Developing Leaders For A VUCA World
Putting The Development Back Into Leadership Development
A site for leaders who want to develop themselves and
executive coaches who want to better develop their clients
Leaders Lost At Sea In A VUCA Storm
Imagine leading a ship through a vast and unpredictable ocean. This ocean is VUCA – a churning sea of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. The winds of change whip up suddenly, sending unexpected storms your way. Just as you think you've charted a course, a new challenge emerges, forcing you to adjust your sails and navigate uncharted waters. The fog rolls in thick, obscuring your vision. Landmarks disappear, and the path ahead becomes unclear. The currents swirl and tangle, pulling your ship in multiple directions simultaneously. Underlying ecosystems, unseen reefs and hidden dangers lurk beneath the surface. This is what it means to lead in a VUCA leadership and over 85% of leaders have not done enough personal inner-game development to navigate this environment!
The Toll of Untapped Potential
"Leaders are over-learning, but under developing"
Leaders are over-learning (the tools and techniques of leadership), but under-developing (the personal capacities to lead with equanimity and wisdom through the messiness of VUCA) and consequently they currently feel overwhelmed despite how successful a leader they've previously been. A lack of personal development creates a leadership gap between a leader's understanding of leadership and their inability to apply that understanding in VUCA environments. If this is you, then you're probably feeling adrift, grappling with disorienting dilemmas and "wicked problems" which have no clear solutions. Unknowingly, you've been trying to solve them with traditional problem-solving tools and a traditional heroic leadership mindset,
a mismatch on both counts for the intricate challenges you face.
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The personal emotional toll is significant. Feelings of frustration,
anxiety and fear of failure become pervasive. Disappointment in outcomes,
the burden of overwhelm and the constant sense of being on the back foot erodes your resilience and personal well-being, leading to burnout and feelings of being an imposter. Having been on top of your game, you now find yourself questioning your own purpose and effectiveness. Strategies that once
worked now flounder, leaving you disoriented, stuck and in over your head.
Finding Your Inner Captain: Charting a Course to Inner Transformation
Traditional leadership development focuses heavily on the "outer-game" – skills and knowledge acquisition...this is more accurately described as leadership 'learning' rather than development. However, the key to navigating VUCA landscapes lies in the often-overlooked "inner-game" – developing your way of being. This is a hidden curriculum and yet the foundation for true leadership transformation. This personal development compliments more traditional leadership skills and knowledge acquisition courses and central to this developmental agenda are the processes of waking up, growing up, cleaning up and showing up.
Leaders need to apply these four processes of "growing up", "waking up", "cleaning up" and "showing up" to evolve, rather than just learn because the traditional heroic leadership model no longer works effectively in today's VUCA world.
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Leaders need to wake up externally to this VUCA world and it's wicked problems as well as wake up internally to gain a much deeper self-awareness and become more conscious.
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Leaders need to grow up their worldview of how the world operates to match the complexity on their inside that they face in their leadership roles on the outside.
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Leaders need to clean up previously unconscious defence mechanisms that might have served them well in the past, but now limit their effectiveness and agility to respond.
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This results in leaders being able to show up more authentically, with greater presence and the ability to meet the world with equanimity, compassion and wisdom.
Here's What Awaits You On The Other Side Of Your Development Journey
Join the Elite
Become part of the select 15% of leaders who can navigate the complexities of the VUCA landscape and inspire people to achieve extraordinary results.
Presence and Gravitas
Develop a powerful leadership presence that commands respect and inspires action. Project an air of robustness and assuredness, even in the midst of huge uncertainty.
Leadership as a Way of Being
Move beyond a skillset; embody leadership as a fundamental aspect of who you are. Cultivate self-awareness as well as emotional and even spiritual intelligence, thereby leading with integrity and authenticity.
From Hero to
Humble Host
Shift from the heroic leadership mindset, where the leader is the sole problem-solver, to a more collaborative "humble host" approach. This is an upshift to your identity; who you take yourself to be as a leader. As a host, distilling the collective intelligence of all stakeholders.
Resilience
Under Pressure
Build a staunch resilience to ‘bounce forward’ from setbacks with new insights and so thrive in uncertainty. Learn to navigate challenges with a developmental mindset, seeing challenges as opportunities for personal development and adaptation.
Deep Understanding
of VUCA
Unravel the complexities of VUCA and the "wicked problems" it presents. Learn to identify these problems and approach them with the appropriate perspective and worldview.
Equanimity, Potency and Wisdom
Approach challenges with a calm clarity, radiating wisdom and effectiveness. Make well-considered decisions under pressure, fostering trust and confidence across the wide of stakeholders you work with.
Embracing Uncertainty
See uncertainty not as a threat, but as a catalyst for innovation and growth. Develop the agility to adapt to changing circumstances and seize unforeseen opportunities.
Embracing Conflict
See confrontation not as something to be avoided, but a necessary and inevitable consequence of surfacing the dichotomies which inevitably arise in these wicked problems, in order that their contradictions can be transcended and integrated.
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While effective leadership is a lifelong journey of development and growth, that doesn't mean you have to wait years to see results. This hidden development curriculum is designed to equip you with frameworks and reflective practices that can deliver "quick wins" in the short term. You'll see improvements in your composure, resilience, decision-making and ability to navigate challenging situations. These initial successes will motivate you and provide a strong foundation for your ongoing development as a leader.
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Download an eight-page White Paper which describes the impact that VUCA and its associated wicked problems have on leadership and why, when leading in a VUCA world, the development of a leader’s inner-game is far more potent than adding more learning to their outer-game.
FREE Self Paced Course: Developing Leaders For a VUCA World
A unique leadership course which brings the development back into leadership development
Click below to access this free self-paced 100 minute course
on "Leading In A VUCA World”
Online Course Testimonials
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"Thank you for the fantastic course – it’s interesting how our point of view can change the perception of how we see the environment we lead across”.
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“This was fantastic, really appreciated; I want several
of my lead team members to understand this”.
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“Thank you Baz for this fantastic resource”.
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“I wish this was taught to us before”.
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“Thank you! I'm feeling positive for the journey ahead”.
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“Thank you very much, really insightful”.
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“Very informative and indeed thought provoking”.
The free online course offered above is designed to stand alone and provides significant
content to begin developing your capacities to grow up, wake up, clean up to show up.
Below are more offerings to add greater depth and insight beyond the free online course.