Follow It Forward

Kevin Monroe connects with listeners one-on-one in this week’s show. He discusses three activities leaders engage in and whether they are beneficial to their organizations.

Decade of Difference Kevin’s previous expectation for the turn of the decade was for 2020 to open a decade of difference. He describes the current global pandemic as a “legacy shaping event,” one that will impact how people are regarded post-crisis based on how they responded and lived through it. Leading now is different, but many leaders are doing what they’ve always done in hope for a magically different result, Kevin says. The way of life and business pre-COVID-19 is no longer sustainable and so we must adapt.

Excuse-Making The first activity is excuse-making. Kevin advises anyone who participates in making excuses to stop. When a leader makes excuses, they are not leading. When people engage in excuse-making, their focus is usually in the past. However, leadership involves accepting responsibility and being accountable for one’s decisions.

Sense-Making Sense-making is the ability or attempt to make meaning in situations that are uncertain, complex, or ambiguous so that you know what actions to take. The challenge the current crisis poses for sense-makers lies in the fluidity of events and how liable they are to rapid change. Sense-making is a leadership responsibility, highly valuable, and may enhance your legacy. However, it does not necessarily result in action, as there is often no end to the information that comes. There comes a time where you must make do with the information you have.

Way-Making  Similar to sense-making, way-making is defined as forging a solution despite difficulty, impossibility, or uncertainty. The key differentiator between the two activities is that way-making is action-based and dependent on sense-making. It bridges the present to the future, invokes the pioneer spirit, and incorporates what you have learnt in the sense-making process, Kevin adds;

Way-makers begin their journey by assessing where they are now. They don’t need to have it all figured out; they just find the next step and follow it forward.