Fundamental Tensions Every Leader Must Equilibrate

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0:35So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. Erasing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find OLLI's sleep solutions for the whole family at OLLI.com. That's O-L-L-Y dot com. Originally, my goal as a researcher was to figure out what are the competencies that leaders in this new world really need to be successful. And our research identified seven competencies, being a power share, a visionary, being an adapter, being an accelerator, an analyst, a prospector, being a great listener. That said, as we work more and more with leaders in this VUCA disrupted world, we see that the best ones, they still dabble and they still have one foot in that more traditional leadership space, that more traditional leadership style.

1:25Sometimes they are more command and control. They're tellers, they're power holders. Yes, these new worlds or these emerging traits are important, but sometimes we still need to be traditional. And that's where these seven tensions were born. I call them the seven tensions of the digital age. It's a tension between the traditional and the emerging world. Power holder is somebody who holds power in a way that provides reassurance and security. So when there's a lot changing, when people are feeling maybe insecure or unstable, a power holder really holds that authority in a way that creates security.

2:02Power sharer is somebody who shares power in a way that helps to develop others. They also see power sharing as a way to free up their time for more strategic pursuits. So what can I take off the table so I can really focus on what I need to focus on or what I'm good at? Tactician is somebody who is much more short-term focused. What are the next steps and can they break down that vision for how it's relevant for the different roles in the organization, the different levels? Visionary is somebody who sees the big picture, are able to create a vision that inspires. But on top of that, they can influence and persuade people to adopt that vision.

2:37Bikonsan is somebody who has a very clear North Star. They say this is the non-negotiables. They're clear on their messaging and that messaging is quite stable. And an adapter is somebody that understands that change is constant and sees adapting their message when new information becomes available as a strength rather than a weakness. A perfectionist is somebody who really is detail-oriented, ensures that a perfect finished product is delivered. And an accelerator is somebody who sacrifices perfection for speed, says that we can satisfy sometimes, good is good enough, we need to move at speed.

3:10So an intuitionist is someone who makes decisions from the gut, and an analyst is somebody who brings in data and evidence to make their decisions. So a miner is someone who goes deep, really wants to understand a specific technology, a specific part of the market, etc. And a prospector is someone who goes more broad, understanding and is hyper-aware of the opportunities and the threats in the environment around them. A teller is much more somebody who gives direction. They have the answer. Maybe they're the expert. And so it is their responsibility as well to give the answer. A listener is somebody who listens to understand.

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5:05And that requires a lot of emotional intelligence. I would never tell a leader aim for a great balance on all seven. I think that's too much. Pick out the three or four that they think are really important for them to be able to to move between and to focus on those. If you rely on one side exclusively, the downsides of that side are gonna become apparent. So let's take the first tension we talk about, the listener and the teller. If I'm only a teller, right, what are the downsides of being a teller? Well, other people feel disengaged. Other people don't feel their voices heard. The expertise you bring in is gonna be very, very narrowly focused on your expertise.

5:47The same with being a listener. If you're only a listener and you never speak, what are the downsides of being a listener? Well, you probably don't have your voice heard. You probably don't get to have a lot of say in the direction. You might indeed need to be a great listener. And in that situation, you might also need to be able to hold power. Meaning, I listen to the people around me and I'm giving a clear frame. I'm giving them feedback. So maybe being a little bit of a teller, I'm giving them feedback. and I'm also creating that psychological safety where they can come back to me if they have questions.

6:18So I'm being a listener, but I'm also being a power holder in that situation. I have questions I ask. One is the situation, what's going on. So what do I sense in the environment around me, what's going on? It might be a context question, right? I need to accelerate because the world is changing rapidly. So I need to accelerate. It might be a situational question, and it can also be an emotional, intelligent question. What am I sensing from the people around me? The people around me actually are feeling. I sense that they need to say something and I should shut up. Or I'm sensing that they're frustrated because I've shared all this power, but maybe they're not ready for it.

6:54I need to hold a little bit of power. I've certainly seen leaders who aren't able to do that. They have a message that is very clear. It is well thought out. It's smart. And yet the people below them are just not buying it. There's no change being made, there's no behavioral shift, and yet the message stays the same. And they're just not able to grasp that, yeah, I've done all the work, I've listened, I've created a good strategy, but for some reason, it's just not working. What do I need to do differently? How do I need to adapt? And that questioning, I think, is what leaders need as well. One of the people that stands out for me is Angela Renz.

7:29She was the former CEO of Burberry and the head of retail at Apple. And for me, she balanced a listener and teller beautifully because she said, I'm not a digital person. The world is changing. I know that my future, our future, customer at Burberry is going to be millennials. I don't really get them. I need to listen to them. What are they looking for? How do they want to shop? This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast instead of doom scrolling? Smart move. Another smart move? Getting help from one of State Farm's 19 ,000 local agents when you choose to bundle home and auto.

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9:35And I want to listen to the people that are at the bottom of the hierarchy, the next generation of leaders in this company, so that I can bring this company to success. Another leader that I admire is Matthias Dauphner. He was the head of the German media company Axel Springer. He was the perfect balance on miner and prospector because advertising media, one of the most disruptive spaces when he came into the picture about 15, 20 years ago, really saying, okay, I need to understand how this industry is changing, how our readers and our customers want to digest media differently. So very much a prospector.

10:16He took his top team to Silicon Valley. They stayed six months there. He took the next levels down with him, and he said, we're going to live like startups. I know you are in your comfort zone of executive life. We're going to take you there. You're going to fly economy class. you're going to share rooms and kind of a not so nice hotel so that you really feel like the the world that we're trying to adapt to the startup world and that was his prospecting part of the leadership but then saying okay there are a few areas where we already have competency there's some that we don't we're going to sell those off but where we have competency we're going to dive into this and we're going to invest and we're going to be miners here so he was great at toggling between this prospector and miner.

10:55I see normally when leaders are on one side, so they have a sweet spot on one side and their range is very short, very focused, one of two things are happening. Either a lack of skill, right? So they're very much tacticians, they don't really know how to be visionaries, they don't know how to create a vision, they don't know how to influence people, or they're very much power sharers, they don't really know how to hold power. But more likely I see they know how, but there's a fear that keeps them from going there. Let us say that they are an absolute power sharer. What is their fear? Their fear is the downside to becoming a power holder, being seen as authoritarian, being maybe too assertive, being too aggressive, pushing down the voice of the people that work from them.

11:37That's their fear. And so exploring, oh, are all power holders this? Why do you have that view? Give me some examples of power holders that you think do so in a way that helps the team. Kind of working through and understanding where those fears come from can release them to feel more emboldened to explore that range. Same thing when I see the the visionary versus tactician, sometimes people are afraid to go onto the visionary side because they're like oh that's so fluffy and and I don't know what what exactly that would entail and you know I'm not a very good storyteller, I'm not very inspiring, so they're kind of afraid also of going there and failing and kind of exploring that that visionary side of them and saying okay what does a vision look like what do you think would be inspiring for your team why why do you think vision is sometimes fluffy how can we create a vision that's not fluffy challenging their fears or their their misconceptions about what these other sides of the tensions might look like in a negative way many leaders come into my classroom utterly terrified of this world they don't want to say it yes the world is changing there's no doubt about that and yes all of their expertise might not be so relevant anymore.

12:48And can they still be effective leaders if they share power and if they listen? Even with these younger generations that might have the technical answers and might want to have their voice heard, sometimes they're also looking for that leader to give them guidance and to provide security and to shelter them from the politics that are going above so that they can do their job. And those are very traditional qualities and so I think it does give some comfort to leaders.

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