Foreword by Darrell M. West
This is a time of tremendous change worldwide. New digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and robots are transforming major business sectors, from health care and transportation to education and retail. With the aid of emerging technologies, businesses are less likely to rely on traditional employees working in isolation in an office cubicle. Instead, they are automating routine tasks, offering flexible work arrangements, and encouraging teamwork and collaboration.
Yet many workplaces still recruit the old-fashioned way, make decisions in a hierarchical manner, don’t understand the kind of talent they need, and are confused about their overall mission. As a result, they make mistakes that drive away key talent and prevent their organization from achieving its full potential. Too often, firms look more to the past than the future for answers.
In this book, Caroline Stokes tackles the crucial topics of how to lead during transformative times and the importance of emotional intelligence in handling current challenges. A noted thinker with a background in corporate communications, strategic management, and executive recruitment, she offers keen insights into today’s vexing questions:
▶ How do you build effective teams?
▶ How do you break down organizational silos?
▶ How do you deal with a rapidly changing world when conventional answers are no longer compelling?
She proposes an innovative approach based on finding “unicorns.” These are people with the ability to manage organizations through challenging transitions. Drawing on a wealth of knowledge from her personal experiences as well as the experiences of those she has coached, Caroline paints a compelling portrait of the types of individuals businesses need today, as well as how organizations should handle a wide range of internal and external obstacles.
The major task facing organizations today, according to Caroline, is overcoming the organizational “elephants” that impede change. Those include people who are ill-prepared to deal with change, company cultures that preclude innovation and risk-taking, organizational routines and structures that slow decision making, and leaders who view feedback as a threat rather than an opportunity. Companies must think carefully about how to deal effectively with these challenges.
This book particularly resonates with me because I have lived through many of the shifts she describes. For example, I wrote my dissertation in the 1970s on a typewriter. I have witnessed the subsequent shift from desktops and laptops to tablets and smartphones. I now lead the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution where I analyze technology trends and study how they affect organizations, leadership, and management.
With each advance in technology, I have had to think about how digital tools influence the way people get information, make decisions, and receive feedback from inside and outside an organization. Technology can flatten organizations and improve information flows. Automated procedures and digitized processes can raise productivity, free workers from mundane tasks, and improve the prospects for collaboration. Implemented effectively, AI, robots, machine learning, and data analytics can increase organizational performance and create new opportunities for workers.
However, emerging technologies and the new business processes that come with them also generate a number of risks. They can threaten people, disrupt existing routines, and create employee paranoia about their jobs. Some employees may worry about their place in a changing work force and whether they are still valued by company executives.
It takes time to introduce change wisely and help people see the value of new processes. Managers have to listen carefully to feedback and make adjustments as they go along. Mandating change from on high is rarely effective at transforming organizations. Company success requires managers to demonstrate emotional intelligence—and considerable skill at navigating major obstacles.
This book is filled with compelling examples of what does and doesn’t work for leaders dealing with change. Taking advantage of her experiences with major firms and a wide range of leaders, Caroline shows how emotional intelligence shapes how leaders perceive situations, express themselves, relate to others, make decisions, and handle stress. As the global business environment increasingly relies on emergent technologies, having leaders who understand both reason and intuition is vital. Mastering one without the other can undermine effective leadership and management and derail an organization.
Caroline talks in an engaging style about the major elephants organizations must avoid. For example, companies often hire too quickly and without checking on the intangible qualities that are important for leadership and management. Rather than getting sufficient feedback on possible recruits, they let their need for a new hire outweigh their assessment of whether they are getting the right person for the job. That approach often ends with both employer and employee dissatisfied.
Some companies devote too little attention to their interview process, sending poor messages in the way they identify talent and structure recruitment. Inadvertently, their processes may signal that not everyone’s opinions are fully valued or that their company is not a welcoming place. Devoting some time upfront to thinking about their hiring procedures and expectations and what they want to convey about their organization will yield dividends down the road.
A similar problem arises during the onboarding process. Companies spend a lot of time trying to find the right person for a job, but then often neglect the first 100 days after hiring a new manager. They assume the new hire can figure out their culture and mission by osmosis and learn as they go along. Caroline recommends coaching for new top hires so the onboarding process goes smoothly.
Structuring feedback is also vital in effective organizations. To improve performance and keep workers on track, leaders must provide feedback and open themselves to receiving feedback about their own performance. One of the hardest things for many managers to accept is being open to the views of other people and recognizing that the people they supervise have a lot of wisdom. Having effective procedures for listening and seeing how other people react is crucial for long-term organizational success.
Building an inclusive workplace is indispensable in today’s world. The work force is changing quickly and is now made up of a wide variety of people. You will meet older workers, those in mid-career, Millennials, and Gen Y; there are employees of various races, religions, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, etc. It can be challenging—but rewarding—to bring people of differing backgrounds together and help them gain the benefits of their diverse experiences.
In addition, re-skilling the team is crucial as new technologies transform the workplace, creating jobs that don’t even exist today. And many workers will need new skills to take on additional responsibilities. The old model of investing in education only through about age 25 will give way to lifetime learning, whereby people continue to develop new skills throughout their 30s, 40s, and 50s.
Preparing for an AI future does not have to mean doom and gloom. Incorporating new processes within the organization can create excitement, improve work flows, and make it possible for people to work more effectively with one another. AI and data analytics can improve decision making and position the firm for greater heights. One of the virtues of the digital era is the broad range of information at leaders’ fingertips. There must be a way to harvest and analyze that material in any organization. In these pages, Caroline serves as a cheerful guide, inviting us to embrace the possibilities of AI and mold the new technology to our own greatest good.
During a time of extensive change, no company or leadership team can be content that its future is assured. Many prominent organizations have fallen on hard times by failing to anticipate the future and adjust to changing circumstances. Recruiting leaders and managers with the emotional skills to adapt to a rapidly changing environment is one of the most important tasks companies face today.
Contemporary leaders confront many challenges in terms of technology, organizational routines, and geopolitical alignments. Old formulas no longer guarantee success. Hiring leaders with the dexterity to understand shifting circumstances and the empathy to bring people together in a common mission is crucial. Companies that do this effectively will be well-positioned for the future. This is a valuable book for those seeking to comprehend the current environment.