A Group Approach to Leadership that Mobilizes

Good leaders are organizational architects — because they know how to organize and mobilize followers so that their energies are focused on the strategic mission — as explained by James G. Clawson, an Associate Professor at the Darden Graduate School of Business.

Leaders, today more than ever, are using a group approach to social capital. They need to connect with nature and the places they love to visit. If they cannot visit physically, they can watch videos and read about their favorite destinations until they can find the time to return.

It is important that executives expand, review, and extrapolate their VABEs if necessary (Behaviors based on Values, Assumptions, Beliefs, and Expectations of how we see the world). By finding people to bond with, they can find solace and comfort in themselves and bring smiles to faces.

During pandemic-recovery, leaders are developing answers to the most pertinent questions:

  • What are the challenges facing our organization right now?
  • How can we regulate distress as new things arise and decisions are being made?
  • How can we maintain discipline and attention as we migrate back to the office, open our businesses, and attempt to go back to what life was like before the COVID-19 pandemic?
  • How can we give the work back to the people as they work in a hybrid mode and address customers’ concerns and demands?
  • How can we protect leadership voices from below since people have apprehensions, concerns, and questions that need quick answers?

Also, executives can delegate to their team to empower themselves. Then, they can pool the skills and resources of their network to reach their goals and reap success. Do you, as an executive, feel confident to perform at the level you desire? A simple yes or no, here, will suffice.

A study showed that leaders fail to develop a clear vision for the future of their organization. There was also a lack of people-management found in this research. Ken Blanchard, in his “Work teams and the Wizard of Oz,” has captured essential benefits for teamwork:

  • Build and Rely on Teams
  • Post-Pandemic Recovery Workbook
  • Delegate and Empower
  • Pool Skills and Resources
  • Tap Inner Resources

As you, as an executive, reflect on these benefits of teamwork, your own personal strategy, your organizational strategy, and address the concerns found in the research, try to relate them to a certain program, course, goal, objective, business plan, strategic objective, or something else that you are pursuing.

Furthermore, given the pandemic-recovery, many people have embraced electronic communication and are engaged in internet-based relationships. This recovery calls for online executive education. This approach inspired a new wave of thinking in the field of executive leadership. A cadre of thinkers joined the efforts to expand the framework of the approach, and influence in light of its applicability for our unique times.

For example, Mohanbir (Mohan) Sawhney, Associate Dean for Digital Innovation and McCormick Foundation Professor of Technology at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University is a pioneer in online executive education. He has created several SPOCs (Small Online Private Courses) and online simulations in digital marketing, product strategy, and artificial intelligence.

Sawhney argues, that “while the past year has been a time of great challenge…it has also been a time of great innovation.” He states, “The 3 Horizons of Change” that will impact both executives and talent management in the near future. Ponder and comment on his three horizons of change.

  • Reacting to the pandemic — transforming to exclusively online formats
  • Redesigning the future — gradually returning to in-person and hybrid work to deliver the best learning experiences
  • Reimagining, reinventing, and designing disruptive business models

Thus, companies need to embrace social capital and online executive education. Making the right decisions can create a business platform that embraces an uncertain world and gives organizations the resilience to bounce back.

 

Mostafa Sayyadi

Mostafa Sayyadi works with senior business leaders to effectively develop innovation in companies, and helps companies—from start-ups to the Fortune 100—succeed by improving the effectiveness of their leaders. He is a business book author and a long-time contributor to business publications and his work has been featured in top-flight business publications.

 

Michael ProviteraMichael J. Provitera is an associate professor, and an author of the book titled “Mastering Self-Motivation” published by BusinessExpertPress. He is quoted frequently in the national media.