Exceptional leaders challenge the status quo.
Challenging the Process – An Exceptional Leader Trait
Today, more than ever, leaders are being asked to innovate, find alternatives, reduce costs, improve processes, and challenge the status quo mindset. Stanford University’s Carol Dweck (2006) discusses the benefits of a growth mindset over a fixed mindset to support optimal decision making. MIT’s Peter Senge (2006) writes about challenging and reframing workplace mental models as a key requirement for agile and responsive organizations. James Kouzes and Barry Posner, in 6 Editions of The Leadership Challenge, identify Challenging the Process as a key competency of exemplary leaders. Add to this research that spans more than 30 years, the concept of the VUCA environment – where workplaces are Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous due to technological advances and global economies; and it is clear that leaders will be better equipped to meet the needs of their customers if they create an environment where all employees are encouraged and expected to Challenge the Process.
From a growth mindset perspective, leaders can challenge their own beliefs of employee abilities and desires. They can rethink what they expect of their employees; employees who started out wanting to be successful and bring value to their organization. Recognizing that employees of all ages can adapt, relearn, and offer solutions to team, organization, and customer challenges is step one. Creating a collaborative environment where employees are encouraged to try out options and to implement optimal improvements for best outcomes may be another way to create a growth mindset within a team.
Mental Models are assumptions and beliefs we have about ourselves, or our environments (home, work, etc.). They are understood and are implied without being stated or written as policy. Mental models help us make quick decisions, but also stop us from exploring the full situation. Mental models can be evaluated with curiosity, reflection, and non-judgment. One reason for recruiting externally is to challenge processes and practices. Adding a Skeptic role (someone who plays devil’s advocate and questions whether something is accurate) to project teams will encourage groups to challenge the direction and help reduce groupthink – a form of status quo. Using the questions: Why do we do this? Or why do we do this, this way? Can also help challenge the process.
Posner and Kouzes have been studying exemplary leaders for over 3 decades. They list five key competencies that leaders have when they are performing optimally: Inspiring a Shared Vision, Modeling the Way, Challenging the Process, Enabling Others to Act, and Encouraging the Heart. With the foundation of a Shared Vision, and the integrity of Modeling the Way, leaders who then Challenge the Process will be better positioned to Enable Others to Act and Encourage the Heart! Challenging the Process includes looking for ways to do better today than yesterday. Look to employees who do the task, look outside the organization for new, and devise creative ways to move the process forward more efficiently and/or effectively. Allow employees to test out new ideas without fear from making mistakes. In other words, don’t avoid failure or new ideas 😊
Exemplary leaders assess, reassess, they create and recreate, they invent and reinvent… Because they know that in order to remain competitive and relevant, there are benefits to creating a workplace that improves what has been done. This is also the basis of an agile, learning organization.
REFERENCES:
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The leadership challenge. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Senge, P. M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (Revised and Updated Edition). New York: Doubleday.