How the leaders of yesterday can best support the next era.
LEADERS NEED TO LET GO OF THEIR EXPERTISE
Solutions are not formed by telling your team what to do and how to do it. Transform your credentials into support for the next era.
Leaders who have performed well and taken their teams, communities, and organizations from where they were, to where they are, have a wealth of knowledge and lived experience. If it was not for these trailblazers we would not be where we are today. At some point, they need to let go of their expertise, their experiences, file away their certificates, and start a new path of development. The problems and challenges they faced over the decades are not the same problems that the next era of leaders will face tomorrow.
When someone is in the role of expert, there is a pressure placed on them to have all of the answers, present solutions, and guide the group. This expectation reduces their ability to practice effective listening; however, if they are trained as a non-directive coach, the pressure of being the expert is reduced and there is an increased ability for them to listen. It also means they are not jumping to solutions or judgement. This way of working is more productive as we all know that when a team develops their own solution, there is a higher chance of success than when someone else develops it and recommends they implement it.
They have more to offer the next era of disaster and emergency managers than their expertise and credentials. They have an opportunity to listen, empathize, and support the next era of leaders using a coach approach. It’s an opportunity that is more productive than traditional emergency management training, mentorship, and consulting.
The opportunity for leaders, that are transitioning out of their current role of expert, is to listen to the next era of leaders to understand the issues they face and the problems they have. Leaders of yesterday need to recognize the skills and abilities of the next era and support them in their path to sustaining a higher standard of leadership.
Standing up at the front of a training room as an instructor, telling the next era what to do and how to do it through pre-determined curriculum provides some knowledge transfer but training alone is not going to solve the challenges of the next 20 plus years. Moreover, management consulting models outsource key strategic talent and they place the consultant in the seat of the expert. Not only does this model dis-empower teams, it creates dependency.
The leaders of yesterday who adopt professional coaching methods and adhere to international coaching standards will be better positioned to co-create relationships with new leaders so they can cultivate the next generation’s learning and growth. There is room for mentorship, but the current model of ‘command and control’ mentorship is no longer effective. Mentors that use a coach approach are better positioned to help with their teams design goals, actions and accountability measures that integrate and expand new learning and support staff in identifying potential results or learning from identified action steps.
Are you a leader who wants to use a coach approach to transforming their leadership ability, experience, and skills to help the next era of disaster and emergency managers? If so, we’d love to hear from you.
Hazardscape works with leaders from a range of generations and uses a coach approach to develop knowledge transfer systems, develop coaching programs, leadership programs, and technology solutions that will enable to next era of leaders and their teams to more effectively manage their own hazardscape.