MODERN LEADERSHIP
Or do you manufacture a sense of
certainty? Or worse: What happens
if you wake up after a long ‘winning
streak’ only to discover that your
enterprise it is no longer relevant?
they’ll persist with reasonable
decisions—seeking incremental
wins at the expense of breakthrough
opportunities. It’s a safe and sound
course along a well-traversed path.
This is the major challenge
enterprise leaders face, and the
fundamental flaw with leadership
focused only on clear goals and
operational wins. Naturally, this is
quite a predicament. We cannot
afford to simply wait for clarity. But
at the same time, we cannot set
forth a single, clear vision for the
future while knowing that the future
is infinitely complex and uncertain.
What to do?
And it’s also the most efficient way
to achieve irrelevance.
Ahoy Pioneering Leadership
Pioneering leadership means
leaning into the challenge of
progressing through new and
unchartered territory. This form of
leadership enables the exploration,
development, learning and progress
through the complexity and
paradox of an uncertain future. It’s
thanks to pioneering leadership
that businesses stay relevant and
grow. However, for businesses in
growth and enjoying the fruits of
success—or for those experiencing
the shrinking margins and decline
through maturity—it’s easy to default
to operationally-driven leadership
and maximise efficiencies where
possible.
Toward Enduring Relevance
Think about your business model
right now. If things are humming
along, it could be said that all of the
elements of your enterprise—the
value proposition, the channels
you use to reach your customers,
the resources and partnerships
you have and the key activities you
undertake—are optimised for our
“We didn’t do anything wrong, but
somehow, we lost.”—Jorma Jaakko
Ollila, CEO of Nokia
The number one objective of a
pioneering leader is relevance. And
to find relevance, they seek out
the possibilities inherent within
incoherence.
current contex и