Insights

With the rise of AI tools enhancing speed and efficiency in the workplace, leaders are facing challenges in ensuring every team member is engaged, finds fulfillment in their roles, and actively contributes to the company's mission.

Particularly in the context of reskilling and upskilling within organizations, a multifaceted approach is essential. This approach encompasses a broad spectrum of skills and strategies aimed at fostering personal and organizational growth, agility, and the capacity to navigate and lead through change.

Looking at what keeps our customers around the world ahead of their game, we notice a list of critical leadership skills that keep leaders at the helm whille navigating the AI revolution. 

In the context of reskilling and upskilling, the role of leadership transcends traditional management, shifting towards a coaching-oriented approach that prepares teams for the fluid demands of the modern workplace. This evolution calls for leaders to not only guide but also empower their teams, fostering an environment where resilience, adaptability, and innovation are at the forefront.

As organizations navigate through the complexities of developing new skills, leaders are tasked with managing diverse team dynamics, recognizing and nurturing positive behaviors while mitigating any negative or toxic tendencies. This balancing act is crucial in maintaining team cohesion and productivity during periods of learning and growth.

Moreover, effective leadership in times of uncertainty means embodying the change they wish to see, demonstrating behaviors and attitudes that align with the new skills and mindsets being adopted. By leading from the front when necessary and stepping back to encourage and support, leaders can instill confidence and foster an inclusive culture where every team member feels valued and motivated to contribute to the organization's evolution.

• Manage team dynamics: Teams undergoing reskilling and upskilling encounter significant challenges. Leaders play a crucial role in navigating various behaviors within their teams, some of which contribute positively to goals while others may exhibit toxic tendencies if not addressed effectively.
• Leadership Effectiveness: Leading through uncertainty requires us to lead by example and positively reinforce when new behavior is starting to show. Effective leaders recognize when they are requiered to lead in front on step to the back and lead through encouragement. 
• Coaching Skills: Coaching as a skill for leaders have never been as relevant as today, by applying even the most essential coaching skills, leaders create resilient, adaptable teams that are well-prepared to meet the challenges of an ever-changing work environment, driving innovation through ownership.

2. Personal Development and Effectiveness

Leaders are constantly on a journey of personal growth to enhance their leadership effectiveness. Time management, personal effectiveness, and critical thinking are foundational to this. Time management involves breaking with ineffective habits and prioritizing actions that align with one’s values and ambitions, ultimately leading to high performance. Personal effectiveness is about leveraging one’s talents towards achieving personal ambitions and enhancing communication styles for improved performance. Critical thinking clarifies decision-making processes, focusing on solving the challenge at hand by putting relevant factors into perspective.

• Personal Effectiveness: Set personal goals aligned with organizational objectives. A leader might set a quarterly goal to enhance their team's productivity by 20% through improved workflow processes.
• Critical Thinking: Evaluate information from multiple sources before making decisions. When faced with a complex problem, a leader analyzes data, seeks expert opinions, and considers past experiences to make informed choices.
• Time Management: Prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance. For example, a leader starts their day by identifying top priorities and allocates specific time blocks for these tasks to ensure they are completed without delay

3. Enhance Communication and Collaboration

Effective leaders show strong signs of self-awareness, empowering their teams to actively contribute to discussions and navigate diverse situations with assurance. In today's context, mastering collaboration skills is paramount as teamwork takes center stage.

Understanding the intricacies of team dynamics and cultivating trust within teams are vital components of effective leadership. Effective leaders show that they constantly drive a shared vision, recognize and leverage the unique strengths and contributions of individual team members to actively encourage innovation and collaboration.

• Effective Communication: Practice active listening during meetings. This involves summarizing what others have said to ensure understanding, thereby fostering a culture of respect and openness.
• Collaboration Skills: Encourage team brainstorming sessions to solve problems. A leader might organize regular cross-departmental meetings to facilitate creative solutions by leveraging diverse perspectives.
• Building Trust: Share successes and failures transparently with the team. By openly discussing challenges and lessons learned from failures, a leader builds trust and encourages a culture of honesty and continuous improvement

4. Encourage Innovation

The business end on Diversity and inclusion means fostering an inclusive environment by addressing topics like psychological safety and unconscious bias drives engagement and creativity.  Creativity and innovation stand as cornerstones of success. Leaders must not only recognize the importance of fostering a culture that values and prioritizes innovation but also champion adaptability as a key trait within their organizations. Encouraging creativity means providing a space where out-of-the-box thinking is not only welcomed but celebrated. Leaders can inspire their teams to think innovatively by setting aside time for brainstorming sessions, encouraging experimentation, and rewarding bold ideas. 

Being adaptable means being open to trying new approaches, pivoting strategies when necessary, and learning from both successes and failures. By instilling a culture of adaptability within their teams, leaders position their organizations for long-term success.

• Promoting Diversity: Implement mentorship programs pairing senior leaders with employees from diverse backgrounds. This behavior demonstrates a commitment to developing diverse talent and promoting inclusivity.
• Fostering Innovation: Organize 'innovation days' where employees can work on projects outside of their regular responsibilities. This initiative encourages creativity and could lead to new product ideas or process improvements.
• Psychological Safety: Create a safe space for sharing ideas and concerns. Leaders might hold regular open forums where team members can voice thoughts without fear of judgment or repercussion.

5. Recognize and respond to new information

Leaders that own the change their company goes through lead from vision and communicate the vision within their team. They involve people through change with empathy, understanding, and strategic foresight.

Balance applying change models to real-life scenarios but also need to consider the human aspect of change, ensuring their teams are supported, engaged, and motivated throughout the transition.

• Adaptability: Adjusting strategies in response to external changes requires a leader to be not just adaptable but also communicative and supportive.
• Anticipating Challenges: Proactively identifying potential obstacles to change and developing contingency plans should involve engaging with the team to leverage their insights and prepare them for possible scenarios.
• Creative Problem Solving: Encouraging out-of-the-box thinking to navigate challenges is essential, but doing so through a collaborative leadership style can enhance the process.

Where do you start?

Leadership in the context of reskilling and upskilling is multifaceted, requiring a blend of personal effective communication, inclusion, innovation, change management, all with the future in mind. By cultivating these essential skills, leaders can ensure that their organizations remain agile, innovative, and well-equipped to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the modern business landscape.

It's clear that the emphasis on the importance of a holistic approach to leadership development is essential, one that integrates personal growth with organizational objectives, ensuring that both leaders and their teams are prepared to face the future with confidence and competence.

Relevance Learning is a proud partner of the world's front-running organizations. Contact us to schedule a free conversation to find ways to start enhancing your leadership of tomorrow. 

The name of their talent development program says it all: U.Gro ensures personal growth. Manon van Beek, Global Program Manager for U.Gro at geodata specialist Fugro, talks about the origins of this program for young professionals and future managers. What does the talent program involve and how was it developed? What challenges are they facing and – importantly – what have been the results so far?

 Focus on young talent

“With thousands of employees around the world, Fugro is a complex organization,” Manon says. “A few years ago, our leaders felt the distance between them and the group of starters was becoming too great. They wanted a better understanding of them, their skills and their potential. To get to know the group of young employees better and be able to help them develop further, management decided to set up a young professionals program. This talent program would also facilitate collaboration across borders, increase transparency and help employees seize opportunities for growth.”

 Welcome Relevance

“The offering from Relevance appealed to me immediately. First, it met our requirements; the content was timely and inspiring. We also wanted certain things like local trainers in parts of the world, and that could be arranged. Second, the supporting online platform was logical, attractive and flexible. There was a lot of room for our own ideas, and we designed the talent development program together. The collaboration went smoothly from the start; we clicked instantly. Everything was ideal.”

 Online launch

“Initially, we got started in Europe, completely online. We informed management, HR joined in, and we organized the first kick-off meetings. A new group started every month with a maximum of 14 participants and all nationalities mixed together. The kick-off with the Relevance trainer was the green light to start a learning journey that will last a couple of years. In the program, people learn from videos and articles on the platform, attend training sessions and workshops about motivation, communication and collaboration, participate in interactive deep dive learning blocks, and attend peer coaching sessions, among other things.”

“From e-learnings and workshops to deep dives and peer coaching. It has everything.”

 Deep dives

“For example, one of the deep dives was designed around our core competency of client awareness. Someone from Fugro talks about what they are up against on project X and outlines the case. The participants then consider how they would approach it. What are the customer’s requirements? Instead of just coming up with the best solution, they first investigate what the customer wants. Sometimes that’s something completely different. This kind of deep dive helps people become more conscious of the content, and they learn to present and reflect. All the practical cases are close to reality, so they sink in better than yet another e-learning.”

 Two groups and two phases

Fugro is using the talent development program for all college graduates with up to two years of experience. “Since 2020, a new group of starters has started every month. They take about 2.5 years to complete their U.Gro. In phase 1, ‘Engage 2 discover,’ they get to know Fugro and themselves better. In phase 2, ‘Drive 2 succeed,’ they learn basic leadership skills and take part in the deep dives into critical and strategic thinking. We then invest a little extra in a small group, about 5% of the participants. Those high potential talents are put on the International Leadership Track (ILT), a customized traineeship consisting of several assignments and an in-between phase called ‘Challenge 2 grow.’”

 Challenges

“We’ve definitely found areas for improvement in the past year,” Manon continues. “Someone who’s working on a ship or drilling a well in the middle of the desert can’t attend a two-day workshop. The poor coverage alone... So recently we started a pilot in which people can register themselves for the deep dive learning blocks. This makes learning more flexible. It also means we’ve abandoned the principle of learning with and from each other in fixed groups, but people can now set their own pace. After all, real life is also full of changes.”

“I have a close relationship with the designer of the program. Do we want to add or remove a topic? Make something shorter or longer? It happens. That flexibility is really ideal for us.”

Feedback

Most participants have been very enthusiastic about the talent development program. “Some were a little skeptical beforehand. Like, ‘Do I really have to learn to communicate differently?’ But once they get started, they’re pleasantly surprised about the power skills the training gives them. To me, that’s part of the reason I’m in this business. It really does energize you to see people grow! A person may be very smart, but if they can’t get something across or don’t get anyone on board, they won’t achieve much. Isn’t it great that young professionals feel confident enough to take charge in a relatively short time?”

Culture wave

So in practice, Manon sees that people are being energized by the talent program. “And by working together with their colleagues elsewhere in the world, they also learn more about what Fugro does than they would if they had to get the information from the website. This program expands everyone’s bubble, which creates opportunities and enlarges worlds. It’s still a bit early to draw conclusions, but I’m convinced that talent development will reduce absenteeism and turnover and create happier employees! What’s more, U.Gro is spreading like wildfire and triggering a genuine culture change. Since starters get a mentor, we have to teach colleagues to be mentors. And because we let young professionals discuss things with their managers, managers are also held accountable for their behavior. We’re creating a more open culture with more room for feedback, exactly what we’d hoped for from the beginning.”

We can’t control the challenges in life. However, we can control the way we respond to them. When tackling these challenges from a positive mindset, you will experience more effectiveness and happiness, says the ‘positive intelligence’ (PI) method. PI creator Shirzad Chamine says PI is all about thinking and acting from your strengths, instead of your weaknesses. Relevance’s own Anke Baak is a PI enthusiast and a certified PI coach. She shares her thoughts on what we can gain with the positive intelligence method.

“We achieve more by focusing on the positive, especially as a leader.”

Many people get in their own way, according to Chamine, founder of PI. He analyzed this behavior. Based on his research, he developed various ‘saboteurs’. Baak explains: “Those saboteurs resemble the critical voice inside your head. It tells you that you can’t do something or focuses on what goes wrong. In short, these are negative thoughts only, which can express themselves in different ways: avoidance, controlling, restlessness and victimization.”

Hand on the stove

Your saboteurs are here for a reason. They are aimed at survival and theoretically very useful. Unfortunately, it appears that many people’s saboteurs are too prevalent. Chamine illustrates this with an example: your hand is on a hot stove. Upon doing this by accident, a shock reaction occurs. This is a good thing, of course. It makes sure you take your hand of the stove. The consequential pain will be minimized.  Saboteurs are also forms of shock reactions. They are useful when taking immediate action, but can be harmful when you are lingering in the negative thought. In that case, the initial shock reaction will be ignored. Your hand will remain on the hot stove, which comes with painful consequences.

On the other side of the saboteurs are your sages. These are feelings such as curiosity, empathy, gratefulness and calmness. They can be found in a different part of the brain. This is helpful, says Baak: “It is an art to force your brain to shift to the other side. This way you can exchange your negative perspective for empathy and creativity.” Your thinking becomes positive!

Small, physical exercises can help you practice this. “For example, you can rub your fingers together. By really feeling the sensations, you get out of your head,” Baak explains. “It is similar to shifting the gears of your car to neutral. Afterwards, you can start accelerating again.” It all comes down to self-awareness, Baak noticed: “You need to know yourself very well. Now, I know I should not follow my head when I’m tired. If I don’t feel well, my thoughts are unproductive, which relate to my exhaustion. That is not the best moment or mindset to solve complex problems.”

Training a muscle

Recognizing certain patterns and, more importantly, acting accordingly is like training a muscle. Your brain follows certain neuronal pathways. Baak compares them to the tracks used for glass playing marbles. “The more you take a certain pathway, the more ingrained it gets. Changing these pathways takes time. That is normal and completely fine: when you just start going to the gym, you can’t bench press 100 kilograms.” So, in order to create a positive mindset, behavioral change is crucial. This is no magic trick, but comes down to discipline and practice, Baak stresses: “Behavioral change consists of merely 20 percent of knowing how it works and 80 percent is practice, practice, and practice some more.”

The same goes for Baak herself. She noticed this especially when she started a leadership position, while being educated as an engineer. “I think in systems. Because of this, I notice where things go wrong. Then I immediately want to improve this, but when working with other people, this cannot always be done in such a manner. More importantly: this way, the focus lies on what is not going right. Therefore, I now try to focus on the positive as a manager.” This is working: Baak says they achieve more, because there is more positive energy. She mentions that while she already knew this was the correct way of working, it never really worked out before. This is because it was not her natural way of thinking. 

Improve your personal strength

Do you want to gain more control on your thinking and exchange negativity for positivity? With our Incompany training Positive intelligence you get a grip on your saboteurs and learn various techniques to apply your mental strength in an effective way.

Would you like to learn more about positive intelligence? Listen to the PI podcast by our book publishing house Thema!

Tuesday 8 March 2022: International Women's Day. This year's theme is solidarity. Because gender emancipation is not one-sided, and men benefit from equality, too. To discuss that idea, Nathalie van der Poel (Leadership development & organizational transformation consultant and executive coach), Camiel Gielkens (CEO Schouten & Nelissen Company) and Marieke Schouten (Chief DNA Officer) sit around the digital table.

They talk about female leadership, or rather what it isn't, and discuss where the problems of gender inequality are expressed. Besides identifying the resulting problems, we also need to celebrate the added value of diversity, all three agree. Because differences mean several perspectives in an organization. That generates great value, so long as it is correctly enforced and applied in the organizational culture. The question that remains is: how do we do that?

Categorizing is a skill you can (un)learn

A term we often come across nowadays is 'female leadership'. But is this an adequate description? Nathalie doesn't think so: 'There's no such thing as female leadership. Yes, women may take a different approach or demonstrate different behavior, but I feel that this term excludes people. We are talking here about diversity and inclusion, so we need to stop using this term.' Camiel wonders why we use that term then, and where it comes from. After all, we don't talk about typical male leadership. Why do we specify leadership by a woman by her gender?

Marieke explains this by the functioning of our brain: 'We are programmed to categorize. We link certain characteristics to gender, which is how stereotypes arise. Thatcher, for example, was seen as the Iron Lady.' Nathalie agrees and explains that we quickly conform to those stereotypical roles. 'Using these terms doesn't help anyone. We need to focus on what an organization and its employees need. Do we want a warm, innovating, harmonious or result-driven culture? We can use these terms without categorizing them as male or female.'

Inclusive leadership starts with the system

So we need to approach leaders differently. Marieke talks about a previous manager who she considered her role model. He led his team by empowering people and inspiring them. That was real inclusive leadership: everyone had a voice. Besides looking at the leaders, Marieke feels that the phase an organization is in also determines the type of leadership. Then it's important to explore the extent to which the leader and organization are a match. Camiel: 'Exactly. What type of organization do you want to be? When you know that, you can adapt and focus on that.' Based on that thought, it is easier to work towards inclusion.

Because according to Nathalie, inclusive leadership is about closing the gap between the cultural norm and a minority. 'If there's a minority in an organization somewhere, based on for instance ethnicity, religion or gender, and all the attention is then focused on that group, you can naturally strengthen that category, but only to a certain point. When this point is reached, but there is still a gap between that strengthened, well-functioning minority and the cultural norm of the organization, we need to look at the system. How do we become inclusive enough?'

The blueprint of the management

Camiel talks about a recent conversation he had with a top woman manager who was wondering about her next step. This wasn't about her own ability, but rather whether she wanted it: 'She was wondering whether she wanted to fit into the mold we talked about earlier. Do I want to work those long hours? Do I feel at home there? Can I do myself justice there?' Marieke agrees: 'There seems to be a blueprint of what the top looks like, what we feel we need to be.' Marieke studied the promotion opportunities for women, which revealed that they think differently than the average male manager. But instead of adapting, top women also started rethinking how they could work in that top role. 'I'm a mother, I can do that job, but I'm going to do it differently and do the work in four days instead of five. They set their own conditions to filling that top role, in consultation with their partner,' she says. Ultimately, it's about making choices with respect to wishes - do I want this, but also about setting conditions - that's how I'm going to do it. 'It's important here to remember: is it about the position or the organization? Sometimes, the company simply doesn't suit you,' Marieke adds.

What's interesting is the difference in the way in which men and women make a career. Camiel: 'I see men often being quite competitive in organizations. They start competing, something women don't seem to do so much. Perhaps this is due to different dynamics and another perspective. Do you recognize that?' Nathalie nods: 'Yes, recent studies show that in some organizations, rivalry and competition are important skills for moving up the ladder. That doesn't suit many women. They can move up in other ways, for example in a different organization.' However, this obviously doesn't apply to all women and men. These dynamics often occur, but not all women reject competition, and not all men want to compete. Because that's when men also encounter stigmas. Nathalie gives an example: 'If men work a day less, they are sometimes overlooked as a potential candidate for the executive board.' This is where the importance of mutual solidarity emerges.

That's exactly the reason why Nathalie emphasizes inclusive leadership. Because while we are (or hope to be) very aware of the problems, both men and women conform to a certain mold. That mold needs to become more flexible to be sufficiently inclusive for women and men. In other words: the organizational culture must change. How do we ensure that we change the mold, or the culture, instead of ourselves?

Awareness outside your bubble

Camiel mentions the importance of diversity. Marieke agrees: 'It's logical that all boards are the same. You surround yourself with likeminded people, your bias.' Many organizations are already trying to improve this. For example, some companies use anonymous, external assessments for filling executive roles. The management then soon has more women. Awareness is therefore the first step, and we can then build on that. '‘We need to engage in dialogue and give each other space,’ says Nathalie. 'Diversity can be very rewarding, particularly because men and women are biologically different. I believe that this can provide great value for organizations, so long as it is well integrated in the organizational culture.' Because she knows from experience that those unconscious prejudices can be stubborn: 'Differentiation and ordering remain. As an organization, you therefore need to create psychological safety by setting boundaries and standardizing behavior.'

We know the saying 'change starts with you'. Clearly, the organizational culture benefits from change. Organizations need to offer psychological safety and space to talk to each other. What can we do ourselves to respond to that? Marieke says that she has benefitted a great deal from the role models in her life. Precisely the people who aren't like you can teach you a lot and inspire you. It starts with looking for what you need, what you want to learn and what is important to you. On Women's Day, many female role models are celebrated. With the 2022 theme, likeminded men also have a say. Because we can only achieve gender emancipation together. So, engage in the dialogue and look beyond the bubble of your bias. Today is a good day to start your search. Because Marieke knows: ‘For every area in which you want to grow, you can find a role model.'

Would you like to work on Diversity & Inclusion in your organization?
We are happy to discuss this topic with you and create a strategy that fits your organization. Please don't hesitate to contact us for a first conversation.

Our world is changing rapidly. Sometimes you might feel like you're not keeping up: the knowledge you have today, feels less relevant tomorrow. Know that you can take charge of your personal development at any time! Developing your power skills can start with asking yourself these three questions:

1. What is your view on your personal development?

A problem or challenge can turn into a valuable learning opportunity, if you let it! Are there other ways to look at the situation? What knowledge or skill can help you? Do you want to learn and can you find somebody to help you along? Cultivating a growth mindset will help you feeling less stuck and see opportunities in challenging situations. Critical thinking enables you to move beyond the paved ways!

2. How up-to-date are your skills?

We’re not talking about hard skills only here. Although it's crucial to focus on your technical knowledge, there are many power skills that can help you in numerous situations in your professional life, too. Facing an issue with cooperation? Improve your collaboration skills. Finding your ideas are not being picked up? Optimize your influencing skills. Feeling you’re struggling in managing your working hours?  Review your time management. By consciously taking another look at your power skills, you're able to optimize your performance.

3. How is your vitality at work?

Vital people make vital organizations. When you feel mentally and physically fit, you can perform to your best abilities and feel happy at work. Identifying and managing emotions, work-life balance, resilience, but also inclusivity and psychological safety are factors that impact your wellness. Organizations that facilitate discussion surrounding and improvement of these topics empower their people and stimulate a positive environment. Are you curious to see what vitality at work means? Take a look at our Vitality@work course.

Find out what is relevant for you

We believe everybody can learn, based on your strengths, ambitions and personal values. Whether it’s for yourself, or your organization as a whole: prioritizing learning is an investment that will help everybody to move forward.

After answering these three questions, do you feel more certain of your relevance? Or can we help you get a closer look? We are happy to support you in your personal development!