ARCS Summit Round Up - Stream 'F'
Leadership in times of change
F1. Defining visionary leadership in times of change
What’s required to be a visionary leader? This is the topic of Session F1 at this evenings ARCS Summit: “Defining visionary leadership in times of change”.
KEY INSIGHTS PROVIDED BY THE PANEL WERE:
Effective leadership
is playing an essential role in guiding society through our current disruptions and changes.
COVID
has highlighted the attributes required of leaders.
Today’s essential capabilities include:
The ability to deal with ambiguity
Collaboration
Open-ness
Transparency
Honesty
Flexibility
Resilience
The need for empathy
The skill of story-telling
The ability to respond quickly to change
The ability to absorb and manage complex in-formation and then to discuss it simply
Authenticity
The ability to build a safe and trusting environment
Encouraging a risk management culture
will drive innovation and competitive advantage, especially in today's environment.
Visionary leadership
is about getting people to comprehend, believe and work towards goals for the organisation ie encouraging alignment around a common purpose.
CONNECT TO THE SPEAKERS
Jennifer Herz
Kathryn Jajko
Peter Riddles AM
Anthony Ferrier
Fiona McLean
F2. Leadership Learning during times of crisis & uncertainty – What does the future hold?
With the growth in virtual teams a key leadership challenge is how to stimulate creativity. This was a topic of discussion during tonight’s ARCS Session. Industry leaders provided their insights on techniques to increase engagement and creativity, within a virtual environment which included:
Starting meetings with 2 minute break out rooms
so that people can connect with others; breaking larger teams into smaller groups; practicing mindfulness techniques; encouraging the spirit of curiosity; tailoring programs to determine what works best for individuals; organising problem-solving meetings rather than update meetings; starting meetings with 3 ice-breaker questions; and encouraging flexibility to stimulate creativity.
The panel offered insights on how to prevent burnout including:
Encouraging engagement and frequent communication
Acknowledge the fear and anxiety
Providing flexibility
Keeping the element of fun
Encourage exercise
Encourage annual leave
Communication, connection, agility and adaptability are key for success in our new environment.
CONNECT TO THE SPEAKERS
Erin Cramlet
Kelsey Dobell-Brown
Tracy Morgan
Claudia Lincoln
Catherine O'Mahony
F3. Leading distributed teams
The focus of this Wednesday evening's ARCS session is on leading distributed teams in our new environment.
Key leadership skills include:
Understanding others
Connecting with others regularly
Embracing technology
Being visible
Actively listening
Showing vulnerability
Having empathy
Practicing effective time management
To be effective it’s important
to reflect on the concept of the Circle of Concern. This involves firstly looking after yourself (because only then you can help others), then looking after your team members, then others.
Key skills shared for looking after yourself include:
Focusing on your well-being
Taking time to ensure that you’re OK
Taking time to switch off
Resetting your own expectations regarding what you can achieve
Connecting with others
Practicing gratitude
Communicating to the team about how you are managing ie being authentic
Understanding yourself and what’s important to you
To support your team members
role model the importance of connectivity, commitment and caring. Share, and encourage the sharing of personal stories.
CONNECT TO THE SPEAKERS
Rod Matthews
Taneen Hisgrove
Kaylene O'Shea
David Wilks
F4. Women in leadership – change and diversity on steroids
Evening session of Day 4 of the ARCS Summit and industry leaders are offering their insights on: “Women in leadership”.
Advice from the panel:
Be curious
Have a sense of adventure
Be empathetic
Accept differences in opinion
Know that its OK to leave meetings early to attend to family responsibilities
Focus on developing a diverse leadership team
Lead diverse teams
Champion all aspects of gender diversity
Ensure that senior leadership role model diversity and equality
Work hard to ensure you get diversity in all aspects of decision making
Ask: 50:50 – If not, why not?
Be passionate about increasing gender equality.
Organisational culture
change programs involve working in partnership with senior leaders, focusing on ‘what else can we do to be a truly exceptional organisation’, focusing on transparency and flexibility.
Set up metrics
to make sure you are eliminating bias and measuring the level of flexibility, measure the opportunities by gender, measure gender pay differences, and have policies in place around your suppliers to ensure they support your values.