Can I Offer You Some Feedback? - Episode #99

Show Notes:

In this episode, Sara discusses the importance of leaders being able to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty in today's rapidly evolving business world. She shares three steps to foster this ability in organizations: developing agility and adaptability, fostering a culture of innovation and learning, and enhancing communication and transparency. Sara also provides questions for self-assessment and strategies to help teams navigate change and remain productive. By focusing on these steps, leaders can enhance their teams' capability to thrive in uncertain conditions and guide organizations through complexity. Subscribe today so you never miss an episode!

Below we are offering a transcript of the podcast for accessibility and reference.

Episode #99: research Revealed: Embracing Ambiguity

Do you know what you don't know? Well, unless you're like me, you're probably not steeped in the latest research on team effectiveness, leadership development, and organizational behavior. In this Research Revealed, I'd like to share with you a recent piece of research and reveal what it means to you. In a global leadership development study by Harvard Business Review, they found that 68% of respondents expect the ability of all leaders is not just to endure, but embrace ambiguity and uncertainty to rise in importance.

So what does that mean? We're talking about that, for again, most individuals are showing that leaders should be able to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty and that it's going to happen more often. This underscores a critical shift in leadership expectation and the growing necessity for leaders to manage increasingly complex and unpredictable business environments.

This ability to handle ambiguity and uncertainty is becoming a trait that most folks will need. We need to be able to adapt and thrive while at the same time positioning our teams to work through challenges, seize emerging opportunities, and drive innovation. That's a lot for one person to try to do. But as the business world continues to evolve rapidly, organizations need to rely on leaders who can be resilient, flexible, and proactive, despite the unknowns. So, how do we actually do this?

There are three steps I want to share with you on things you might be able to do to foster this in your organizations. First, let's develop agility and adaptability. How can leaders focus on building their own agility and adaptability skills? We need to be able to stay informed about industry trends, be open to new ideas, and embracing change as an opportunity instead of a threat. By modeling these behaviors for others, leaders can inspire their teams to approach ambiguity and that uncertainty with a positive mindset and a proactive approach.

Secondly, let's talk about the culture of innovation and learning. How can we foster an environment where experimentation and continuous learning are encouraged? How can your team feel comfortable in exploring new approaches and solutions without the fear or the worry of failure? How can we provide resources for professional development and encourage this growth mindset that helps employees be more comfortable with the uncertainty and increase their adaptability to change?

Third, let's enhance communication and transparency. When we don't know what's happening, we need to communicate more. This effective communication is crucial if teams and individuals are going to navigate through ambiguity. Leaders should strive as best as possible to be transparent about the challenges and the uncertainties. This means talking about what you don't know and addressing it up front with the clear guidance, the clear knowledge, and work as a team to come up with how we will address them. Regularly updating teams on development. Maintaining open lines of communication. These are all things that help build trust and reduce anxiety about the unknown. When people lack information, they're going to fill in the blanks, and your effective communication will help them as they are doing so.

So some of the questions to be able to consider going forward. At a starting point, how can you assess and improve your own ability to handle ambiguity and uncertainty? A lot of people think that they're better in navigating ambiguity than they actually are. So this is a chance for us to get feedback from your peers, mentors, and colleagues on how do I handle the unknown? How do I handle change? How do I respond to unique and challenging situations? Again, our self-assessment typically is much higher than our actual ability. And so getting feedback from others will help us know how we're actually reacting and how other people see us in those moments.

When we have that data, we can ask a second question. What are some strategies that you can implement to help your team be more resilient and more adaptive in the face of uncertainty? Again, what works for you may not work for other people. So what are some of the ways your folks want to be supported in developing their own skills to navigate change and remain productive despite any challenges that may come up?

Now coming up with these strategies doesn't mean it's just going to be easier. It means you still need to talk about it. So think about this as a discussion point for your teams on how you can work through this together. By focusing on these steps and addressing these questions, leaders can enhance the capability of their teams to thrive in uncertain conditions and guide organizations through complexity with a little bit of confidence. This is not just a necessity, but this will help your team have an advantage in the business environment.

This has been Sara with Research Revealed. You can reach me at podcast@mod.network. We would love to hear from you on what other research you'd like to explore. As always, give us a quick rating on your platform of choice and share this podcast with a friend. We'll see you next time.