Fearless Agility

​“It takes me forever to get my work done around here,” complained the new manager of a local construction business. After seeing my quizzical look, she continued, “I have to type and retype all of the customers’ information into multiple documents every time we fill an order.” Trying to be helpful I shared, “you know we have software for that….” Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this business still uses an old operating system that was put out into the market almost 20 years ago, running on near-extinct computers.

In a well-meaning effort to avoid financial cost, this company’s manager had unwittingly cost his company between $10-20,000 a year per employee in wasted productivity, simply because he was unwilling to change with the times.
 
Dinosaurs went extinct for a reason. Don’t be one.
 
One of the essential leadership skills for every successful leader is the ability to be fearlessly agile. To be agile means to be able to think, understand, and move quickly. When a prospective client has a different vision for your partnership, when your HR team approaches you with an unforeseen problem, or even when you get a call from the high school principal that says, “we need to talk”, being able to think clearly, assess a situation, and find solutions on your feet will likely make the difference in your level of success.
 
One of the ways to stay flexible in our ability to lead is by being clear on the principles that drive your decisions. Are you committed to not spending money on a new operating system, or are you committed to productivity? Are you clinging to the way you bill a client, or to adding value in all of your interactions? When we are focused on guiding principles, then we can be comfortable altering our practices while still remaining authentic to our purpose.
 
One of my business clients was used to selling her services in a “piecemeal” fashion. When her top client began wanting more and more of her services, they found that cost was becoming an issue. Because the motivating principle for my client was to offer great value to her clients, while still honoring her own, she was able to offer this company a consulting contract that would work to both keep their costs down, and give her the stability she needed to give them her best work, while taking care of the needs of her own company. It was a win-win for everyone because she had developed fearless agility through our work together.
 
Dinosaurs certainly had their place in this world, but you won’t see them leading in any modern-day pursuits. By developing great clarity on your leadership principles, you will have a strong axis around which you can tailor your practices to the needs at hand, and seeing within yourself the true leadership quality of fearless agility.
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