How many of you recall a carnival ride called the Gravitron? You entered a circular metal ride big enough for 12-15 people. As it spun faster, centrifugal force pinned you against the wall as the floor dropped out. It was thrilling, and the combination of diesel generator exhaust, cigarette smoke, caramel corn, and bratwurst almost always made me want to vomit.
I think the nature of leadership these days feels like getting trapped in the corporate version of the Gravitron, and gains in technology have, and likely will, continue to speed things up. I’ve had clients wave their hands as they describe vague initiatives from the Board to boost productivity through AI or risk being a dinosaur.
If you’re feeling exhausted by being responsive, solving problems on a daily basis can feel like playing Whack-a-Mole. A quick thrill of being useful and needed can hide a deeper question of wondering how to escape the company Gravitron. If you’ve ever seen the Lucille Ball episode where she and Ethel work on an assembly line at a chocolate factory, perhaps you understand why people are fearful and resistant to AI taking over. No one wants agentic coworkers that simply speed up drudgery and leave us feeling frenetic.
I suggest zooming out and remembering that successful leadership these days requires the organization to be fantastic at balancing two competing tensions, a polarity: executing superbly well AND skillfully adapting. It’s the proverbial flying the plane while you rebuild it for greater capability. One is heads down, embracing standards and optimizing as you go. The other is blue sky thinking, structured experiments focused on rapid learning as a group.
This can be as simple as asking your team for their broad ideas about what’s working well day to day, and where they see opportunities to improve, including new product or service opportunities, tools, systems, process changes. Ideally your team is aligned around the core values and principles of your organization, but if not, start small and work your way up to them.
One of my favourite metaphors for the interplay of leadership and organizational development is a hot air balloon. If your organization is to soar to new heights and positively impact the world, it needs to rise, and that means so does your leadership. You need to grow and scale as a leader, and that means you need to delegate, develop, align, and support your people. When you do that, it’s like removing the ballast that keeps the balloon on the ground.
If this sounds like the shift you’re ready to make, reach out and let’s have a complimentary conversation about recruiting, coaching, and our leadership development services. We configure to your business so things feel strategic, relevant, and pragmatic, and help you and your team rise together, instead of just trying to escape.
Photo credit: Cheri Koenig Satre
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Adaptive Talent is a talent consultancy designed to help organizations achieve amazing results and ongoing adaptability. Founded in 2008 and based in Vancouver, Canada we offer retained and contingent search, assessments, training, and leadership coaching and development programs.