"We need some training so that we are prepared for digitalisation."
"What exactly do you need?"
"We can’t agree on a common goal because it's a bit different for each one of us."
"What do you want to prepare for?"
"Well, for everything that digitalisation will do."
"Is there a strategy for this in your company? Or goals? Or a vision?"
"We’ve not got that far yet. There are already a lot of ideas but no decisions yet."
"What exactly should be different after the training?"
"We want to know how we will have to lead in the future."
"Oh, something like digital leadership or what do you mean?"
"Yes, something like that."
The discussion with our client went something like that. A small group of leaders sat opposite us. Everyone had the feeling they had to do something different. Everyone had already gone through a hip training on "Agile Methods," doing barcamps, trying out Design Thinking and presenting their ideas in a pitch. But a common goal about what they wanted from a leadership training wasn’t to be seen.
"What do you think? Could it be part of the journey to approach the challenges you are experiencing together? Maybe then we can come up with a goal for your program? "
"Hm"
"Our idea would be to understand the program as a journey into the unknown, a journey from stopover to stopover where we look at what’s right and important next -, a journey where we're not talking about new methods in theory but looking specifically for methods that you can use tomorrow in everyday life. "
"Sounds good, can we give it a try?"
And that’s exactly how we, two Movendo trainers, set out on the journey with six leaders. Six people who wanted to deal with their leadership situation without any official assignment from the company, without the wish of their supervisor, simply motivated by their own suffering. In our first workshop, the participants worked out in concrete terms what challenges they currently see, in one year and in five years. What will change? What is still unclear and uncertain? We explore complicated and complex tasks and it quickly becomes clear to each individual where the real problems lie: that it is an unfamiliar feeling that it is unsettling when suddenly you can no longer break a problem down into different milestones and concrete work steps – that it is unfamiliar as a leader not to be the expert on a problem, not to see a solution, but only to be able to close in on it. We discuss and realise: That's the way it is with complex tasks and that's fine.
"I don’t think we need Leadership 4.0, I'm throwing away all the leaflets, we just have to close in on our challenges together and come up with ideas on how to work with our teams."
Yes, we at Movendo think, that's exactly the way it is. It's a journey into the unknown, an odyssey. We look forward to the next steps!