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Ambidextrous Leadership

06/06/2024 by Alberto Pezeiro










Over the last 20 years, there has been a major transformation in leadership training and development programs in an organizational environment, largely due to the speed with which information, communication and connectivity technologies impact the way we do business and develop employees.
 
How do you train leaders who are able to take the current business to its peak performance and, at the same time, take advantage of the changes that are taking place, making the organization even more competitive in the long term?
 
David J. Snowden and Mary E. Boone(1) developed the Cynefin Framework which explains in simple terms the different approaches and mental models possible for decision-making and problem-solving, according to the degree of predictability of the context and the possibility of establishing a cause-effect relationship between the variables.

In simplified terms, we can separate the nature of these approaches into two zones that require different leadership skills and competencies:















Executive leadership:
 
Executor Leadership is capable of executing changes that bring results through other people. It benefits from an analytical and logical approach (Complicated World), maintains the competitiveness of the business and is able to get the best out of its current potential. Meets targets and facilitates decision-making or problem-solving in situations where we can establish a cause-and-effect relationship and work with the best practices available.
 
Main features:
 
● Ability to deliver the goals and results agreed with the organization
● Discipline and routine management
● Ability to manage risks
● Ability to teach and mentor
● Analytical and process improvement skills (facilitator)
● Good time and deadline management
● Ability to command subordinates
● Good project management
 
Agile Leadership:
 
Has the ability to inspire people to adapt to the constant changes generated in a V.U.C.A. world. Mobilizes the potential of those they lead around an inspiring purpose and benefits from an empirical and creative approach (Complex World). Searches for new opportunities and innovations that can increase the competitiveness of the business. Acts in an inspiring and servant-like manner, influences employees to make decisions or solve problems in situations where we are unable to establish a cause and effect relationship and seek emerging and innovative practices.
 
Main features:
 
● Engaging employees in a purpose - ability to influence
● Flexibility and Adaptability
● Dare to experiment and learn from failures
● Helping people remove obstacles to development
● Creativity and Innovation
● Ability to deal with constant change
● Cultivate your network of relationships and your ability to influence
● Ability to facilitate self-managing teams
 
Frederic Laloux has been discussing the evolution of the different organizational structures that have taken place over the last 100 years and coined the term "soulful organizations"(2) , which in a free translation can be interpreted as "organizations with a soul".
 
The term is strongly related to the organization's adaptation to the complex environment we live in today. Discussing the concept and understanding its application can be a good guide to developing the skills of what we refer to in this article as an Agile Leader. The concept of "organizations with soul" involves the following points:
 
Evolutionary purpose
 
Working on developing an inspiring purpose is fundamental to bringing direction to the organization and generating a sense of passion in its employees.
Delivering targets and results agreed with shareholders should continue to be one of the main duties of an Agile Leader, but engaging the organization around an inspiring purpose that makes people feel that there is "something bigger" worth working for will be an important part of this process.
 
In line with Frederic Laloux's thoughts, another important thinker, Simon Sinek(3) , demonstrates through the concept of the "Golden Circle", that one of the primary functions of the Agile Leader is to help employees understand "Why is it worth waking up and coming to work every day, giving your best?”.
 
This purpose must be evolutionary and must demonstrate the organization's adaptation to constant changes in the environment.


















Wholeness
 
The concept of wholeness refers to creating an environment where people feel comfortable being genuine and not just a "corporate character" who needs to adapt their ways and habits to the organizational culture. Giving people the pleasure of working for a greater purpose.
 
One of the duties of the Agile Leader is to seek a model for evaluating people where strengths are enhanced, rather than worrying about "performance gaps".
The Agile Leader removes the interferences that prevent employees from offering the organization their full potential and passion.
 
Self-managing teams
 
The way teams work is also being questioned and more and more people are looking for an environment where the Agile Leader provides alignment (of what needs to be done), to ensure that the team is moving towards the organization's objectives, while the team autonomously defines "how" it will achieve the agreed results.
 
The team is self-managing and, in many cases, multidisciplinary.
A work rhythm is established where everyone has a role, regardless of position, and the efficiency of the work is evaluated at regular intervals by the team itself, where the answer to the following question is sought: "How can the team be more efficient in the next work cycle?"
 
Conclusions:
 
The two leadership styles mentioned in the article will coexist in organizations over the next few years. One strengthening the current business and the other seeking competitive advantage in the constant and inevitable changes in the business environment. This is Michael Tushman and Charles O'Reilly's concept of ambidextrous organizations(4).

 

 



Agile Leadership complements the skills and competence of the Execution Leader.
Organizations are looking to review their current training and development models so that current leaders are able to acquire new behaviors.
 
Performance appraisal processes are beginning to be revised in order to increase the level of awareness of the current leadership and, at the same time, generate the necessary change in behavior.
 
Definitely, developing Agile Leadership skills will have a great weight in the objectives of organizational development areas in the coming years.How this is done will take into account the sense of urgency for transformation perceived by the top leadership and the current organizational culture. The Agile Leader is first and foremost a servant leader, acting to remove the barriers that prevent people and teams from achieving their best performance.
 
 The Ambidextrous Leader is, first and foremost, an efficient Leader to deliver the long-term results desired by the Organization, at the same time, being able to adapt quickly and inspire professionals to deal with short-term changes imposed by the environment. Business.
 
Bibliography :
 

1. 1, David J. Snowden and Mary E. Boone - " A Leader's framework for Decision Making " . Harvard Business Review - November 2007 2-)
   2. Frederic Laloux - "The future of Management is Teal" - Strategy+Business Magazine - n. 80 - 2015 3-)
   3. Simon Sinek - "Start with why: how great leaders inspire people and teams" - 2018 4-)
   4. Michael Tushman and Charles O'Reilly - "Ambidextrous organizations: managing evolutionary and revolutionary change " . California Management Review , v38 , n. 4 , 1996



 

You can watch the video of the presentation on the subject at the American Society for Quality's 2024 conference by clicking here, and download the slides below.