You’re not just trying to do something marginally, incrementally better. You’re doing something that is a fundamental paradigm shift, that will have exponential impact. That means it’s harder to do, but ultimately, if it’s successful, the impact it has is far greater.
Steve Case – Entrepreneur
VUCAN leadership: you know it when you see it. Think of people that you would consider to be VUCAN leaders. I bet there’s only a handful. So, the question arises: ‘What makes a VUCAN leader’? This is very critical in the COVID work world of pandemic response, business continuity, fake news, social distancing, social unrest, hacktivism, and many other risk issues. All of these require a new form of VUCAN leadership.
COVID disruption may be today’s crucible of VUCAN leadership. Let’s explain this. VUCAN leadership is defined by critical circumstances. When a critical situation such as COVID arises, a VUCAN leader will arise. Today, VUCAN managers are rising in all areas of an organization because of viruses, competition, trade wars, corporate restructuring, information explosion, digitalization, outsourcing, automation, or simply the necessity to get the job done.
VUCAN leadership is something special. When you see it, you know it. Leadership is an exemplary element of good management. Leadership is an art. Leadership is flexible and resilient depending on market requirements, organizational culture, and people’s abilities. VUCAN leadership may integrate ‘command and control’ to ‘coaching and mentoring.’
VUCAN leaders have the common touch and are hands-on. Leaders are closely involved with workers, suggesting, and demonstrating as opposed to directing or managing. Leaders are self-selecting. Leaders see an unfulfilled opportunity, need, or requirement. Nature, organizations, and the marketplace hate a vacuum. Someone will fill it. This someone is called the VUCAN leader. So, leadership is seen as a personal issue – a desire to monetize, commit, inspire, engage, share, and improve.
Work Lesson Earned: So, where have all the business and political leaders gone? Maybe, we need new definitions of leadership and new VUCAN leaders to emulate. Or, may be the risk/reward of leadership no longer exists.