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VUCA world demands new approach to leadership

Good leaders turn uncertainty into manageable risk.

Johannesburg, 02 Jul 2020
Professor Herman Singh, CEO of Future Advisory
Professor Herman Singh, CEO of Future Advisory

The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated clear differences between risk and uncertainty; and underlines the need for leadership that can make sense of uncertainty and turn it into manageable risk.

This is according to Professor Herman Singh, CEO of Future Advisory and adjunct professor at the UCT Graduate School of Business, who is the key thought leader in a series of business webinars presented by Nutanix.

Prof Singh says the pandemic has brought about stochastic change in the world: “The rate of change has increased, and this change is random, with a high level of uncertainty. Most business leaders, particularly in the ICT industry, are used to dealing with risk which can be calculated and predicted to some degree, and can therefore be planned for. But uncertainty differs from risk. We very rarely deal with uncertainty and we are mentally unprepared for it.”

“We are entering a world where stochastic change will happen more often, increasingly, teams will be remote, and the way business operates is changing.” In this fast-changing environment, management systems and leadership styles will need to adapt, he says.

“Traditionally, VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Successful leadership requires a positive take on VUCA – standing for vision, understanding, clarity and agility,” says Prof Singh.

“In uncertain times, leaders need to have a clear vision and stay focused on the end game. They have to be agile and able to move quickly, and they need to be able to understand uncertainty and convert it to risk. They need to fully understand all the facts, the range of options and the risks each one presents.”

He explains that uncertainty can be better understood by constantly gathering information, debating and testing hypotheses in collaboration with the best minds available, which points to the end of the authoritarian style of leadership.

“In the world of the future, the leader is not the expert. It is time to change management systems and adapt management styles. Now, the soft stuff is the hard stuff.”

In the last of a series of Nutanix webinars to help businesses adapt to the changing environment, Professor Herman Singh will outline the challenges of inspiring and leading teams effectively during uncertain times, with insight into the attributes of the best leaders in a crisis, and advice and learnings from leaders in uncertain situations.

For more information and to register for this webinar, entitled Leading with confidence, please click here.

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