more loyal to their superior and their company in general. They become brand ambassadors for their organisation. People who like what they do deliver a better performance and more.
Don’t be a boss be a leader. Start to revolutionise yourself and your organisation with an adventurous spirit and fun.
Be well.
Yours,
Sibylle
inner works for you
* Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus used the acronym VUCA already in 1987 for their leadership theories in organisations.
sibylle chaudhuri
consulting | coaching | training | mediation
fon: +49 172 6494926
email: info@sibylle-chaudhuri.com
www.sibylle-chaudhuri.com
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inner works for you