Page 18 - IFV_Issue 3_March_2022
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Business





            LIBERATION                         And when we do things for the   really disruptive times. One of the
              So far, we have gone through four shifts,   first time, we are  often very critical   questions I like to ask my leaders when
            really critical mindset shifts that we need   of ourselves.  We go,  “I was not good   I hear this really disruptive self-talk is:
            to enable before we have a hope of having   enough, I should have done that better.   “Would you talk to a friend or a loved one
            an agile organisation.            What will people think of me?  They   the way you speak to yourself?”
              From expert to beginner, from   won’t like me anymore as a leader.” And   On your diagram - the last line for you
            perfection to done, from command and   we often use really, really critical terms   deals with self-judgment (on the left), and
            control  to  trust  and  transparency,  from   to describe ourselves. And when we sit   self-compassion (on the right). I would
            failure-aversion to failure-seeking. And   in self-judgment we sit in shame, and   put money on it that this is the one where
            I have to say, and this is from personal   shame can be an emotion that really   most people will be furthest to the left
            experience in running these types of   cripples agility in organisations.   towards self-judgment.  This will be the
            shifts, they are incredibly liberating.  When we sit in a space of shame, what   biggest shift that you have to make. And
              • I no longer have to be right.  goes on for us is a  ‘flight-fight-freeze’   you’re not alone. Even I perhaps need to
              • I no longer have to be perfect.  reaction in our brain. Shame creates   do a little bit of work on self-compassion.
              •  I don’t have to know all the answers.  paralysis because we don’t know what   So here are our five shifts, expert to
              •  I don’t need clarity before I talk with my   we’re going to do, or we’re embarrassed   beginner, perfection to done, command
               teams.                         by the way we’re doing it. Alternatively, it’s   and control to trust and transparency,
              •  I can let go of what no longer serves   not good enough so we won’t do anything,   failure aversion to failure-seeking, self-
               me.                            which doesn’t help us with agility.  judgment to self-compassion.
              It  is  incredibly  liberating  and  it  is   We  can sometimes  react  in anger   The way you lead, engage and support
            incredibly energising.            and  lash  out  at people.  Or  sometimes,   your teams is more important than ever
              However, I say this after about seven   we avoid issues completely when we   before.
            or eight years of working in agile   sit in shame. The antidote to this is self-  My final words, be kind to yourself!
            environments, I wouldn’t have said   compassion. Back in the days when we
            that eight years ago. This is why I used   used to jump on planes and we used to   You can find the full version of this
            the  word  shift very deliberately.  This is   fly all over the place, they used to tell   article at www.drjenfrahm.com
            not a massive change for people, any   us that if the plane got into trouble we   Dr. Jen Frahm is co-founder of the Agile
            shift to the right is going to leave you   were to give oxygen to ourselves first,   Change  Leadership  Institute.  She  is  a
            in a better position to lead an agile   before we gave it to the children beside   speaker, a blogger and a global expert on
            organisation, because ultimately it takes   us. It’s the same concept.  We have to   organisational change and transformation.
            courage and vulnerability. It can be really   give compassion to ourselves before we   She’s also an author of books such as
            uncomfortable to make these shifts, to not   can hope to care for the people in our   Conversations of Change and Change.
            be the expert all the time, to relinquish   organisations, as  we’re going  through   Leader.
            control, to produce something that’s not
            quite perfect, to fail and learn and talk
            about it all openly. It’s really tough, this is
            difficult stuff.

            SHIFT 5: FROM SELF-JUDGMENT TO
            SELF-COMPASSION
              And this is why I think the fifth mindset
            shift that leaders need to make is the most
            important. It’s the shift from self-judgment
            to self-compassion. For many leaders
            today, they will be doing things for the
            very first time. It’s the first time I’ve had to
            run a company from my kitchen counter.
            It’s the first time I’ve had to deal with
            family in the background while running a
            leadership team meeting. It’s the first time
            that we’ve had to shift our supply chains
            to a completely different way of working.


             16  •  Issue 3  2022  •  The Villager
                                                                                              PHOTOGRAPH BY TOA HEFTIBA, UNSPLASH
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