In this week’s solosode, we consider the shifts we need to make for leadership of the future. Changes are happening rapidly in the workforce, the workplace, and the world. These trends are causing us to reconsider fundamental values. These trends are causing us to EXPAND. Opportunities abound!
Leadership insight: The world of work is driving a need to shift our values
1) What if we shifted from MORE to ALL?
For the last 70 years, striving for MORE has served us well. We have lifted many humans out of poverty. We have made huge technological advances. We have landed on the Moon. We have the internet, global mobility, smart phones, improvements in health and wealth.
And still there are huge impacts that we had not anticipated: ravaging of the natural world, volatile climate, increasing polarisation, widening of the wealth gap between the haves and have nots. It's time to re-think the purpose of business and the purpose of leadership.
We need to shift from the endless game of MORE to the noble cause of ALL: how do we ensure human flourishing for all, while living within our planetary means? Hat tip to Kate Raworth in Doughnut Economics who maps a way forward for us.
Why you should listen: We need a new paradigm
2) What if we shifted from Growth and Gain to Health and Wealth?
It's time to take stock of what we are doing in our organisations and businesses. The world is ripe for a re-think of our current leadership paradigm.
Kate Raworth, in her fantastic book, Doughnut Economics, contends that the paradigm of GROWTH and GAIN is no longer working for us.
We have taken an EXTRACTION approach to our planetary resources without due reflection of the long-term impact. And we are wearing the costs of that.
It's time we re-shape the paradigm to WEALTH and HEALTH for all. We ought to be asking, "What have we contributed?" instead of just "what have we earned?"
A leadership mindset to adopt
3) What if we shifted how we see our people, from DOERS to CREATORS?
The world of work is changing quickly. Much has been said about the rise of the robots and how automation and AI will take many jobs. We have seen this already in many sectors: automated truck driving will eliminate those roles very soon. Robots in warehouses will remove human labour in short order.
From a leadership point of view, we need to shift how we see people as part of our organisations. They are no longer 'labour'; much work will be done through automation. We need to shift from LABOUR to seeing our people as CREATORS.
We need to see them as creative contributors, and not just resources to enact a plan.
As leaders we need to be asking, "What am I doing to set the conditions, the culture, and the skills to unleash the creative capability of our people?"
4) What if we shifted from EXTRACTION to REGENERATION?
The drive for more has led to a consumer mentality in all things. We have exploited people and the planet to experience more and more. What if we focused instead of how we might make the planet healthier as we went about our work? What if this was embedded in our practices?
5) What if we shifted from Headquarters to Hubs?
Many leaders are struggling with a sunk cost fallacy: so much infrastructure in workplace physical locations, it’s painful to consider abandoning them. This is short-sighted. There is a huge upswell demand for people to have flexible locations.
What if we started to think about headquarters as hubs instead? A place where people could come together for specific experiences like collaborating, creating, or celebrating? This would be about purposeful connection rather than incidental connection.
👉🏼 Want to share your experience? Ask a question? Share a resource? Jump on our podcast Facebook page here.
***
Related episodes on leadership insights and power:
282 Three insights for leading change and creativity
229 The power of an experimental leadership mindset with Mike Normant
167 Leadership insights from the tertiary sector with VC Nick Klomp
***
About your host, Canberra leadership expert Zoë Routh:
Zoë Routh is a leadership futurist, podcaster, and multiple award-winning author. She works with leaders and teams to navigate future horizons.
She has worked with individuals and teams internationally and in Australia since 1987. From wild Canadian rivers to the Australian Outback, and the Boardroom jungles, Zoë is an adventurist! She facilitates strategy and culture sessions with audacious teams.
Zoë's fourth leadership book, People Stuff - Beyond Personality Problems: An advanced handbook for leadership, won the Book of the Year at the Australian Business Book Awards in 2020. Her fifth book is a near future science fiction dystopian novel, The Olympus Project.
Zoë is the producer of the Zoë Routh Leadership Podcast, dedicated to asking “What if…?” and sharing Big Ideas on the Future of Leadership.
Zoë is an outdoor adventurist and enjoys telemark skiing, has run six marathons, is a one-time belly-dancer, has survived cancer, and loves hiking in the high country. She is married to a gorgeous Aussie and is a self-confessed dark chocolate addict.