Do you ever feel like you are stuck in the spin cycle – work is constantly changing, regulations updating, priorities shifting, employees coming and going? Identified as a leadership superpower, agility is one way to navigate your daily demands and challenges. But how does being agile help you find stability in times of change?
In the article, How to Avoid the Churn That Comes with Agility, Ron Ashkenas stresses the importance of defining and maintaining an end goal in times of change. Experiencing constant change can be exhausting, confusing and frustrating. Ashkenas encourages leaders to counter the negative effects of change by focusing on the means and ends. “They should be able to articulate an end goal that stays constant even as the means to get their change.”
Being agile is a crucial skill for today’s leaders. However, keeping the end in mind while pivoting and adapting brings stability to bear. Ashkenas suggests that you ask yourself the following:
1. Are you clear about the end goal?
2. Do the members of your organization know the outcome you seek to achieve?
3. Are the changes you are making getting us closer to your goal?
4. Are you communicating effectively?
Stopping to ask these four questions ensures your team will keep moving in a more productive direction.
Reference:
How to Avoid the Churn That Comes with Agility, Ron Ashkenas, HBR Online, 2023
Written by Kim Abel, Ed.D., SPHR, Clinical Assistant Professor and Executive Director of Executive Degree Programs and the Center for Executive Education. www.linkedin.com/in/kim-abel