In addition to this research, Greer is the faculty director of the Sanger Leadership Center and is committed to bringing innovative best practices to the forefront of sales training and industry standards. In the following Q&A, Greer shares some of his insights on the challenges, growth opportunities, and philosophies leaders should embrace in the new year.
Looking ahead to 2024, what are the biggest challenges that organizational leaders have faced? With the global workplace rapidly changing, what qualities or skills do you think are most important for leaders to develop in the new year?
Organizational leaders have had their hands full in 2024. Political polarization, geopolitical conflicts, stakeholder activism, and rapid technological change: what a year!
In turbulent times, I would highlight four key categories of skills – which also lie at the heart of our Michigan Leadership Model here in Ross:
- Collaborate – build bridges between different groups and safe spaces for them to interact and care about the well-being and culture of their organization
- Generate results – inspire others to achieve their goals
- Innovate – embrace different ideas as opportunities for growth, change, creativity and innovation, and help your teams and organizations do the same
- Provide structure – clarify roles and objectives, optimize structures, processes and playbooks
Ultimately, the best leaders are able to tailor which tool, such as a collaboration tool or a results-achievement tool, they deploy in a particular situation based on the needs of their team and organization. Good leaders adapt their leadership toolkits and those of their teams by creating a culture of continuous learning, where developing and improving leadership skills is a key priority.
The best leaders also ensure that they and their organizations can adopt all four skill categories. They help their organization transcend the inherent tensions between these four key skill types: they foster positive collaboration while continuing to drive results, and they can innovate and change while providing the pillars of structure and stability for the organization . Only by accepting paradox can leaders truly create organizations that can stand the test of our turbulent times.
The Sanger Leadership Center has created a suite of resources that leaders can useincluding a slideshow with teaching notes, a practical self-assessment guide and several complementary tools such as a leadership roadmap.
One area of your research is team dynamics and interpersonal conflict. Particularly in a contentious election year and an upcoming administration change, how does political polarization affect teams and leaders? What can leaders do to counteract some of these effects?
Leading diverse teams and organizations is never easy, and yet it is also the secret of the most successful teams and organizations. When leaders can create spaces where different perspectives are shared, heard, respected and used as input for innovation, businesses thrive.
Political polarization makes this difficult skill set all the more difficult: differences in perspective become value- and emotion-laden, making civil conversation, curiosity, humility, win-win integrative thinking, and ultimately Ultimately, innovation is very difficult to achieve.
To help your teams navigate differences in the coming year, here are some tips:
- Seek to understand before seeking to be understood. Take the time to be truly curious and understand someone’s point of view before you jump in. Ask a few follow-up questions to help you understand the basis of their point of view. When you share your point of view, share it in a way that connects to something they said – choose words that will help them understand your point of view – and show your good intention by sharing it. As leaders, coach your team members on this important skill as well.
- Help your teams understand that civil conflict is a concern. Too often, our teams avoid talking about the most difficult topics, and eventually, when the discussion arises, it becomes emotional and passionate after being suppressed for so long. Healthy, high-performing teams engage in diversity of thought – task conflict, if you will – on a regular basis.
- Reinforce the values that define your organization, values that your employees should all have in common. Organizational culture is the values of the organization manifested – in rituals, artifacts, and stories. This year is a wonderful time to help your teams remember what they share and what they want to be. Having shared values and a common language can make difficult conversations easier to navigate.
Based on your research and work with the Sanger Leadership Center, what advice would you give to leaders looking to learn and grow in the new year?
Adopt a growth mindset – Be open to all the ideas and perspectives around you. What could you learn from a colleague, mentor, or friend about how they lead?
Make a plan — Learning accelerates when you set a goal and make a specific plan to get there. Discover the Sanger Leadership Journey for a simple framework to help you develop a leadership development plan for yourself for the year.
Find a learning buddy – We are more likely to stick to a plan when we have a friend to do it with. It motivates us and keeps us accountable. Is there someone from a previous organization, a friend on your team, or a mentor at work who you could share your plan with and who would help you celebrate your growth along the way?