“We’re living in ‘Liquid Times.’ Our environment is in a constant state of change, operating without fixed, solid patterns. We must learn to adapt our beliefs so that we are able to ‘walk on quicksand,’ adapting constantly to rapid change. We can no longer rely on the beliefs that were a feature of our relatively stable and more certain past.” Colin Strong
We’re in a leadership crisis now. Executives often put “leadership” at the top of a list of qualities they’re looking for, and yet in the next breath they talk about the ability to “manage” people. Management is crucially important when applied to processes and systems, not people. In our disruptive, unstable world we’re desperately in need of leaders who demonstrate the courage to move out of their comfort zone to tackle the impossible. As Thomas Friedman found during research for, “The Start-Up of You,” employers are now looking for people who can “invent, adapt, and reinvent their jobs every day.” Why do we continue to cling to the Industrial Age concept of managing people? The answer: leading people is ‘hard.’
During an episode of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” a young woman named Portia was staying at an upscale resort in Sicily working as a personal assistant for a wealthy guest. During breakfast one morning she broke down. While another person at her table takes smiling selfies with the gleaming ocean in the background, she glanced across the terrace at her boss. “Is everything boring?” she asks, her voice trembling. I just feel like there must’ve been a time when the world had more, you know? Like mystery or something. And now you come somewhere like this, and it’s beautiful, and you take a picture, and then you realize that everybody’s taking that exact same picture from that exact same spot and you’ve just made some redundant content for stupid Instagram.”
I was suffering from a serious case of confirmation bias. I was picturing a room full of quants immersed in a world where everything, including people, can be measured. Rob Delaney, CEO of Infinia ML, had asked me to conduct a leadership workshop with his executive team. Infinia ML is a machine learning company, headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. They have developed a platform that uses machine learning to analyze unstructured text and content, enabling their customers to streamline workflows and uncover fresh insights.
You don’t have to win a championship to be considered a championship team. In certain years at Texas our team won the conference championship simply because we had far superior talent. To me championship teams are teams that overachieve. It’s not about a trophy. It’s a mindset - and it brings goosebumps!
