10/30/2024
𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 is all about mobilising people to tackle the most pressing, daunting, wicked challenges: the tough stuff of work.
It’s opposite to technical leadership which lives in the technical and logic, and which has known solutions that can implement current know how.
📌 Insight 3 focuses on Energising Others.
1. 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀
You need to engage the people and groups you seldom engage, those that have a stake in issue but opinions are rarely sought. You can do this by:
– Identify your usual voices
– Identify other voices and understand their issues
– Make it simple to connect e.g Meet with them over coffee
– Don’t tell right or wrong, just meet them where they are
– Ask for feedback and opinions
2. 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
Factions are groups of people who share values. Working across factions means doing lots of work to understand where others are coming from.
Tips for working across factions
– Focus on building trust first
– Identifying overlapping interests, not disagreements
– Have a mindset that is open to new possibilities
– Acknowledge their loss
– Ask open questions – ‘what does success look like for you?’
– Ask for feedback on your opinions
– Work for the common good together
3. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗔 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀
You need to create a process where different factions can come together in a trusted environment to do the necessary work.
Characteristics of a trustworthy process:
– People free to express ideas
– Those most affected are part of generating ideas and making decisions
– People know where, and when, they fit in the process
– There is space and time to express vulnerability
– Those in charge model openness to explore new ideas
– The lines of authority and non-authority become blurred as people work together
– Higher ups embrace failure as a learning opportunity
4. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗔 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲
Each faction has its own purpose, and all those purposes have at least something in common that unites the factions and makes collective work possible.
How to inspire a collective purpose:
– Understand factions you need on board
– Engage factions early and often
– Care as much about their cause as yours
– Build trust along the way
– Make the goals attainable
– Take action
