PPB May 2021

master the skills needed to create high engagement and enable continuous high performance in constantly changing times. As we move into recovery, leaders must be able to do the following: 1 Manage your own emotions and behaviors. Inner peace is a foundational building block for a hyper- learner for many reasons: It allows you to quiet your ego, stay open to the best ideas and connect with others in meaningful ways. And in times of great chaos (like right now), it helps you tune out the noise so you can do the kind of high-level critical thinking that allows you to make smart decisions. Inner peace allows you to be kind of a port in the storm. A huge spotlight will be on leaders right now, both inside companies and in the external world. That means we need to be in firm control of our inner world. 2 Defuse the anxiety of employees. People are still suffering, and emotional well-being matters. Remember that employees take their cues from you, so a state of calm is more important than ever. Part of helping neutralize anxiety is communication; when you don’t do it well and often, people will fill in the void with their own worst-case scenarios. Defusing anxiety is more than going through the motions of communication, though. It’s about communicating in ways that create human connection and relatedness. Now, more than ever, people need to feel cared about as unique human beings. 3 Create a sense of “we are all in this together, and together we will thrive.” The workplace of the future is an idea meritocracy. The old caste system—a relic of the Industrial Revolution when the “command-and-control” leadership model reigned—is dead. Leaders need to inspire hope, but not in the sense of, “Don’t worry, we will rescue the rest of you.” The message needs to be, “Together, we will thrive.” Of course, this message must be backed by a workplace environment that allows for true collaboration. People must be able to have high-quality conversations, and it’s the leader’s job to create the right conditions for that to happen—and not let their own ego step in. 4 Anticipate market shifts and be disruptive. For instance, leaders need to know how to manage digital transformation. This is where the hyper-learning mindset really comes into play. Leaders must stay open to the future and really listen to customers, rather than clinging to old, preconceived ideas and hearing what they want to hear. Every company will be in the innovation business. Every organization will need to “skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been,” as Wayne Gretzky so famously once said. 5 Proactively manage change. Change is the new given and impermanence is the new mindset. This will require embedding in your business a “story” than enables every employee to embrace change as opposed to being fearful of change or running away from it. That requires teaching employees how to go into the unknown and figure it out. People will need new tools to use, and small teams will be the structure needed to continuously adapt. Change is an iterative process—and change needs to be challenging but not overwhelming. Change is emotional. That means leaders need to understand the psychology of change: what kinds of emotions/behaviors to expect and how to guide people to positive emotions. When people know they must constantly learn, unlearn and relearn, then change isn’t some upsetting experience. It’s just life. 6 Foster quick, effective, smart collaboration. No one person can ever singlehandedly have the answers. It takes teamwork. People have to be able to arrive at smart answers quickly, and that means creating the conditions for collective brain flow to happen and building We’ve known for years, decades even, that the old-school leadership model would have to change. But, for sure, the pandemic has accelerated the need for a new kind of leader. | MAY 2021 | 25 INNOVATE