Making the most of uncertainty- Engagement

Barely a week passes without some seeming cataclysmic change in the world around us. Pandemics, boardroom spying scandals, oil-price shocks, the revolving door of executive appointments at senior levels, evidence of activity induced climate change, virtue signalling announcements or escalation in wars of words over trade talks.

How as leaders do we navigate both the breadth, scale and rapidity of change that is coming towards us? Likewise, how do we handle the threats of competitors and other agencies signalling intentions that create uncertainty and disrupt the environments in which we operate. Irrespective of sector the leadership challenge commences with self, team and then outward to customers, shareholders, stakeholders and governments to take forward the enterprises we lead; be they public, private or third sectors.

Praesta coaches are highly experienced in working with people going through wide ranges of change and transition and have researched and published widely on the subject.

Drawn both from their own research and coaching work and considerable boardroom experience, Praesta coaches can support leaders in finding strategies to stay at the top of their game even through the roughest seas.

In our last post we looked at some self-motivational objectives and identified some light-touch pointers for getting oneself in a better place. This week we look how that engagement of the leader with their immediate team ensures organisational but above all leadership, effectiveness.

The key thought here is engagement. Remoteness and isolation sound the death knell for an organisation where the regular checks and balances, in addition to formal structures and conventional governance, can sap morale, innovation and entrepreneurship in the face of external uncertainty.

Drawing energy from colleagues and enabling them to be energised can drive enterprises forward and still maintain the edge to succeed in times of uncertainty, change and disruption.

Engagement, unfortunately, is also one of the easiest leadership disciplines where prevarication comes to the fore! The excuses are well known; other pressures, more immediate priorities, after year end, emerging changes in legislation, after we reorganise, and the list goes on. The challenge is that there are no real excuses. Leadership is a lonely place, effective engagement broadens inputs and thoughts, both up and down, throughout the whole organisation in a healthy and fully functioning enterprise.

The ingredients of effective engagement.

The starting point has to be the desire to engage. The work of the INSEAD academic Jean-Claude Larreche points to business improvement arising from the simultaneous cycles of customer and employee engagement interlocking and reinforcing each other through the positive feedback of effective, continuous and concerted engagement.

So where do we start with this? These are some broad pointers to consider: -

• Trust — what and with whom in the business world. However, trust must come from the values of the leadership; open transparent, tested and engaged effectively.
• Common purpose-what is the mission and objective that all are engaged with in the enterprise? Is this clearly established or is it shifting and opaque? Has the leadership made this clear?
• In it together? — As “common endeavour”, how genuine are our engagement efforts? Are they part of our culture and how we do business? Who are the Amazon adverts, currently running, really celebrating? Safety, staff training, and development grants are all celebrated. How far are they part of the DNA of the organisation or are they likely to suffer from initiative fatigue?
• Authenticity — are we being genuine in this engagement. Why and what are the real objectives? If this is a genuine whole enterprise activity, then even if it is a new initiative, it should soon pass into the permanent positive culture and strengths of an organisation.
• Listening — will the engagement plans we have stand the test of time? How far they are built into the “way we do things round here”, the “way we want to serve our customers”, the “way we expect to be treated and treat ourselves”.

These are some, but by no means all, of the elements needing to be considered in effective engagement. Not necessarily the “why” but the “what”. What is our motivation for engagement?

Exploration of this in the midst of a turbulent business, political and social environment are subjects many coaches and mentors explore with clients. Praesta coaches bring a wealth of research, thought, experience, empathy and often good humour in working with leaders grappling with such issues.

Jean- Claude Larreche. Winning together with Services. Brussels. (1995) and (1997).

Praesta Insight Guide: Seizing the Future. (2010).

Further information and PDF downloads are available from the Praesta website www.Praesta.co.uk/publications