Last week I was delighted to participate in the Thomson Reuters Synergy event exploring “How Tech Impacts the Way we Work’.
What do I know about tech you may ask? And you’d be right to ask because the answer is not that much!
What I do see is the impact tech has on the way my clients work and lead because the ever-accelerating pace of change challenges us in new ways.
I see four primary traps leaders can fall into:
Let’s unpack what each of these mean for leaders:
1. The ‘I must become an expert’ trap
This trap captures you when you believe that to introduce new technology you must become an expert in it so you spend inordinate amounts of time researching and learning, driven by the belief that you must know more than your team members.
Warning: there is simply too much out there for you to be an expert in everything!
2. The ‘overwhelmed to the point of paralysis’ trap
This can be driven by the ‘I must become an expert’ trap or can be when you realise that you need new solutions and add that to your ‘to do’ list without a plan for how to move forward, or you have reached a decision point and the choice is overwhelming.
3. The ‘technology will fix all our productivity issues’ trap
You or your team have identified a wonderful solution to a particular problem and are implementing it with great gusto, followed by great disappointment when users don’t embrace it.
4. The ‘shiny new toy’ trap
As a leader you are super excited about tech and keep alighting on new projects, creating a culture of anxiety about what is going and what is staying and confusion around the purpose of the technology.
All of these traps can be addressed by reconnecting to two things:
1. Your purpose
What is the North Star you are working towards? What is the big picture in terms of your strategy and what will move you in the right direction?
Your role as a leader is to ensure that your team is connected to this purpose and that they are inspired and empowered to move in the same direction.
2. The human element
Tech is a tool to enhance our work experience, not replace human critical thinking skills. It can offer a powerful advantage over human capabilities when it comes to processing large amounts of data or automating laborious tasks, but we must not lose sight of the humans involved. Humans are essentially social animals and connection is key to engagement at work.
Being a leader means inspiring, influencing and empowering your peers and your team members around the adoption of tech. For this your leadership presence is critical.
It means reassuring people about what will stay the same in the future and their value to the organisation. It means exciting them about what new higher-level work they will be able to take on once tech has freed up capacity. It means leaning into their development by upskilling them and trusting them to become experts. It means being vulnerable enough to not always have the answer but to lean into asking questions. It means inviting the contributions of others and collaborating more to make wise decisions.
Are you ready to focus on becoming the leader you want to be? Leading and innovating without getting caught in these traps? Then let’s have a conversation.
Or are you interested in improving your team’s ability to communicate and work through their challenges without getting stuck in their day-to-day tasks? Then let’s chat about a workshop.
With love,
Sue
What do I know about tech you may ask? And you’d be right to ask because the answer is not that much!
What I do see is the impact tech has on the way my clients work and lead because the ever-accelerating pace of change challenges us in new ways.
I see four primary traps leaders can fall into:
- The ‘I must become an expert’ trap
- The ‘overwhelmed to the point of paralysis’ trap
- The ‘technology will fix all our productivity issues’ trap
- The ‘shiny new toy’ trap
Let’s unpack what each of these mean for leaders:
1. The ‘I must become an expert’ trap
This trap captures you when you believe that to introduce new technology you must become an expert in it so you spend inordinate amounts of time researching and learning, driven by the belief that you must know more than your team members.
Warning: there is simply too much out there for you to be an expert in everything!
2. The ‘overwhelmed to the point of paralysis’ trap
This can be driven by the ‘I must become an expert’ trap or can be when you realise that you need new solutions and add that to your ‘to do’ list without a plan for how to move forward, or you have reached a decision point and the choice is overwhelming.
3. The ‘technology will fix all our productivity issues’ trap
You or your team have identified a wonderful solution to a particular problem and are implementing it with great gusto, followed by great disappointment when users don’t embrace it.
4. The ‘shiny new toy’ trap
As a leader you are super excited about tech and keep alighting on new projects, creating a culture of anxiety about what is going and what is staying and confusion around the purpose of the technology.
All of these traps can be addressed by reconnecting to two things:
1. Your purpose
What is the North Star you are working towards? What is the big picture in terms of your strategy and what will move you in the right direction?
Your role as a leader is to ensure that your team is connected to this purpose and that they are inspired and empowered to move in the same direction.
2. The human element
Tech is a tool to enhance our work experience, not replace human critical thinking skills. It can offer a powerful advantage over human capabilities when it comes to processing large amounts of data or automating laborious tasks, but we must not lose sight of the humans involved. Humans are essentially social animals and connection is key to engagement at work.
Being a leader means inspiring, influencing and empowering your peers and your team members around the adoption of tech. For this your leadership presence is critical.
It means reassuring people about what will stay the same in the future and their value to the organisation. It means exciting them about what new higher-level work they will be able to take on once tech has freed up capacity. It means leaning into their development by upskilling them and trusting them to become experts. It means being vulnerable enough to not always have the answer but to lean into asking questions. It means inviting the contributions of others and collaborating more to make wise decisions.
Are you ready to focus on becoming the leader you want to be? Leading and innovating without getting caught in these traps? Then let’s have a conversation.
Or are you interested in improving your team’s ability to communicate and work through their challenges without getting stuck in their day-to-day tasks? Then let’s chat about a workshop.
With love,
Sue
RSS Feed