I still enjoy reading the latest business leadership books and listening to the newest business leadership podcasts. Understanding the thoughts of others can not only be insightful, but it can also be inspiring. It can also help me try different approaches with clients and think through modern founder scenarios.
These differing perspectives pull together different influences and influencers, different experiences, different situation analyses, different data sources, and different interpretations of that data while considering the different scenarios at play. Different than what I typically have leaned on. Maybe even different than what I have typically decided.
I also think it is helpful to understand what these authors, podcasters, and interviewees are following. Understanding what leading minds are watching as their leading indicators, bellwethers, and lagging indicators can help frame what I could be watching and, as a result, changing. After all, the Dow companies change. Just a few months ago, NVDA replaced INTC and SHW replaced DOW. Just over a year ago, AMZN replaced WBA. So why shouldn’t I be changing my indicators and bellwethers?
And that brings me to this point: what I know for certain is that there will always be uncertainty. But what do we typically do when we feel uncertain?
We gather data.
And if we gather data, for what purpose?
Eventually, to present it.
Present to Your Team as Though You Were Teaching the Topic
When recently teaching, I recall a time when a student was in my office talking about how he felt as though the material in my class was just theoretical. After a few more minutes of conversation, he discovered that what he meant by “theoretical” was really that he was unable to see how he could apply what he was supposed to be learning to his own situation.
And isn’t that what’s important when we learn something new? We have to figure out how to apply it to our own situation.
It’s said that to truly understand something, we should teach it. I completely understand that. I also think it’s true. If I am trying to learn in order to teach what I am learning, I am going beyond learning for just me to offer what I know to someone else. I am learning to apply what I have learned. And how I do that is by presenting what I know.
In executive education or upper-level business school classes, material such as case studies is presented. Then, it is assigned in some way so that the executive can apply it immediately to their situation, or, in the very least, first reflect upon what just happened. If that material feels theoretical, it may mean it cannot be applied.
And let me share a little insider baseball to the case study teaching method. Presenting a case study takes a ton of preparation. Way more preparation than what is presented, what to assign, and how to assess the result of that assignment. The result we typically call a grade. But the assessment methodology is a whole matrix of possibilities, often termed a rubric.
A b-school professor goes through all those hours of preparation to make sure students learn certain course objectives.
We in business can do the same for ourselves and our leadership teams, but, like your b-school profs, we need a disciplined system to prepare, present, then subside the uncertainty.
Preparation
To prepare for class as a business school professor would, you first must reflect correctly on what you already know and what you have recently researched. For example, if you are making a decision based on something that burned you in the past, make sure you have taken the time to accurately reflect upon what actually did occur that burned you. We do not swear off doctors because we went to one that did not help us. We typically continue to seek health care solutions when that happens. If you miss this step, you let bias in, and that helps no one.
Next, understand what foresight actually is. Foresight is not about predicting the future. There are business schools that teach strategic foresight. It is typically part of a management graduate program. At its core, it is a disciplined system to explore future trends and disruptions to build resiliency. Read what futurists are talking about but also know what they were talking about 15 years ago that did not come to fruition, so you can begin to discern the weak signals. Case studies in b-school was where this step started.
Finally, solidify your wisdom and knowledge sources. Where does wisdom and knowledge actually come from? You should know what your sources of wisdom and knowledge have been, as well as what legitimate wisdom and knowledge sources are at your disposal. Then, you must use them. How? Read to learn. Interact with peers regularly. Follow industry trends from reliable sources. Repeatedly.
Present to Subside the Uncertainty
Deciding who you are presenting to is incredibly important when you come from a place of humility. What I mean by this is that you cannot be solely focused on what you know and what you will present. You have to leave room for the experiences of those in the room. You hired people “smarter than you,” didn’t you? If you did, give them their props. In other words, present some background, then ask questions.
This is not a presentation of a report. This is a presentation of what you know, what your biases are, and what you have researched. This is not a means to an end. It is a means to the beginning of a conversation where you have left enough room for your team members to fill in gaps that you were blind to.
Creating a safe environment that allows others to voice their questions and concerns is what can lead to consensus of the direction to move forward. Plus, it leaves room to schedule important things that are not urgent today.
And it is in this space that we become more certain of what we are certain about while leaving room to explore together what still remains uncertain.
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