Adaptive Leadership Teams - Shared Purpose and Collaboration

Foreword

This is the last of the blogs in my Adaptive Leadership Teams series.

It is also the last of the blogs for 2019 as I take a break and prepare for what looks to be a very busy 2020.

So I want to take this opportunity to thank you for reading my musings and wish you all a wonderful holiday season and I will talk to you in the next decade. Next year I will be starting off with a series of blogs on resilience. See you on the other side!

Blog

Leadership is a team effort. Everyone has to lead and be adaptive

My Adaptive Leadership Teams model is shown below..

Shared purpose

It is easier to win the game when we care about the game. If the soccer team does not have a shared purpose, it is not going to win the game, and all its players will play in different directions. 

When we need employees to use their intuition and be autonomous in order to respond to a VUCA world, they need a strong sense of shared purpose.

Adaptive leaders are able to align the adaptive leadership team around a shared sense of purpose and value. Everyone then has the autonomy to take action.

Employees are drawn into a shared sense of purpose when there is a compelling and realistic purpose for the organization and an understanding of the ways in which the organization intends to achieve it. This purpose should be visited on a regular basis to ensure there is continued alignment.

The adaptive leadership team also needs to know how its actions contribute to the purpose. The team and the individuals within it want to know the part(s) they will play.

When there is a shared sense of purpose, work becomes more than just a job. Employees are motivated and engaged and will go the extra mile to fulfil the purpose.

There are a multitude of analogies related to geese and teams, and many of the sources are unknown. But the fact exists that as each goose flaps its wings, it creates an ‘uplift’ for the birds that follow. By flying in a ‘V’ formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

Teams that share a common sense or purpose can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

Collaboration

Organizations now need a platform for collaboration. Employees already have the information, it just needs to be farmed and shared effectively.

Collaboration is also an eco-system in its own right. It extends across and outside the organization to suppliers, service providers, and collaborators.

When teams genuinely collaborate, they deliver change that matters. But a lack of collaboration and communication can result in organizational failure. 

When change is constant, ambiguous and unclear, collaboration will be key to organizational success.

The environment and pace has changed for organizations just as it has for soccer teams and more collaboration is required. The soccer game has evolved and winning the game relies on more than one person. Gone are the days of Pele, Best, Beckenbauer, Donadoni, and Maradona who all had the time and space to take the ball up field and shoot a goal.

Soccer is a teameffort now, more than it ever was before. Around ten years ago, European soccer players would be able to hold on to the ball for three seconds on average before passing it. Today, they keep the ball for less than one second on average before being challenged and having to pass it. If a striker loses the ball, they will immediately challenge the defender in order to regain possession. This has resulted in the space and time available for players becoming smaller, which means passing faster and interacting closer.

The only way to win is increased collaboration. Soccer teams collaborate on the fly and come up with novel ideas to win the game. Organizations have to do the same.

Game score

Just like soccer teams, organizations have to have adaptive leadership teams if they are to beat the opposition and win the competition.

They have to align around a common goal, perceive what is happening outside the organization and respond accordingly. Sound decisions need to be made quickly and teams will experiment to discover what works and what doesn't.

There is role fluidity and anyone can play in any position depending on what is required.

There is shared leadership with a shared purpose and widespread collaboration and innovation as a result 

When organizations have adaptive leaders and adaptive leadership teams, they are true champions.