Become A VUCA Leader

What it takes to effectively lead in a VUCA world

VUCA is an acronym the militaries have been using to describe volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environments. It is an acronym that has been around for over 30 years. But according to Google Trends, it didn’t become popularized until about 2014. Since 2014, VUCA has been widely used to describe the market conditions that organizations and leaders are increasingly facing.
 

Now, after wading through the Covid pandemic for over 18 months, it now feels like calling our pre-pandemic world a VUCA world, a dramatic overstatement.

The reality is that we are truly living in and trying to navigate a VUCA world. And, I think we need to anticipate that our world will only become more VUCA-ish and not less.  This requires that leaders develop the characteristics of a VUCA leader.

A VUCA leader possesses the characteristics of:
 

Versatile leaders are leaders that possess a clear goal and purpose that they are shooting for. Such goals and purposes are more than metrics, they are ambitions related to impact. What sets versatile leaders apart from non-versatile leaders is that they are fixed on any one path for accomplishing their goals and purposes. They are open to and able to shift directions at a moment’s notice, knowing that traversing the path from where they are and where they are going is uncharted and really never will be.

Unshakable leaders do not need certainty. They possess the cognitive and emotional sophistication to know that regardless of how much expertise or information they may possess, there will always be uncertainty about the future. Thus, when things become uncertain, they do not get rattled. They expected it and they prepared for it.

Candor-inducing leaders know that their perspective is always going to be limited. In a VUCA world, they cannot see everything. Thus, in order to navigate volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity as effectively as possible, they know that they need the eyes, ears, and mouths of others. They encourage straight communication about what is being learned and experienced at all levels. They know that bringing out voices from all perspectives, even dissenting voices, may mean the difference between disaster and success.

Adventurous leaders understand that leading in a VUCA world is going to be a wild ride. They know that on this ride, there are going to be ups and downs. They are going to be pushed. They are going to have to emotionally detach from preconceived notions. They are going to have to learn, unlearn, and relearn over and over again. Adventurous leaders expect this and are excited about the adventure. Non-adventurous leaders try to avoid these things as a way to make them feel more secure and comfortable.

To understand how to become a VUCA leader it is necessary to understand that there are two different types of leadership development: horizontal development and vertical development.

Horizontal development is improving leaders’ knowledge, skills and capabilities. It is like adding an app onto an iPad, it broadens the iPad’s functionality. But, a major drawback is that it doesn’t necessarily improve how effectively the iPad operates. Most leadership development efforts are horizontal development efforts.

Vertical development, on the other hand, is elevating leaders’ ability to make meaning of their world in more cognitively and emotionally sophisticated ways. It is like upgrading the iPad’s operating system. It elevates the iPad’s ability to function more efficiently and effectively now, but also into the future.

Knowing a bit about horizontal and vertical development, which is better tailored to help leaders develop in the following ways:
 

Realistically, little if any progress will be made by helping leaders develop new knowledge, skills, and capabilities (i.e., horizontally develop).

In order for leaders to make these shifts, they need to elevate their cognitive and emotional sophistication. They need to be able to elevate how they make meaning of failure, conflict, problems, and challenges.

What I have observed working with thousands of leaders is that most leaders make meaning of these things in the following ways:

 

All of these interpretations are justified. They are forms of protection. But, that doesn’t make them cognitively and emotionally sophisticated.

It would be more cognitively and more emotionally sophisticated to make meaning of these things in the following ways:
 

If you had two leaders – one who made meaning of failure, conflict, problems, and challenges in the first way, and another leader who made meaning of these things in the second way – who would you say is more of a VUCA leader and more capable of navigating a VUCA world?

Of course, it is the leader who is more vertically developed and more capable of making meaning of their world in more cognitively and emotionally sophisticated ways.

Altogether, in order for leaders to be effective in the VUCA now and into the increasingly VUCA future, leaders need to become VUCA leaders. They need to become versatile, unshakable, candor-inducing, and adventurous. The only way for leaders to develop these characteristics is through vertical development.