How your Maverick tendencies will keep you leading the way. In this piece, I’ll explore how refocusing on your Maverick tendencies and skills can keep your organisation ahead of the curve.
At the forefront of, or leading in something, such as a developing situation, field of study or business, social development, etc.
Free Dictionary’s online idioms reference
Let’s examine what that means. There’s certainly a lot of inherent change in that definition, where you would be “at the forefront”, in a “developing situation”. That sounds unpredictable, evolving and perhaps unclear … precisely the kind of everyday leadership change challenges we Mavericks relish.
The trouble is, there is a lot of potential distractions, which dissipate our Maverick change energy. To keep at the forefront in anything, you will need to be pretty single-minded. The late Stephen R Covey said,
“the main thing, is to keep The Main Thing, the main thing”.
Stephen R Covey
Simple to say, very, very difficult to do.
Maverick tendencies leading the way. In the next normal, life will be more complex than ever, and this “developing situation” will offer up a host of challenges and possibilities. In the post-pandemic world, there will be a lot of curves out there, which means of course that there will be some seriously good opportunities, which only our Maverick lens will focus in on and spot.
How will you focus your skills, prioritise your resources, and home in on your Maverick “USP” to make the best advances you can?
So, to revert to Covey: what IS your “main thing”, which has kept you successful, perhaps even ahead of the pre-Covid curve? What is your singular advantage? I would put money on the fact that, if you’re a Maverick, that will be singling you out AND getting you ready to bounce back better than ever.
However …
Is what worked pre-Covid still going to work in this next normal? Your wilful independence (of thought and deed) may be really useful in this post-pandemic world. Will it be welcome, however and how will you know?
How has the pandemic affected the resources at your disposal? Has the pandemic hit your income streams? Do you have as many people in your organisation? Have new people become available to do different things? Are there new Mavericks on the scene, to ally or spar with?
And how are you feeling about your Maverick leadership skills? What impact has Covid had on your personal resilience? How can you dial up on your Maverick nature, to bring to your organisation, to add that extra sparkle to help everyone bounce back that bit stronger?
Once you know what your “Main Thing” is, and whether it still is your main thing, you have a clear direction. And that in itself will keep you ahead of most of your competitors, while they work out where their organisation now sits in this new world. That’s always the Maverick way, after all.
However, the key is to have not only a plan of what you will do, but how.
That is where the management of change really comes into play. You will know your resources, so will be able to define what you can and cannot do, moving forward. That will help you plan on how you keep your “Main Thing” front and centre for your organisation, freeing you up to explore new possibilities.
And that is where managing your change, through your people, is going to really put you ahead of the curve. Empowering your teams, equipping them with knowledge and autonomy, so they take decisions that really matter, will be trusting your people to do the right thing well. These are all things that will build you a strong modern workforce, with maybe a few Mavericks to give your post-Covid performance that something extra. Resilient, engaged and committed to your “Main Thing”, your people will feel they have a real stake in your whole organisation’s success, as you pull together yet again.
All these factors are crucial leadership challenges – and opportunities. You can blame a lot on the pandemic, but you can also thank it for a lot too. You can use it as the reason to explore – and exploit – new freedoms, choice and influence. Experiment and set your people free to experiment too. Everyone will feel they have more of a stake in your organisation’s success. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
This is where a Maverick, even a Misanthropic one like me, will come into their own. The best-equipped to lead in this new VUCA world will have Maverick tendencies. We will be at the forefront, seeing what’s possible and pushing boundaries for all we’re worth, as we lead for success, not mere survival.
C’mon and join us. It’s going to be incredible …