It’s important to read between the lines, understand the cause-effect underneath, lead incremental improvement and transformative breakthrough collaboratively.
Understand the shade of gray: We’ve been living in a much more advanced society and peaceful time today, however, the mature organization or society should not lose its enthusiasm to challenge the silo mentality, conventional wisdom, common beliefs, etc. Being global and shaping world-class leadership is all about amplifying leadership impact, crossing not only geographical borders but also cultural divides to make a leap of organizational transformation.
Human moral constructs determine right and wrong, though there are gray areas between right and wrong in certain domains. Thus, today’s global leaders are open minded and inclusive to capture varying perspectives, gain empathy from diverse points of view; be flexible to share the “right” things with others; be open to “wrongs”- not necessarily real wrong, but the complementary viewpoints to co-paint a big picture of the world with full spectrum of colors.
See both trees and forest: It is an interconnected and hyper-complex world, we like to believe that we can find the world as it is and know it in itself, but on reflection, we see that based on our personal perception. It is no surprise to create thinking gaps using imperfect cognitive processes with limited threshold via narrow lenses. Leadership is about leverage, to close blind spots and break down silos by pondering: “What is the bigger picture here"? "How is your current problem/goal related to your team/departmental/organizational/industry/global context?" Can we identify a set of relevant issues and solve them smoothly?
We become wise when we can learn from natural balance; see the trees without missing the forest. Examination of a single part does not reveal the wholeness of parts. We need to see both “the trees” and “the forest”; be able to resolve the problem of complexity via both breaking down into branch alternatives, and synthesize into the forest. It’s important to leverage system approach, light up the business full cycles and emerging trends, opportunities, to create the business synergy and ensure the business as a whole is superior to the sum of pieces.
In fact, discovering the "truth" requires cross-disciplinary knowledge and logical analysis to understand multiple opinions and emotions which trigger creativity. Many organizations pursue the “hybrid truth”- stability & dynamism; by using two separate but coherent delivery modes and optimizing business process disciplines. One focuses on the operation management responsibility for supporting; the other drives transformative changes boldly.
Innovation and globalization are mutually reinforcing with each other. Information is power and emergent digital technologies are the innovation catalyst to recharge business and reenergize human society. Yet successful business achievement is a complex fabric with numerous variables, contextual nuances, and human sensitivities. It’s important to read between the lines, understand the cause-effect underneath, lead incremental improvement and transformative breakthrough collaboratively.
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