The Unfinished Leader: Balancing Contradictory Answers to Unsolvable Problems - Hardcover

Dotlich, David L.; Cairo, Peter C.; Cowan, Cade

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118455096 ISBN 13: 9781118455098

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2014

Synopsis

With the demands of technology, transparency, and constant connectedness, and calls for higher performance, leaders from the front line to the C-suite face complex dilemmas that cannot be easily denied or postponed. These perplexing, recurring issues are familiar to anyone in a leadership role today, including:

• How do I balance my functional or business unit goals with the needs of my peers and the whole company?
• How do I support and promote others while still advancing my own career?
• How do I emphasize teamwork and still reward the “stars”?
• Can I really devote enough time and energy to both family and work?

These are not “problems” but paradoxes—situations in which there will never be a single correct solution—and while they make many leaders feel overwhelmed and challenged, this remarkable book provides help. The Unfinished Leader is a modern handbook for recognizing, facing, and inspiring others to expose the real issues that underlie paradoxes in modern organizations. Leaders must first recognize situations they will never be able to “solve” and understand how to confront the barriers—in their own heads and their organizations—that push them towards seeking ultimate solutions that don’t exist. Leading through complexity requires giving up the illusion of control, consistency, and closure, while embracing the reality of being permanently “unfinished.”

Drawing from interviews with 100 CEOs and top leaders from a wide range of companies—such as Avon, Nike, Colgate, DeutschePost DHL, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, and many more— The Unfinished Leader provides the mindsets and tools to recognize contradictory requirements, understand competing demands, and still be able to take action. No one can find or even should look for perfect solutions to impossible situations. The Unfinished Leader will help leaders at all levels understand and excel at their true task: guiding themselves and their teams through ongoing paradoxes, reconciling competing outcomes, continually changing and adapting, and thereby building lasting success.

About this title

Review

Dr. David Dotlich, Coauthor of The Unfinished Leader

Q&A with Dr. David Dotlich Coauthor, The Unfinished Leader

What makes a leader “unfinished?”

If you’re leading people or a project and believe that you have it all figured out, then you’re at risk. Leading is learning, and the only way to stay open to the vast amount of new information and ideas being generated is to stay humble and be adaptive, that is, to be “unfinished.” A sense that you’re unfinished keeps you fresh and makes you better. Leaders must be able to embrace paradox and become comfortable with uncertainty. Humility helps you drive toward mastery every day, while accepting that you can never quite get there. That’s how you will act effectively in a world of paradox.

What is the difference between a problem and a paradox?

Problems are puzzles with clear and defined answers, such as, “How can we reduce costs by 20%?” Paradoxes, on the other hand, are defined by two or more competing alternatives that cannot be resolved with a list of pros and cons. (for example, “Should we invest for the future or return money to shareholders?”). Paradoxes require a different way of thinking, leading, and deciding. While most organizations prefer problems, today’s climate of connectedness, transparency, and increased information means that leaders encounter more paradoxes. Problems can certainly be tricky, but paradoxes are always complex and multifaceted; they keep reappearing because they cannot be “solved. ” Leaders need to embrace the ambiguity and shifting options that paradoxes require.

How does a purpose-driven mindset help leaders successfully navigate a paradoxical challenge?

When faced with equally good alternatives, one guide for a leader is his or her personal purpose, or the purpose of the organization itself. An organization’s purpose can be defined by answering the simple question, “Why does my organization exist?” Once articulated and communicated, leaders can use a purpose-driven mindset as a North Star to frame paradoxical problems and inspire collaboration around what is most meaningful to everyone involved. Put another way, instead of thinking “outside the box,” it’s imperative to think “above the box.”

How can accepting the inherent ambiguity of paradoxes help us become more effective leaders?

Paradoxes may be denied, but they can’t be avoided. Skilled leaders recognize when they are in a paradox and rather than try to solve it, work to manage it with the appropriate mindset and tools. If they don’t, conflict will escalate and people will take sides. Managing paradox requires awareness and agility; it is a constantly evolving process that defies control, consistency, or closure. Because organizations often reward people for puzzle-like “accomplishments,” leaders continually try to exert control, attain consistency, or get closure. In our research, we learned that executives who misread paradoxes as problems fail over the long term. The ability to recognize and manage paradox is an absolute requirement for leading people in today’s environment, when information is readily available and many people understand the options facing the organization as well as or better than the leader.

How do companies develop leaders who can successfully navigate complexity and paradox?

Just like successful leaders, forward-thinking companies are now recognizing that leadership development is something that is never truly finished. They know it takes time to develop effective leaders who can manage both internal and external complexity, and they recognize that adaptation and agility must be encouraged, practiced, and supported. For example, first-time managers must balance when to act with when to delegate. For mid-level managers, evolving from an achievement-oriented "doer" to a developer of others often requires giving up control and learning new ways to feel successful. For senior executives, managing paradoxes is their primary responsibility, as they work to maintain global standards while allowing local variation, lead growth while managing costs, or focus on the long term while achieving short-term results. Helping executives minimize the swings that can come from these paradoxes goes a long way in creating an agile, but stable, organization.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Unfinished Leader

“I hope every leader will finish The Unfinished Leader. Written by coaches and advisers to some of the world’s top CEOs, this book describes in concrete terms how successful leaders bring people together in the face of complexity and uncertainty.”
—Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and CEO, Wyndham Worldwide

“Using their extensive experience with global leaders and deep knowledge, Dotlich, Cairo, and Cowan make a compelling case for why every leader should aspire to be unfinished. The Unfinished Leader offers proven methods, instructive examples, and practical tools.”
—John T. Cahill, chairman, Kraft Foods Group, Inc.

“Senior leaders live in a world of complex, ever-changing, and unstructured challenges. The Unfinished Leader offers a rare opportunity to learn from experts not only how to deal with real world complexity but to thrive in it.”
—Fred Hassan, executive chairman, Bausch & Lomb, and managing director, Warburg Pincus

“The mental skills a leader cultivates and brings to solving challenges are important. The Unfinished Leader will allow leaders to face with clarity the seemingly unsolvable problems they confront.”
—Mahzarin R. Banaji, Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, and coauthor, Blindspot

“The Unfinished Leader shows how best to tackle big issues: through collaboration, constant revision, and a willingness to let go of being in control.”
—Andrew Thorburn, managing director and CEO, Bank of New Zealand

“The Unfinished Leader is a must-read for any executive who wrestles with paradoxes such as the tension between short-term and long-term goals, local and global demands, and messy organizational structures. Every executive in business today needs to read this book.”
—Paul M. Rand, chief digital officer, Ketchum; president and CEO, Zócalo Group; and author, Highly Recommended

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1118455096
• ISBN 13: 9781118455098
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288