Agility may be a popular management buzzword these days, but it’s a concept that has always had relevance in business and in our personal lives. The massive disruption that has affected the economy and business this year has shown us how important it is to be agile if we want to move forward.
Today, while some businesses have regained momentum, business as usual no longer exists. Many businesses have had to adjust in different ways to cope with new and different challenges. While it is great that everything is starting to get better, we still won’t know what’s going to come in the future.
In this sense, we have to be prepared for more disruptions, no matter how small or large they might be compared to Covid and the economic crash. As businesses are driven by people power, everything begins with their leaders.
Why do we begin with business leaders? At the end of the day, hierarchy still plays an important part in driving business decisions. While many newer businesses and startups have a flatter organisational structure than their older peers, some traditions persist and one of those is hierarchy.
Driving organisational agility requires the basic foundations of leadership agility. There are four key characteristics to build on leadership agility to inspire organisational agility.
The first characteristic is resilience. While personal resilience is the priority, leaders also have to consider the overall resilience of their teams and inspire people in the organisation to develop this characteristic.
Change will always be a part of every business, though the pace can vary from slow and gradual to dizzyingly fast in some industries. But no matter what, when change happens, it can sometimes create harsh conditions for businesses and their people. This is why resilience is another buzzword you’ve been hearing a lot this year.
Second, leaders need goals and direction setting. Change can drive businesses to temporarily – or sometimes permanently – let go of their long-term goals and directions to shift all resources toward quick wins. However, we cannot rely on quick wins alone during tough times.
Quick wins, though an important part of the bigger picture, give us an illusion that our business is doing well. In reality, it may not be sustainable in the long run. Long-term goals give businesses the bigger picture, while short-term goals act as milestones that tell the organisation it’s going in the right direction.
For example, focusing on quick sales alone isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, if there’s no bigger picture, the business lacks direction. If the focus is placed too heavily on immediate returns, this could turn off many potential and loyal customers who are not properly nurtured and cared for.
Third, leaders need balanced levels of adaptability and flexibility. While the latter is certainly important during times of change, making a move every time change happens isn’t sustainable. Long-term strategies, as previously mentioned, still play an important part in driving the business forward.
Rigidity is an innate quality of many humans. However, striking a balance between rigidity and flexibility is an important part of sustaining business growth. While agility forces us to become more flexible, it is also about sustaining the business to ensure longevity. This ultimately means making firm decisions and following through with certain plans.
Fourth, leaders need the ability to empathise and empower the people in their organisation, as they do with external customers. It is normal for business leaders and others in the organisation to focus their efforts on their customers. But you need to make sure that people within the organisation don’t lose focus on what drives organisations forward in the first place: collaboration.
We cannot achieve greater things on our own, much less achieve agility as a whole organisation. After all, the heart of a business is its people. Understanding internal needs is just as important as understanding the needs of the customers. It engages people and empowers them to work toward shared business goals.
While all these characteristics apply to an individual, when it comes to organisational agility, it almost always begins with leaders. Not only do they need to serve as positive role models to their people, but also they need to empower their people to make changes within themselves to drive improvement at work and in their own lives.
Arinya Talerngsri is Chief Capability Officer and Managing Director at SEAC - Southeast Asia’s Lifelong Learning Center. She can be reached by email at arinya_t@seasiacenter.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/arinya-talerngsri-53b81aa. Explore and experience our lifelong learning ecosystem today at https://www.yournextu.com
