Continued from previous page Resilient leaders must firstly accept that this approach by its very nature will require authentic emotional involvement from them. To keep human perspectives in focus throughout every stage of the problem-solving process will mean caring for, empathising and intentionally engaging with those you lead and with those you seek to serve. It also calls for significant self-awareness and self-regulation to cope with and rebound from the challenges, threats and stresses that arise in the process. Resilient leaders attempt to answer Brene Brown’s question in “Dare to lead – Brave work. Tough conversations. Whole hearts,” – “What would it look like to combine courage, connection and meaning with the world of work?” Design Thinking The human-centred approach is also characterised by a repeatable yet flexible design process, consisting of three key phases – Inspiration, Ideation and Implementation. Resilient leaders can choose from a variety of multi-disciplinary techniques and tools based on factors in their specific context, but must on every occasion first seek to empathise or deeply understand the humans involved; then involve them in defining the problem or needs to be resolved and in the brainstorming and idea generation activities. They must also create a safe environment for experimentation and improvisation by their teams, allowing for rapid prototyping and testing of solutions. Ultimately, as summarised by Professor Joseph Giacomin of the Human Centred Design Institute at Brunel University, “disruptive innovation is as natural an outcome of human centred design as is incremental innovation.” ‘Disruptive innovation is as natural an outcome of human centred design as is incremental innovation’ - Professor Joseph Giacomin An Agile Mind-set An agile mindset is the set of attitudes supporting an agile working environment. These include respect, collaboration, improvement and learning cycles, pride in ownership, focus on delivering value, and the ability to adapt to change. This mindset is necessary to cultivate high-performing teams, who in turn deliver amazing value for their customers. (Susan McIntosh) The agile mind-set is part of the very DNA of this “Fourth Industrial Revolution” and is fully synergistic with the human-centred approach to the future of work. The pandemic jolted Caribbean governments and public sector organisations into taking actions to obtain results that are consistent with the core values of the Agile Approach, especially privileging people and interactions over processes and tools; quick delivery of value and functionality; and responding to change over following an immutable plan. Resilient leaders and managers must take the epiphanies and lessons learnt from this experience and continue to courageously use Agile principles and methodologies to influence faster and longer-term changes in organisational structures, policies, processes and culture for sustainable, high performance. TRANSFORMATION TO A RESILIENT LEADERSHIP CULTURE The resurgence in use and popularity of the term “Resilient Leadership” might seem to herald the ascension of yet another leadership model to the apex of thought, but close examination of recent literature on the topic, shows that it embraces all of the attributes of Transformational Leadership – Qualities such as strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, adaptation and change orientation, learning and performance orientation, and collective leadership…(Kwasi Dartey-Baah, 2015) Continues on next page 3
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