Neocharismatic Leadership ®

Challenging the Status Quo- Role #3 in Stage #1 of Neocharismatic Leadership- part 1

• Neocharismatic Leader • Season 1 • Episode 13

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After discussing two roles in detail in the last 4 episodes at the first stage of the 'Search for Opportunity', the Neocharismatic Leader is ready to announce their decision in 'challenging to the Status Quo' Role #3.
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Introducer:

Welcome to this podcast series on Neocharismatic leadership with author, leadership expert and coach, Dr. Ghadah Angawi a9nd executive leader Martin Hedley, where they will both explore the recently published book, Neocharismatic leadership and the coaching topics it covers.

Martin Hedley:

So today, we're tackling the same stage, the search for opportunity, but from another role, and that is challenging the status quo. Now, that means change. And change means fear of the unknown. Even those of us that get excited by change, still have that fear, we just choose not to lead with it. So, with the change, there is a sense of adventure. But then, what does this role mean in relation to this stage, the search for opportunity?

Ghadah Angawi:

Yes, leaders who live that role told me the emotional charge is accompanied by a degree of anger and frustration with organisational situations, context, culture, but they managed to channel these strong emotions towards positive transformation through having a moral and ethical goal to implement justice, fairness, and equality. On the other hand, putting up with the emotional weight of not doing anything, also is difficult, and has its own challenges. It can kill creativity and promote resentment, sucking leaders energy out. So, there is something that needs to be done, and they describe it as being propelling them forward. So they are very emotionally intelligent people, they know how to navigate their emotions and thoughts, and turn the negative situations into positive through finding ways to make things happen.

Martin Hedley:

Yes, I can definitely identify with these feelings myself, and also with people who have been in those situations, when you look at change, and the fact that you're leading a group of people to make whatever change you've decided upon, there are some people that are going to be excited by it, and some people that are going to be a bit fearful. And clearly one of the first things is leaders, you've got to help people manage that fear. Now, it's interesting, because we're currently going through the COVID pandemic, that we're reading a lot about people that are really suffering, because they can't change the way the pandemic is affecting their lives. You know, they're stuck at home, they have children at home, they're working from home, they can't do it all this is not right. Okay. But the fact of the matter is, it's not going to go away. And so people have got to recognise this. So one of the first things I think is particularly for the leader is to recognise that you can't always change the circumstances in which your group is in, accept that and accept that with your team. And then we'll just let them express their fears and concerns and say, well, we don't even know what today is like, and you now want us to change it. That's really scary. Okay. So the second thing, I think, is to go in there and don't fight, the things that you can't change, be intelligent enough to realise that you've got to adapt and adaptability is now another set of experiences that need to be shared. So the first thing is get it, you know, getting over the fear, the next thing is to share that feeling of adaptability, you have to move forward no matter what, it's not really a choice. Okay, so what we need to do is we need to recognise the risks ahead of time, and as a team come up with the strategies that we're going to employ if those risks should actually occur. And then finally, flexibility again, because there are those risks that you just can't predict. And in every project I've ever been involved in, something comes up that you never expected. So, you've got to be able to handle the risk. So, when the challenge is taking you down a dangerous path, the emphasis on the leader, being truly empathetic and building resilience within that team is not a nice to have it is now just absolutely essential.

Ghadah Angawi:

Yes we have to remember that this role is not just a role of action, taking action and just impulsively reacting to a situation. It is the third role in the search for opportunity. So the leader has been scanning the environment ever since they started looking at the change and the transformation that needs to happen. Dealing with a with a crisis situation, they have been scanning the environment externally and internally, they ave been sensing people's need nd listening. And there is onsultants on board or coaches r people working with them to ome up with with options and olutions. And when they reach hat stage where they have some ind of intuitiveness towards he right solution or the right ption, wildness comes in, hey're not reacting out of motional situations, they are ctually acting so challenging he status quo, it is act ally implementing the right dec sion. The status quo usua ly does not predict that deci ion, they are fearful of it's implementation, and they are in he uncertainity of it. Hen e, this decision is goinng to provoke emotional reactions in different groups in your organisation, different people will react differently. And no matter how much as you said, you predict those reactions, something will come up. So you have to be ready to deal with it. And you have to have a plan of how you're going to react to different reactions, you are actually disrupting the norms of the workflow. You're disrupting individuals norms, of how they do the work, they have to learn new skills, they have to cope with it. And you know, the example of COVID is really the best example to describe what's going on. Some organisations have dealt with it really well. They came up with plans, options and training people and you know, went through it, and they're succeeding right now. And it all boils down to that leader at the strategic level, who is able to push forward find that option and challenge that status quo with a decision.

Martin Hedley:

Yes, ganda, you, you've discussed this with me, separately, and you've talked about the fact that sometimes making this change is irrational, it's causing the status quo to change is irrational. And I really like that description. because too many people, it may seem irrational, oh, gosh, this is absolutely the wrong time to do that. Or no, I can't believe we need to change that much. It's not that bad. You get all kinds of responses to it. But as a leader, you have to realise that, actually, if lots of irrational things work together in this world, and there is a rationality out of that group of irrational items. So there are patterns to irregularity. If you look in science, you find, billions and billions of random activities, which because they're constantly going on, you can actually see order out of them, you can actually work out orders sort of what Einstein did with his theory of relativity. But I'm thinking oh, my goodness, I'm not I'm not Einstein, I just need something that I can hold in my hand, that helps me lead Team A from here to there, right. So what I like to think of is, it's like you're the conductor of a market. So if you imagine a small market town, and people are bringing in things that they've made out of wood, they're bringing in things they've grown in the in the fields, they are bringing in handy works, and baskets and linens and all sorts of things. And then everybody else is coming in because they need them things, right. So what happens is, you go into that market, and nobody really knows what everybody wants to buy. So you come in with what you have to sell. You give it a price, right? And then what happens is you find out, oh, people really like this, so I can put the price up. But people are asking for something else, and I don't have it. Okay, so the next week, people come back to the market and they've got all kinds of different things and the prices have changed. And if you track every single item, it appears to be totally irrational. But the fact that everybody comes back to the market is in fact a quite rational situation. And over time, that market is rational. So as a leader, be confident that if I create an irrational statement, to cause change, and to cause people to have this sense of discomfort, and then I help them understand what they need to do to address the change, then it will still be an irrational statement, but people will start to rationalise activities out of it. And so over a period of time you start to move forward, because your market has become rational. I think that's one of the easiest ways to understand what we're talking about.

Ghadah Angawi:

People have the ability to adapt and concert, become concerted, to come together to make things happen, they don't move towards these solutions unless they're pushed. Sometimes by putting them on the spot. Some people were very proactive. They even found the solutions before the leader asked them to and others, they need to arrive at that itch where it's so uncomfortable, that we need to change. What you're describing is ability of people to come together, they will start talking, they will start figuring it out. Creativity will come in it is not impossible. But there is always fear. And this is what we need to really address the word challenge itself provokes fear and it's scary. Some leaders have expressed that after they took that decision, and they were attacked by different groups of people. They said to me, there is nothing in the world that prepares you for that moment of confrontation, where you have to deal with these angry people and the emotions they provoke in you, you have to trust that when you emphasise again, and again, over and over again, this is when when things start to happen.

Martin Hedley:

Yes, that's right. I think that this balance between action and wisdom, here, you're you're explaining very well. And I can think back to a leader that was trying to do something very radical on a programme I was involved with. Either that what happened was the that, oddly enough, the team came together, because they had an emotional reaction to the negative emotional reactions of external stakeholders. So what happened was the group sort of coalesced around, Oh, you know what he was right? Or she was right. I really want to follow that path. And look at everybody else saying it's terrible. Well, if they're all saying it's terrible, maybe it's actually pretty good. Right? And you can use this but of course, it depends on the situation. The reason that a really intelligent neocharismatic leader recognises that kind of a situation is when they simply try these kind of irrational statements, and literally see what happens. Test the reaction. Yeah, after all, it's just a statement, you can always retract it. You know, I mean, unless you're somebody very, very senior in government or something like that, you can never retract anything, but but generally speaking, in our everyday endeavours, we can make a radical claim. And if people really all think it's ridiculous, then you can come back and say, oh, okay, maybe it was ridiculous. I was just trying to achieve this, and let them come back. So what I think the leader does there is they literally test for it, they are testing both the internal and external stakeholders to see what the reaction would be, if people on the outside don't like it, is it because it's going to totally disrupt their world? Well, if you're in a community type setting, or a charity setting, that's probably not something that you want to do. On the other hand, if you're in an organisation, and you're competing with those people, that's probably exactly what you want to do. So again, it's going to be context sensitive, of course, but it is harnessing the emotions of those folks that are following you, that enables you to achieve. So by being radical by perhaps scaring people a little bit, you then get the juices flowing and I think that's really important.

Ghadah Angawi:

You're not coming up with this raw irrational statement out of total irrationality, you have been studying this. Sometimes it's a strategic decision, and it saves the organisation or saves the life of a community, and people just don't see it. And sometimes you don't even have the time to go through sensing people's needs, then you have to do assessing the environment and jump into challenging the status quo, and then get into sensing people's needs. So these roles, the three roles in the first stage of the search for opportunity sometimes are interchangeable. It depends on the context. It's important also to bear in mind that it is life changing to everyone. So there is a lot of emotional involved. You have to be able to be managing these emotions.

Martin Hedley:

What I'm what I'm thinking of in this situation is what typically happens in an organisation where people are quite well paid and they have pretty stable jobs. Not that many of us live in that kind of environment, but some do. And this is where it can become very dangerous because you know, you're feeling His Oh, well, you know, I'm employed, I just have to fulfil the objectives of the organisation, I'm still going to get a paycheck, everything seems to be fine now, why am I changing? And of course, in that situation, it's probably imperative for the leader to come up with something irrational, because what will happen is if they truly believe that they're not paying attention to the competition, and the march of technology, and all of the other brilliant stuff that's going on around the world, now, they will, in maybe five to ten years, possibly not have positions because nobody needs their job, because the company's out of business, that's the sort of thing where, you know, it's like, as long as I'm doing my job, nobody can blame me. Well, in a way, no, I wouldn't blame you. But I probably would blame the leader for not showing you the reality of where that thinking is going to take it. So, you know, fear sometimes needs to be used.

Ghadah Angawi:

So here's the major difference between ordinary leader and a neocharismatic leader is their consciousness, does it allow them to sit and overlook the justice and equalities and, whatever is going wrong in the situation, or they cannot do that, there is always a blurry line in these issues. And you can always say, No, you know, just let it go, leave it, I don't need to change anything right now, maybe the next leader will do it. Maybe I'll just, you know, a few years to retirement, why disrupt my, my career at this moment and risk my life and my personal life as well, because it could sometimes entail personal risks, like, really, you have to step down, after you enforce some kind of a change. Or maybe they or you are told to leave, but you have done the work that needs to be done. So here's the thing, altruistic leaders who are very ethical and operate by moral values, they have a clear definition of what needs to be done, they are ready to sacrifice and they're ready to go the extra mile to make this workplace a better place. They make a showcase out of it, they come to their higher leadership and talk to them about it. And they propose and they put a plan in place. Well, if it doesn't work, that's fine. They've done their part. But if it works, there is no there is no harm then. And I've seen a lot of neocharismatic leaders persevere and fight hard with all what they have to make transformation a success, so it is possible.

Martin Hedley:

It is, and I'm afraid we're running out of time on this really interesting subject, because what we're really doing is talking strategic leadership today, but do tune in next week for where we're going to talk about how our role, what our role means for individuals in their own lives when it comes to challenging the status quo. So that'll be in the next episode. And remember, Dr. Angawi, and myself work with individuals, teams and organisations to support them in making neocharismatic leadership a reality. Dr. Angawi's book is also found on the website too. So until the next episode, we'd love for you to reflect on the topic of challenging the status quo based on what you've heard us say so far, and think a little bit about your own status quo, send us comments, we'll be happy to weave them into the new episodes. So Ghadah, thank you very much, and to our listeners. Thank you and goodbye.

Introducer:

Ghadah and Martin, hope you enjoyed this episode. There is more information available at Neocharismaticleadership.org and if you would like to discuss coaching or training for yourself or your team, you can contact Ghadah and Martin through the website. We look forward to your participation next week. Until then, goodbye

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Ghadah Angawi

Host
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Martin Hedley

Co-host