5 HABITS OF
TRULY DISRUPTIVE LEADERS
DISRUPTION
AND LEADERSHIP MIGHT SEEM OPPOSING FORCES. HERE'S HOW THE BEST LEADERS
RECONCILE THE TWO.
On
its face, leadership's goals don't seem to line up with dictionary definitions
of disruption. Here's Merriam-Webster's:
disrupt: (verb dis·rupt
\dis-ˈrəpt\) to cause (something) to be unable to continue in the normal way;
to interrupt the normal progress or activity of (something)
Surely
leaders should do the reverse, providing a steady hand on the tiller and
guiding their teams to consistent and predictable victories—right? That's been
the formula for organizational success for decades, at any rate.
Not
any more. For all the buzzworthiness of the term "disruption," the
fact is that the competitive pressure to innovate and shake up established
markets is too powerful for companies—and the people who lead them—to
disregard. And that's having ramifications in the day-to-day experiences of
most workplaces. If their leaders don’t shake organizations from their slumber
from within, they'll struggle to compete in the wider world.
THE DISRUPTIVE IMPERATIVE
Corporate
graveyards are littered with examples of companies that woke up to smell the
coffee a little too late—Blockbuster, Blackberry, and Kodak, to name but a few.
That's rarely ever the fault of employees; the impetus to think disruptively
must come from the top.
As
an ad for Babson College's MBA program noted back in 2011—before going on to be widely recited throughout the business world—some 40% of
Fortune 500 companies in 2000 no longer existed by 2010. That rate of
extinction hasn't let up. Leaders have to be continuously ready to challenge
everything that they've held dear.
Still,
disruptive leadership isn't about change for the sake of change. It's about
integrating change into the modus operandi of the company—which, of course, is
easier said than done. The truly disruptive leader doesn’t need to talk about
disruption because it's simply how they get things done. How? Here are five
ways the most dynamic leaders embrace disruption and radiate it through their
entire organizations.
Not
telling others what you can see with your own eyes is the first step towards an
early grave. When the business environment shifts and the accustomed approaches
stop working, the last thing any business needs is a leader who suggests
everyone keep calm and carry on.
Disruptive
leaders are always testing to make sure their companies' strategies are still
effective—and say so when they aren't. The more rapidly changes take place, the
more crucial it becomes for leaders to take all their employees with them on
the journey. The truth sometimes hurts, but it's often the shock of that truth
that prods people into taking actions and making decisions they might not have
contemplated otherwise.
2. THEY GUIDE OTHERS THROUGH CHAOS
Leaders
need to be comfortable with the reality that in the face of change, the future
is often hazy. Then they need others to be equally comfortable with that. As a
company enters uncharted waters, it can be daunting for everyone involved. This
is where the old "steady hand on the tiller" idea of leadership still
has some force—not to guide an organization along a familiar course during
difficult times, but to keep the ship steady as it steers in a new direction.
A
big piece of that is communication. Leaders need to cut through the
press-release palaver about "exciting new opportunities" and explain
in concrete, practical terms how the changes under way tie into the business's
objectives: What new moves is the company making, and how come? Disruptive
leaders empathize with their teams and involve them in their thinking. Chaos
with a final destination is somehow a little less chaotic, even if you can't
map out in advance every move that will take you there.
The
guiding principle of a disruptive leader is decisiveness. Leading by consensus
has its place in the business world, but you can't focus-group your way to an
effective new playbook when the landscape changes abruptly.
Even
if some decisions involves the most basic of "gut feels," disruptive
leaders need to tell their teams precisely what they want, when, and why—then
help them to make it happen. Waiting too long to weigh countervailing opinions
can spell doom.
4. THEY BREAK THE RULES AND WRITE NEW ONES—BUT ALWAYS
EXPLAIN WHY
The
word "normal" doesn’t exist in a disruptive leader’s vocabulary—once
something has become normal, it's probably obsolete. The market is constantly
changing, and the aim is always to be at its forefront rather than floundering
in its wake. Sometimes that means breaking the rules; indeed, disruptive
leaders nurture a healthy skepticism of best practices.
Still,
a willingness to break the rules isn't the same as cheering lawlessness.
Embracing disruption means there's always a new normal, and for as long as it
lasts, it's up to leaders to communicate what it is. If employees don't know
the current rules of the game, the organization can't play by them as a team.
5. THEY THRIVE ON UNCERTAINTY
Leading
disruptive innovation means getting used to incredible levels of uncertainty.
You never know how something will work until you try it. Modifying your
assumptions and adapting your plans depending on your results is the standard
practice of the most effective disruptive leaders.
But
while such leaders might be called visionaries, they don’t have a crystal ball.
There's a certain method to the mayhem of navigating continuous changes, and
disruptive leaders know that the key to success lies in using the insights from
experimenting in order to chart a new direction.
Innovate
and iterate. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand what's happened the
first time your organization tries something new. If you keep your eyes and
ears open, you'll be better informed the second time. And who knows? By then
things might have changed all over again.
BY FAISAL HOQUE
http://www.fastcompany.com/3052725/hit-the-ground-running/5-habits-of-truly-disruptive-leaders?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-daily-newsletter&position=5&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=11092015
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