Relax, It's Only Uncertainty Lead the Way When the Way is Changing

by Hodgson, Philip; Hodgson, Philip; White, Randall

• ISBN13: 9780273652410
• ISBN10: 0273652419
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-04-27
• Publisher: Pearson FT Press

Summary

In times of uncertainty, the ability to act without fear of failure can be a huge asset.  In a world where the only thing you can be certain of is uncertainty, business leaders need to stop trying to control the uncontrollable, and start embracing the unknown.  This book will show you how to be comfortable with ambiguity, confident with change, open to discovery and at ease with the new world of business. Then you can lead with confidence and flexibility, whatever the situation.

Want to be more confident about the ambiguities that you and your business face? Ask yourself these questions:
Am I drawn instinctively to the edge of my knowledge rather than the centre of it?
Am I attracted to projects and problems with an element of the unknown in them?
Do I have trouble with heated situations?
Will I generally take a chance and make a decision?
Do I prefer to have a full set of information before deciding?
Do I ask penetrating questions about what's going on?
Can I decide what are the most important things to do?
Can I capture a business strategy in a single sentence?

Your answers will reveal some of the essential elements of personal and corporate success in the new economy. Curiosity, risk taking, focus, persuasion and energy are personal skills that you can bring to bear to tackle tough issues, simplify complex topics, gather energy from complex challenges and carry people with you.

Relax... will help you decide intuitively, act decisively and lead through ambiguity and change. This inventive and interactive book will help you develop the behaviours lead the way when the way is changing.

Author Biography

Phil has worked full time at Ashridge since 1983. He is co-director of the Action Learning for Chief Executives Programme, and co-director of the Executive Coaching Service. He is a major contributor to Ashridge's strategic management and leadership programmes. He is client director for organisations in healthcare, financial services, fmcg, publishing, and manufacturing. He teaches, consults, researches and writes in the areas of leadership, change, handling uncertainty, and top executive learning and development.

Before joining Ashridge, Phil worked in real jobs for nearly 15 years as a manager in a variety of service and transport industries, where he was involved in management and organisational development roles. After leaving university his first work was as a volunteer social worker in the Solomon Islands, West Pacific, and before he completely grew up, he spent some time as a software engineer. His degrees are in psychology and industrial psychology, and he is a Master Practitioner in NLP.

His earlier books are: A Practical Guide to Successful Interviewing - on assessment and interviewing techniques, published by McGraw Hill; Effective Meetings, published by Century Business for the Sunday Times; Making Change Work, published by Mercury Books. He has written two books on leadership: What High Performance Managers Really Do with Stuart Crainer, published by Pitman in 1993, looked at how leaders implement strategy. His fifth, The Future of Leadership, with Randall White and Stuart Crainer, published by Pitman in 1996, explored and researched the skills needed for effective future leadership in the face of unprecedented change and uncertainty.
  Dr. Randall P. White is a principal in the Executive Development Group LLC, Greensboro, NC, and an adjunct professor at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.

Randy¿s work in leadership development regularly takes him to Europe, South America, and Pacific-Asia. He also teaches MBA students in the Park Fellows Leadership Program and Executive MBAs at the Johnson School, Cornell University. He is a frequent speaker for a variety of industry groups, including the Conference Board of the US and Canada, the Human Resources Planning Society, the American Society for Training & Development, and the Institute for Management Studies. He maintains an affiliation with the Center for Creative Leadership, where he spent 12 years developing programs and research on leadership. His list of current consulting clients includes M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Mobil Oil, Siemens, Aetna, ABB, Osram Sylvania, Thomson, and Kennametal.

Randy is a former board member of the American Society of Training & Development and is active on program committees of the American Psychological Association and the Academy of Management. He is a new fellow in Division 13 of APA.

Randy¿s interest in where leaders come from, how they develop, and their eventual success is borne out in his writing. As co-author of Breaking the Glass Ceiling and The Future of Leadership, he has had a major impact on the way women are viewed as leaders and the importance of less easily measured leadership skills like dealing with uncertainty. He has written in both popular and scientific outlets on leadership. He currently has a critically acclaimed piece on different types of leadership coaching (first published in the Consulting Psychologist).

He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Leaders and Leadership and in 1997 was a Salzburg Fellow on Women¿s Issues. Randy holds an AB from Georgetown, an MS from Virginia Tech, and a Ph.D. from Cornell.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xv
Prologue	xvii
Introduction
Welcome to uncertainty	1	(1)
Start with behavior	2	(1)
Leaders, leaders everywhere	2	(1)
The real work of leadership is embracing ambiguity	3	(1)
Where are the role models?	4	(1)
Why relax?	4	(2)
How old is new?
It's what you do, not what you meant to do	6	(1)
Who are we writing for?	7	(1)
Finding answers to the questions	8	(4)
Send in the metaphors	12	(1)
Two kinds of ambiguity and uncertainty	12	(4)
The real work of leadership	16	(2)
The real change saloon
Damaging illusions from the twentieth century	18	(3)
The ABCs of enhancement	21	(3)
The MBE of action	24	(4)
What are Enablers?
What does each Enabler do?	28	(1)
Are some Enablers more important than others?	29	(1)
Enabler 1 Motivated by mysteries
Motivated by what?	30	(3)
Mystery-Seekers are...	33	(1)
Signs of Mystery-Seekers	33	(1)
Case study	34	(3)
What happens if no one is motivated by mysteries?	37	(2)
Difficult learning	39	(3)
Links with other Enablers	42	(1)
How to be more motivated by mysteries	42	(3)
Explore and expand	45	(2)
Enabler 2 Be risk tolerant
What is risk?	47	(2)
Risk-Tolerators are...	49	(1)
Signs of Risk-Tolerators	49	(2)
Case study	51	(1)
What happens if no one wants to tolerate risk?	52	(2)
Links with other Enablers	54	(1)
How to be more risk tolerant	54	(2)
Explore and expand	56	(2)
Enabler 3 Scan ahead
Polish up your personal radar	58	(2)
Future-Scanners are...	60	(1)
Signs of Future-Scanners	60	(1)
Futurists	60	(1)
Deep drillers	61	(1)
Case study	62	(2)
What happens if no one scans ahead?	64	(1)
Where's the vision?	65	(1)
How to enhance your future-scanning	66	(1)
Explore and expand	67	(1)
Enabler 4 Tackle tough issues
It isn't interesting if it isn't challenging	68	(3)
Tenacious Challengers are...	71	(1)
Signs of Tenacious Challengers	71	(1)
Motivated by challenge	71	(1)
Tenacious	72	(1)
Case study	73	(1)
What happens when no one wants to tackle tough issues?	74	(1)
Links with other Enablers	75	(1)
How to enhance your ability to tackle tough issues	76	(1)
Explore and expand	77	(1)
Enabler 5 Create excitement
Who's having fun?	78	(2)
Exciters are...	80	(1)
Signs of Exciters	80	(1)
Enthusiastic	81	(1)
Invigorating	82	(1)
Case study	83	(2)
What happens when no one creates excitement?	85	(1)
Links with other Enablers	86	(1)
How to create more excitement	86	(2)
Explore and expand	88	(1)
Enabler 6 Be flexible
Flexible Adjusters are not rigid	89	(2)
Flexible Adjusters are...	91	(1)
Signs of Flexible Adjusters	92	(1)
Making on-line adjustments	92	(1)
Sell change	93	(1)
Case study	94	(2)
What happens when no one is flexible?	96	(1)
Links with other Enablers	97	(1)
How to be more flexible	98	(1)
Explore and expand	99	(1)
Enabler 7 Be a simplifier
Making the complex simple	100	(4)
Simplifiers are...	104	(1)
Signs of Simplifiers	104	(1)
Essence detectors	104	(1)
Clarifiers	105	(1)
Interpreters	106	(1)
Case study	106	(2)
What happens when no one acts as a Simplifier?	108	(1)
Links with other Enablers	109	(1)
How to be a better Simplifier	110	(1)
Explore and expand	111	(2)
Enabler 8 Be focused
What won't we do today?	113	(2)
Focusers are...	115	(1)
Signs of Focusers	115	(2)
Case study	117	(2)
What happens when no one focuses?	119	(2)
Links with other Enablers	121	(1)
How to be better focused	121	(1)
Explore and expand	122	(2)
What are Restrainers?
How can I find out how well I am doing?	124	(3)
Restrainer 1 Having trouble with transitions
What problems will being a Poor Transitioner bring me?	127	(1)
Poor Transitioners are...	128	(1)
Signs of Poor Transitioners	128	(1)
Case study	129	(1)
How to become better at managing transitions	130	(1)
Explore and expand	131	(1)
Restrainer 2 Not motivated by work
Are you a Wet Blanket?	132	(1)
Wet Blankets are...	133	(1)
Signs of Wet Blankets	134	(1)
Case study	135	(1)
How to throw off the Wet Blanket	136	(1)
Explore and expand	137	(1)
Restrainer 3 Fear of conflict
Do you avoid conflict?	138	(2)
Conflict-Avoiders are...	140	(1)
Signs of Conflict-Avoiders	140	(1)
Case study	141	(1)
How conflict avoidance reduces effectiveness	142	(1)
How to reduce your aversion to conflict	143	(1)
Explore and expand	144	(1)
Introduction to Restrainers 4 and 5
Who did you confuse today - yourself or someone else?	145	(2)
Restrainer 4 Muddy thinking
You may be confusing yourself	147	(1)
Muddy Thinkers are...	148	(1)
Signs of Muddy Thinkers	148	(1)
Case study	149	(2)
Get rid of the mud!	151	(1)
Explore and expand	151	(2)
Restrainer 5 Complex communication
Did you confuse someone else today?	153	(1)
Complex Communicators are...	154	(1)
Signs of Complex Communicators	155	(1)
Case study	156	(1)
How to make the complex seem simple	157	(1)
Explore and expand	158	(1)
Introduction to Restrainers 6 and 7
Did I miss something?	159	(2)
Restrainer 6 Hooked on detail
Could you be more precise, please?	161	(2)
Detail Junkies are...	163	(1)
Signs of Detail Junkies	163	(1)
Case study	164	(2)
How to treat the Detail Junkie habit	166	(1)
Explore and expand	167	(1)
Restrainer 7 Narrow-band thinking
Why didn't I think of that?	168	(2)
Narrow Thinkers are...	170	(1)
Signs of Narrow Thinkers	170	(1)
Case study	171	(2)
What to do about narrow thinking	173	(1)
Explore and expand	173	(2)
Restrainer 8 Tethered to the past
How good and how old were the ``good old days?''	175	(2)
Repeaters are...	177	(1)
Signs of Repeaters	177	(1)
Case study	178	(2)
How not to become too tethered to the past	180	(1)
Explore and expand	180	(3)
Leadership - the ne(x)t generation
How will more leadership theory help me?	183	(1)
Take me to your leader	184	(1)
Leaders were born, but now they're grown	185	(1)
War Office Wosbies	186	(1)
The task and the people	187	(2)
Situational solutions	189	(1)
I have a dream...	190	(2)
A new leadership style - learning leadership	192	(3)
Beam me up, Scotty	195	(1)
Toward a comprehensive leadership map	196	(1)
Do leaders manage or do managers lead?	197	(5)
Field notes from the front line
The uncertainty of the new	202	(1)
The responsibility of the new	202

Excerpts

INTRODUCTION "If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts, but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties." --Francis Bacon (1605) The Advancement of Learning Welcome to uncertainty What shall I do about that new venture? Those sales predictions? That business launch? How shall I handle that issue concerning my customer, my boss, or even my partner? The chances are that as you are reading this you are carrying with you several decisions that you have been putting off, but will soon have to face. These decisions will no doubt be a mix of big and small, personal and work-oriented, and everything in between. Ask yourself this question: how confidently, really, are you facing up to these decisions and the actions that you will need to take? What''s more, how certain do you feel about the outcomes? Do you have all the information that you need to make the decisions or will you have to take a chance and make a decision even though you aren''t sure? How many of those decisions will lead to uncharted territory or uncomfortable and emotional discussions? How many of these issues are surrounded by uncertainty? ... Feeling relaxed and confident? ... We thought not! Uncertainty causes stress, and it is difficult to be relaxed when you''re feeling stressed. Yet this is the age of uncertainty. In this book we are going to propose that we, you and everyone else on the planet are facing rising levels of uncertainty in our lives. How can we cope? That is what this book is about, and we want to tackle this issue in a very pragmatic and practical way. Start with behavior We have spent the last ten years looking at which behaviors help people cope most effectively with uncertainty. Later in this book we describe specific behaviors and methods of learning those behaviors which help people cope with uncertainty. The behaviors have been known for millennia, but they have been known by a very small group of people who found themselves in leadership roles. To be an effective leader you need to make decisions, and often those decisions are in the face of a lot of uncertainty. The more uncertainty that surrounds a decision, the more the call for leadership. But people in leadership roles are frequently unprepared or unable to admit to the rest of the world the ambiguity they face and the feelings of uncertainty they feel as a result of that ambiguity. Indeed, it was often believed that for a leader to admit to being uncertain was an outright failure of their leadership. But that was then and this is WOW! (Thanks, Tom Peters.) Now with the almost universal distribution of information via electronic networks, a proportion of the world''s population has access to an enormous range of data. Suddenly all of us are aware of the uncertainties and ambiguities that face leaders. So what can we learn? The first part of this book will describe behaviors to cope effectively with increasing levels of ambiguity. Leaders, leaders everywhere But if I''m using leadership behaviors, doesn''t that make me a leader? you may ask. Yes, of course. Everyone''s a leader now. But surely there''s a lot more to leadership than handling ambiguity? What about leadership style? What about the other skills of leadership that I have already learned? Are they all redundant now? To be an effective leader in any context one of the main requirements is to assess the style and skills needed to be effective in that situation. In the second part of this book we help you calibrate your leadership style and the appropriate behavior needed to lead the way when the way is changing. We want to help you make sure that your behavior will fit the context. The real work of leadership is embracing ambiguity lf only Woody Allen''s observation were true--that "80 percent of success is just showing up." Yet there seems to be a very narrow edge between certainty and uncertainty, success and failure. Leadership is what crosses the frontier between what we did yesterday and what we''ll do tomorrow. We''ll argue in this book that the real mark of a leader is confidence with uncertainty--the ability to admit to it and deal with it. And just to be clear, we think ambiguity is how it is, and uncertainty is how you feel about it. So the effective leader is always coping with his or her own feelings of uncertainty in the face of ambiguity. As we researched this book, we uncovered a lot of evidence showing that an enormous proportion of leadership development is done through early experience and in our everyday lives. This suggests that some of the behaviors that people use in leadership roles were not always consciously learned,but picked up along the way as they met and coped with various life experiences. Some had even unwittingly been schooling themselves for leadership roles and preparing themselves for the necessary costs and sacrifices they would be required to make to achieve a position of leadership. How then can we offer to teach more appropriate behaviors? We discovered that it is not necessary to have gone through all those experiences to acquire behaviors relevant to coping with ambiguity and to feeling more relaxed about the uncertainty it produces. We''ve borrowed from the extensive research in leadership, and we''ve added our own views bolstered by talking to people in roles with considerable ambiguity and uncertainty. We''ve also constructed questionnaires and surveys, completed structured interviews, and applied vast numbers of mindnumbing statistical techniques to the data to be sure that the behavioral analysis we offer in Chapters 3 and 4 are not only psychologically sound, but statistically significant. Where are the role models? Wouldn''t it be nice if life were like a "feel-good" movie? You know that in the early parts of the film our hero or heroine will go through all kinds of trials and difficulties, but by the end of the last reel things will work out fine. Oh, if only ... In a book on uncertainty we certainly can''t promise you a happy ending every time! But what we canoffer is a helping hand. By following our analysis of uncertain situations and the behavior that works with them, we believe that you can handle uncertainty more effectively. This book offers three ways that you can be more relaxed in handling the uncertainty you feel when facing life''s ambiguities. First, we''ve identified the key skills and capabilities--and most of the important behaviors that go with them--that help people relax when handling their uncertainty. We''ll then describe some very practical ways that you can enhance your ability with those particular behaviors and thus develop your competence in those areas. Finally, we''ll show you how to assess the leadership context in which you find yourself and how to choose and use appropriate behaviors to match that context. Why relax? With more choice and greater ambiguity in our lives, the rules that used to help us understand and operate in our world no longer seem to apply. We need behaviors that work in a rule-changing--maybe even a rule-free--world. Not only this, but have you noticed how the best athletes, the best artists, arguably the best performers at anything, work well in a relaxed state? The world calls for higher and higher performance in whatever field you operate. How will you achieve that in your life without being relaxed? Relaxation is preparation for high performance. But it is not a relaxation of ignoring the issues or abandoning the problems and not making the best use of all available information. Instead, it''s a relaxation that recognizes that ambiguity is a place where opportunity lives. The people who can move toward the ambiguity conquer their feelings of uncertainty and are relaxed enough to achieve the h