As a CEO, let alone as a manager, we aren’t currently able to articulate the direction and goals with precision. We are grappling with the 2020 budget and, unfortunately for most businesses, aren’t even in a position to guarantee employment. Even the most optimistic assessments predict a challenging economic outlook, and so the reality is that disruptive change and uncertainty are coming. At a minimum there will be a shift in both expectations and how we go about our jobs.
Also, given the new challenges and moving targets, it is going to be difficult for businesses to assess their managers’ performance in the traditional way. What will constitute strong performance this year? A different approach will be to gauge how effectively they have shaped the culture within their part of the business or team, and how adaptable they are, and how have they developed the capability of themselves, their people and departments.
So, although we may not know exactly what is coming, and therefore what to prepare for, what we can do is set the cultural direction and priorities and build the confidence and capability of our people by strengthening their ability to learn, apply fresh skills and adapt to new ways of working.
The last few months have required the majority of people to change their workplace habits and routines, whether these are practical overt adjustments or hidden emotional adjustments. Therefore, our ability to adapt emotionally to fresh challenges and pick up and apply new skills is key and the need to learn at a greater rate than things are changing becomes crucial to our well-being and success. How can we best support our people to meet the challenges? Research tell us that 70% of what we learn as managers comes from experience. If we reflect on how individuals have managed the last few months, it is evident that not all people are equally confident and adept at learning and applying new skills. In most teams and organisations there will be a spectrum of how effectively people have:
- embraced technology
- adapted to working and performing remotely
- managed their work-life balance
- adjusted to being furloughed (or not!)
This provides a useful window into how ‘learners from experience’ operate and how they seem to grasp the opportunities that tough circumstances bring – or take an active approach to learning. The one thing these ‘active learners’ don’t do is use lack of time as an excuse for not embracing new ways of working. If we just focus on the last 12 weeks, 4 immediate characteristics of active learners are most evident: they are somehow able to deal with the shortfall in performance and the dip in confidence, they build learning into their weekly routines, they are prepared to experiment without a defined formula or process, and have the humility and social confidence to ask others to give them a helping hand. Let’s take a look at these 4 qualities in more detail and pose some questions for each of you to test how you compare.
Managing the temporary shortfall in performance and the dip in confidence
Most of us in ‘business as usual’ conditions will invest in ongoing professional development. Most of us accept that the rate at which we learn slightly diminishes over time and as we become more established. Whilst you could argue that it’s easier to learn when you have minimal choice, these active learners appear better able to deal with the emotional discomfort and the turmoil of a pandemic impacting people’s whole lives. How would you and your people answer the following?
- I fully accept there will be a temporary drop in my performance when I try something new
- I persevere with new ways of operating and live with the feelings of discomfort
- I fully commit to using a new approach or doing something differently
- I force myself to come to terms with the reality that the old way is not coming back, even if it might
Build learning into their schedules
Every manager is time-poor at the best of times, however since lockdown these active learners have identified where they can improve, formalised goals for what they want to learn, made time to think through how to approach a task in a different way – whether that be forging a new approach or using a different formula – and reviewed how effective they have been. How do you and your people stack up against the following?
- I clearly state the benefits of making the change and have kept this front of mind
- I set myself the goal(s) of learning something new
- I regularly assess how my capabilities have improved and what I have learnt
- I have reconciled that despite my track record and experience I need to kick start my learning
Prepared to act
Fairly frequently I get asked to recommend a book on managing conflict or holding honest conversations. It always feels an awkward response, as whilst there is good practice in this arena the reality is that getting better involves getting stuck in. Similarly, those individuals who have built their capabilities and delivered performance since lockdown have moved to action fairly swiftly, learnt by experience, scraped their knees a few times and kept going. Do you and your people adopt an action orientated approach to learning new things?
- I am prepared to take a leap into the unknown
- I ignore the tried and tested formula and experiment with new approaches
- I bounce back quickly from setbacks and go again
- I focus more on the learning than thoughts of failure
Ask for support
With the intensity of the last few months it is natural and routine to be more inward focused. The active learners however, in the midst of the mayhem, are able to recognise they don’t know how but others do and are willing to ask for support. In leadership terms they have what is often seen as dual competing qualities of humility and social confidence. They don’t buy into the story that their industry or business is unique and they replace that with the narrative “I’ll borrow with pride if it makes us better”. Is it more comfortable for you and your people to do it yourself?
- I know where I am weak and am driven to close the gap
- I looked outside of my profession and industry for inspiration and good practice
- I scan the environment for good practice (e.g. forums, LinkedIn, training programmes) to see what could help me and my team
- I identify who does it well and approach them
In conclusion
In the 1990’s learning organisation was a popular concept. Moving forward from 2020 it is no longer a concept but a necessity to survive and succeed in the Volatile and Uncertain environment we are dealing with. As a manager we aren’t able to define the next normal but we can focus our energy on shaping a culture where individuals are expected, and supported to, learn. If we fully grasp people’s attributes on the 4 areas above, we can coach and tailor development plans which will strengthen their ability to learn, strengthen their emotional intelligence and ignite innovation. As we enter a period of economic uncertainty it feels a high value activity for ourselves, the people we lead and the organisation. Please access the following link for a free Active Learners survey.
If you are interested in these or any other resources or want to chat things through don’t hesitate to drop me an email.
mike@pilkingtonleadership.co.uk
You might also find the Center for Creative Leadership’s Learning Tactics Inventory useful.
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