Leadership, perception and doing the right things at the right time.
MAX is a Melbourne based exec who likes to surf & breed. He writes for uncluttered white spaces from time to time. Here is part 3.
I recently read with interest the Bull commenting about that great corporate phrase – “my word is my bond”. Love it.
This got me thinking of another old chestnut straight out of the executive phrase-book - “We need to create a sense of urgency”. I’m sure we’ve all heard it and perhaps even used it. I put this one under the ‘better-thought-than-said’ category because 1) it is cliché and nebulous; and 2) it often has a damaging effect by creating panic in an organisation.
We all know urgency is good and panic is bad. How then, can an organisation create ‘urgency’, and not fall into ‘panic’ (the evil cousin)?
There are 3 primary areas to address:
Leadership & calmness: Most people are quite resilient in handling a crisis, however only a few are great leaders in a crisis. A leader will set the tone for the organisation and dictate whether it is in urgency or panic. This is primarily achieved through behaviours and actions. Calmness, decisiveness and language (verbal & non verbal) are key.
Perception of control: Employees need to know you have a plan and need to think you are in control. That way they can go about their job to the best of their ability without panicking. If you don’t clearly articulate a plan and address their real concerns then you will soon be in panic. Don’t feed them crap – address the real issues, but back it up with a plan to overcome them.
Do the right thing at the right time: Developing and then executing a plan and series of actions in context of a greater purpose is the best tool to avoid panic (also gives you something to celebrate). An organisation in panic will never act and doing nothing creates panic. Simple.
And there is a significant difference between an organisation which resides in a state of urgency or panic – SURVIVAL. Sometimes it is a fine line, but whatever you do don’t say ‘we need to create a sense of urgency’. Good luck.
In true uncluttered white spaces style. I have selected a handful of images thanks to Red Bull focusing on people who do not have time for panic however are driven by good urgency. They take our mind to a place rarely experienced and they do this through determination and persistence. Enjoy
MAX
A selection of inspiring images from
Red Bull. Enjoy.
This entry was posted
on Monday, August 24th, 2009 at 10:40 am and is filed under BUSINESS, MAX and tagged with BUSINESS, culture, MAX, Red Bull, Research, STRATEGY, Training.
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Tray (this is MAX, not Bull … disturbing thought putting them together), yes — resilience is closely linked, however a little more broad. I think of corporate resilience as balance sheet resilience (do we have any cash or access to cash), cultural & leadership resilience (which is what we’re discussing here), and operational resilience (do our core processes stand up under pressure).
Gary Hamel has done a lot of writing on resilience — google it and you’ll get some great stuff
Thx
MAX
Hi Tray. Thanks for the feedback and comment. I am sure MAX will come back to you. He may even make reference to you calling him the Bull. Lets see
.
I think that the key word here is resilience, it is why certain people can perform and recover in amazing ways when faced with adversity. The true leader is the person who stares straight into the eyes of the problems no matter how disturbing they may be and looks at the core issues when others shield there eyes. Once the issues are calmly and clearly seen then your prevention or survival methods can be quickly sorted and prioritised.
Thanks again Bull & Uncluttered for another great 3 minutes