Practitioner leaders are the future
How do you develop remarkable business leaders?
Today’s constantly changing context demands that leaders make multiple paradigm shifts. These are our strategists, visionaries and cultural motivators and in today’s world, leadership evolution is required – probably continuously and definitely fast!
Success is not guaranteed. Industry-based expertise, specific business skills and inherent knowledge describe the ‘Noun’ of leadership, Evolution is the new ‘Verb’. Developing new qualitative skills on the job, requires an eclectic, competent and responsive approach and there is no longer a definitive map or method.
We need uniquely spirited individuals, able to apply their own brand of personal authority and excellence in ever-changing, practical ways. We need Leaders with sharpened instincts, great performance, and the ability to see patterns and apply knowledge in untried ways. Cultivating this effectively is more than Business Skills Development or Soft-Skills Coaching. Paradigm shifting requires supported practice, consciousness, questioning and change-agility.
Leaders are the key activators and influencers for surviving chaos, complexity and change, so solution-based OD and Learning products are packaged to inspire and motivate this thrust. However, life can be complex - systems and practices are already entrenched and market success waits for no-one. It takes time to integrate and practice new ideas and theories, let alone create radical shifts and open up to new paradigms of consciousness!
Effective learning is a process, often overwhelmed by work pace and insufficient timing, which leaves new information as only conceptual or half tried. After a while most people revert to habitual responses which sabotage all the good theories and intentions.
For every organisation and leader, the input will vary as will the moments of truth, but the answer lies in the principle of encouraging and developing powerful Practitioner Leaders. This means individuals who work deeply and consciously within themselves and their fields, to perform ever more effectively from a place of authority and influence; future-fit leaders who practice personal resilience to ensure organisational resilience – supported Practitioners who develop into mastered Influencers.
Committing to enabling deep-practice in key people will revolutionise organisations as they negotiate volatility. It’s challenging, but essential, to innovate within systems designed for a bygone age. To do so, leaders need intuitive, able, agile ‘practice-allies’ at the coal face with them. A relevant individual who can observe, call foul and offer Insightful support, brainstorming and mentoring whilst the leader learns to align her/his practice - analysing and facing personal challenges, turning mistakes into breakthroughs and reframing out-dated concepts. An ally will run with a Practitioner Leader, assisting with the nitty-gritty of the leader’s responses to emergent change, directing focus, uncovering patterns and tools that ensure minimal interruption to pace.
Clearly such leadership support is an individualised, responsive process. It requires skill and insight embedded with extensive knowledge and experience of change, learning and people, plus out-of-the-box, eclectic methodologies to weave into existing approaches. It’s not standard HR - it’s a paradigm shift of its own.
We can’t guarantee what leaders will need to do to lead to 2020 and beyond, but we can strengthen them to evolve through practice, offering space and support that enhances their capacity to successfully lead through the Unknown and to emerge, revitalised, on the other side.
Practitioner Leaders are the way of the future.
This was first published as part of a discussion in BusinessBrief, December 2016/January 2017