Capacity Building in the New New-Normal
Tomorrow’s leaders must become “citizens of the world” – in vision, horizon, information. Peter F. Drucker, Post-Capitalist Society
Success, whether organizational or personal, is built on three core pillars: Strategy, Process, People.
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Strategy sets the "what" and "why" and involves the vision and direction for an organization to achieve its goals. Key elements include defining objectives, understanding markets, identifying opportunities, shared destinations.
- Simplistically, Strategy focuses on the question: “Where do you want to go?”
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Process defines the "how" and involves structured methods, workflows, and procedures. Key elements include standardization, efficiencies, managing data, and creating systems.
- Simplistically, Process focuses on the question: “How are you getting there?”
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People are the "who" that bring it to life and involves employees, culture, and leadership. Key elements include recruiting, developing, engaging, retaining talent; fostering a supportive culture; leadership development.
- Simplistically, People focuses on the question: “Who is driving the bus?”
Building Capacity — Mindset, Skillset, Toolset
Growing the capacity to succeed involves:
- Mindset [how we think]: attitudes, beliefs, and perspectives, which shape our ability to adapt and grow, including mental frameworks, motivations, and resilience influencing our perceptions of challenges and opportunities.
- Skillset [how we act]: abilities, competencies, and expertise, including both technical skills [acquired through training and experience] and soft or leadership skills [communication abilities, critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork].
- Toolset [how we do it]: tools, technologies, methodologies, and resources we leverage to accomplish tasks, solve problems, and achieve goals [software platforms, Big Data, data analytics, AI, robotics, etc.].
The Emergence of the New Collar Workforce
Traditional approaches to HR divide the workforce into: White collar workers, aka office workers requiring post-secondary education and Blue collar workers, aka manual laborers sometimes requiring trades credentials. However, in the “new new-normal”, these distinctions are blurred and a “new collar” category has emerged reflecting demand for practical skills, not just degrees, to meet the needs of shifting global economies driven by complex business eco-systems, data and technologies. New Collar workers blend the skills, knowledge and aptitudes of both white- and blue-collar workers.
In essence, New Collar workers are
- “process” oriented, with a base Skillset,
- having a foot in a White-Collar Mindset, manifesting strategic intent
- and a foot in a Blue-Collar Toolset, able to handle data and technologies
SCL workers need to prepare for life in a global world by developing New Collar competencies to lead in the complex data-driven world of work.
The 21st Century Leader Profile
In the 21st Century, we must think strategically in the global context; we must lead with strategic intent:
- making purposeful assessments of on-going events, not just relying on KPIs
- interpreting circumstances as they unfold, not just relying on SOPs
- using instinct, curiosity, imagination, not just relying on compliance
We must be trustworthy: Our decisions must be real, psychological, social, physical, and metaphysical, balancing options with actions, and handling volatility with vision.
We must have integrity: Our decisions must account for geography, gender, attitudes, beliefs, values, politics, cultures, the past, preferred future, and personal ethics, embracing a multi-faceted approach, balancing complexity and clarity.
We must be transparent: Our decisions must recognize contextual and complex variables in ourselves and in other stakeholders in order to handle uncertainty and ambiguity, by being understanding and agile, pivoting and adapting in context as needed.
Seeing the World in Four Dimensions
We must see the world in 4 dimensions:
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Trends, not just events, asking such questions as
- What is happening? What is not happening?
- What needs to happen? What needs to stop happening?
- What are the constraints? Where are they located?
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Patterns of behavior in complex systems, asking such questions as
- How do parts behave together? Negatively? Positively?
- How do parts articulate with one another? Collaboratively or independently?
- How do parts interact? Are they supportive? Sustaining? Constrained?
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Systemic structures, asking such questions as
- How does the behavior of one part impact each other part?
- How does the behavior of one part influence the behavior of other parts?
- Why do we keep doing the same thing but expect different results?
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Mental models to make sense of complex reality, asking such questions as
- What do we need to do differently? What do we need to change?
- How do we initiate change? Who are the change leaders? Change agents?
- How do we motivate and overcome the fear of change?
Core Skills, Knowledge, and Aptitudes (SKAs)
We must hone our skills, knowledge and aptitude [SKAs]:
- Be customer-centered to meet and manage market demand
- Be user-centric to create as well as deliver value [not just products/services]
- Work in evolving organisms and complex eco-systems
- Make micro decisions: responsive not just reactive
- Handle complexity on a global and international basis
- Be data-driven and data-analytic savvy
- Network with stakeholders, not just shareholders
- Embrace distributed leadership found throughout the global network
- Be self-managed, both adaptable and scalable [rising to the occasion]
- Be innovative and implement agile design strategies
- Embrace complex networks build on constant feedback loops
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Engage employees as assets leading in context, not resources getting jobs done
The Leadership Challenge in Global Supply Chains
In the 21st Century, Global Value Webs, aka global value chains, aka global supply chain logistics, need to be resilient, not just efficient. Our strength is in embracing complexity as natural, recognizing there are no simple solutions, leading contextually, being prepared for the unavoidable “what if”, managing risk, and recovering when the shizzy hits the fizzy.
As an individual, you have multiple responsibilities:
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To be a thought leader
- What is global supply chain logistics?
- How do you advance that expertise?
- What is your commitment to being professional?
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To be a solutions architect
- What skills do you bring to the world of work? How competent are you?
- How do you develop global relations along complex supply chains involving many players in multiple jurisdictions?
- Do you have the right credentials to support your success?
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To be a valued employee
- What do you need to evolve and adapt?
- How do you develop your colleagues?
- What keeps you awake at night?
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To be an individual
- Are you credible? Trustworthy? Self-confident?
- What values drive you?
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What do you dream about?
You need to lead, whatever your work responsibilities are in the organization:
- As directors, you lead by setting workable goals and inspiring others to lead.
- As managers, you lead by nurturing network relations and developing employees.
- As supervisors, you lead by deploying resources and building on employee strengths.
- As frontline workers, you lead by supporting safe work and working collaboratively.
The New Collar Reality
As an SCL worker, you are not just a box kicker in the back room of operations. As an SCL worker, you are a knowledge worker developing complex systems that differentiate the company in global markets and sustaining competitive corporate advantage by creating and delivering value to customers. As an SCL worker, you are a leader in a globalized and information driven world. As an SCL worker, you are a New Collar worker.
- Victor Deyglio, Founding President, The Logistics Institute
This blog is the final installment in the series The New New-Normal. We recommend reading the blogs in sequence:
For other blogs, click here.
For certification and professional development programs, click here.