The world has become obsessed with productivity. Long hours, back-to-back zooms and to-do lists that can put fear into even the most stoic of executives. And over the last year, changes to how we work had brought this to the fore even more.
The Cynefin framework defines different types of problems and the leadership approach required to address them. It’s a helpful framework as we think about the success of the vaccine roll out – and to understand many other situations that we experience as human beings, and as leaders, navigating through challenging times.
The Covid pandemic continues to test us at all levels of society, in our homes, with our families and at work. As we write (March 2021) the rapid roll out of vaccines, at least in the UK, offers hope for the year ahead, but we are still far from anywhere near ‘normal.’
Resilience is always important, but never more so than in times of uncertainty and volatility. At Mezzana Partners, we’ve had 25 years experience working with Olympic athletes, exceptional leaders, and global businesses, develop their resilience in a proactive and strategic way.
Friends and clients alike have told us that this lockdown has been different from the last two, that it has snuck up on them how different they have felt.
The end of 2020 showed us once again just how quickly and dramatically the context could change. But despite a challenging and unexpected start, 2021 is a year of great hope, growth and regeneration.
The leadership skill of horizon scanning has never been more important – the events of the last year has demonstrated this in abundance. The ability to gaze over the parapet and the confines of your world, to anticipate and predict the future, and to then apply that insight to plan and contingency plan is absolutely core for any leader, and particularly if you’re responsible for the future direction of your business.
Alistair Mant passed away in October 2020. He was a long-time friend and mentor of ours, and we want to mark his contribution to the field of leadership.
In times of uncertainty, leaders need to sustain their own confidence. This is essential to help a team, or even a whole business, maintain the optimism and energy they need to adapt and thrive.
“It’s all about gaining altitude” said William Winstone as he framed the second in our four-module Leading in New Worlds programme “The ability to zoom in and out gives us different perspectives and a different relationship with the ground we work on – a bit like Google maps!” he added.
A conversation with Duncan Law, Consultant Clinical Psychologist who has over 30-years’ experience working in applied psychology across elite sporting environments, including premier league football,
“The course has already started me thinking about my actions as a leader. How can I be more intentional in what I do for both myself and my team. It has made me consider recognising performance as well as outcomes!”
