OPINION
Redesigning Leadership for
Success in VUCA World “Every Shadow has light behind it, Embrace the Shadow and you will get to the light”. Future Readiness with resilience and agility achieved through mindful and skillful evolution will be pivotal for organizations, teams and individuals’ success beyond 2021. Here’s the thought-provoking leadership insights from Akhil Srivastava, Director Planning & Logistics Business Unit, ABInBev on prepping up for the future with utmost ingenuity and innovation. Welcome to 2022 – a year filled with immense possibilities & unlimited avenues to drive indelible growth…
V
UCA is an acronym for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity that was coined by the US military and warfare since early 90’s. The word VUCA has gained most mainstream prominence over last two years than it has since its inception. The precise reason being COVID-19 that has been disrupting both Demand and Supply side with regular and unprecedented shocks. Setting up a Chain reaction of Change… A supply shock reduces the economy’s ability to produce goods and services at given prices. A demand shock, on the other hand, reduces consumers’ ability or willingness to purchases goods and services at given prices. This fundamental
6 CELERITY January - February 2022
impact and 48 months of outliers, depending on sector and industry, have already and most probably will continue to diminish any forecasting tools capability to predict the forecast accurately. With each COVID wave, Demand Sensing and Demand Shaping has hit its Nadir for even the industry leaders leaving firms only trying to gasp and brace for impact on their revenues, profits and most importantly their cultural ethos and people stability. These prominent and sudden shocks have had demonstrated their relevance and need to respond with agility to every business and review the cultural context of leadership. Winston Churchill was famously quoted as saying, “Difficulties mastered
Akhil Srivastava, a Stanford Sloan Fellow, believes in Changing and Inspiring Change to thrive in the V.U.C.A world. The inspiration to write the article came from his interaction with cross-functional teams and members. Some who thrive in the wake of change and uncertainty while others who needed help to understand the power of Change. Akhil has undertaken several mindful and skilful sessions with world renowned coach (Vivian Rank).
are opportunities won." The time couldn’t have been more perfect than the present times we are living in and going through. While some organizations, teams and individuals might rebuff, joke or simply brush away the power of VUCA, its amply clear that Leadership as usual, including creating a vision, is not sufficient in a VUCA world, which probably might continue to be the norm for a long time ahead. Hence the challenges for businesses today – in driving innovation, evolving organizational structures, business & planning strategy, orchestrating partnerships across ecosystems, and managing (hiring, developing and retaining) talent will require to deploy innovative thinking and disruptive
