Leading in an Uncertain world 

6 Qualities to Set Yourself up for Success

The business world has changed dramatically over the past few decades, and we now live in a connected society where change can be fast-paced, constant and unpredictable. This type of environment can be described using the "VUCA" acronym, which stands for "Volatile," "Uncertain," "Complex," and "Ambiguous." It’s a military term used to describe environments that are highly volatile, uncertainty, complex and ambiguous.


The challenges of the VUCA world, require organisations and leaders to adapt. What personal qualities are necessary to adapt and thrive in this new age? 

  • 1. VISION SHAPING

    Being able to clearly define the core value proposition of the organization and how you and your team fit into it through your daily contributions is critical in times of change. Setting and communicating a shared purpose and vision, in turn, helps your team understand the bigger picture. When everything is constantly changing, this shared purpose and vision is a pillar to keep coming back to.

  • 2. PREPARATION

    Monitoring and tracking trends, competitors, and the business environment to identify patterns and variables that may impact your team and the organization can give you an early warning of possible impending change. When you incorporate this into your function, you can start to anticipate and prepare for change.

  • 3. ADAPTABILITY

    In times of uncertainty and change, an ideal leadership trait is the ability to be flexible and adaptable. VUCA leadership requires one not to be stuck in their ways and rigidly work against their annual plan. The very nature of VUCA leadership is an ability to flex, pivot, and be agile as new information is obtained, decisions are made, and opportunities arise.

  • 4. DECISION-MAKING

    In VUCA leadership having a bias for action is critical. It’s the ability to make a decision when you have incomplete information, cannot fully realize the complexity and interconnectivity of the decision being made, and experience cannot be relied on as this decision has never happened before. Leaders must accept they are operating in an imperfect world, and they must make the best choice for their project, team, and organization between action or inaction.

  • 5. COLLABORATION AND TEAMWORK

    When leading through unprecedented times, innovative thinking, and idea diversity, which requires input across all functions and levels in the organization, is needed to uncover new solutions. As there

    are no best practices when navigating through times of VUCA, facilitating collaboration among employees as a leader becomes all that more important as everyone is needed to find innovative solutions and quickly adjust to the changing reality.

  • 6. CUSTOMER-FOCUS

    No matter your function in the organization, having a customer-centric focus on how external forces will impact the customer experience at the forefront of decisions being made is an essential component in leading in a VUCA world. In a complex and changing situation, leaders need to focus on the customer and have an understanding of the consequences of their decisions on the customer. To win in a VUCA world requires finding solutions to mitigate any negative consequences on the customer experience.

BECOME AN EFFECTIVE

VUCA LEADER WITH TRAINING

In uncertain times like today, you may be left wondering, what can you do to develop your leadership skills to succeed in a VUCA world? The first would be to do a self-assessment of how ready you are to lead through uncertainty to identify gaps and determine what you need to learn and practice. From there, seek out a leadership development program or one-on-one coaching to accelerate the development of your leadership skills and abilities so you are ready to take on the next challenge when it arises. 

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