Leadership Insights
from the Untangle Doctor®
Blog Post Archive
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VUCA Revisited – Volatility Rouses Fear
I recently began teaching in the MBA program at Golden Gate University. Being a full-time executive leadership consultant and part-time professor forces me to stay current with leadership research and weave that research into a pragmatic solution for clients and business school students.
Executive Leaders: Are you Playing to Win or Not to Lose?
In a recent episode of AMC's Mad Men (Season 4, Blowing Smoke), a fledgling ad agency is faced with the fallout of losing one of its key accounts, a major cigarette company. Even though the show is fictional and takes place 50 years ago, the situation and reaction of the firm's senior partners felt eerily current.
Executive Leadership Strategies When Volatility is the New Normal
Consider this. Economic pundits have declared that volatility is the New Normal. Markets are fluctuating wildly day to day. Executive officers, guiding their companies, are afloat in a sea of uncertainty. Investors generally take fewer risks during volatile times. It takes guts to invest when the downside may be greater than the upside. It also takes courage to make major business decisions.
Leaders… Untangle Your Own Fears and Minimize Your Corporate Tangles
As the leader of my own firm, the hardest thing that I have had to do during these challenging times is manage myself… and my own fear. The newspaper headlines do not help. This morning, one of the top headlines in the Wall Street Journal screamed "New Fears as Credit Markets Tighten Up." This was like a red light, siren alert: Marcia, arm yourself, and hold on, it is getting worse. As an expert in human and organizational dynamics, I intellectually know that I am "catastrophizing." That is, I am taking one data point and in my mind, extending it out to its worst possible consequence. I know that this is not healthy emotionally, psychologically, or strategically. It is difficult to shore up my confidence and come up with creative business solutions when my mind and body are frozen with fear.