"So is it a culture where conflicts are avoided or where hierarchy solves conflicts? Because, hierarchy is always right and other people have to accept that? Or is it a culture where conflicts are seen as a creative source, as a source of creativity, of discussion, different viewpoints and people like to have dialogues about the best possible perspective? All that together, often unseen, is what social dynamics are about. Modern leadership has to understand and know about the social dynamics and all this unconscious bias in groups if you really want to become successful." - Sebastian Morgner, MLI.
With today’s guest Sebastian Morgner we talk about neurosocial leadership, giving insights into what neurosocial leadership actually is and why it is important - especially right now in this VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environment. He also shares how leaders should approach this topic by taking into consideration the different personalities, communication styles and experience of each team member.
We also dicuss how social dynamics connect to outcome-based thinking and OKRs. According to Sebastian, having a tangible and inspiring vision in a company with clear goals and responsibilities is one part of successful strategy implementation. The other part, however, is taking the time and space to actually reflect and discuss whether the team is on the right way, what the obstacles are and what they have learned in the past weeks or months. This is only possible if there’s psychological safety in the team, where responsibilities are clearly distributed and where the management team is open for feedback.
Lastly, we touch on how enterprise leaders can use social dynamics to influence the shift of a company culture toward a more outcome-based thinking. The retrospective in the OKR process is mentioned to be a very valuable tool for leaders to achieve this but leaders also need to make sure that the politics and reporting lines in the organization don’t block cross-functional goals.
Sebastian Morgner is Managing Director of the MLI Leadership Institute in Munich. He advises leadership teams of global companies on digital transformation, coaches executives and accompanies them in strategy implementation in Leadership Sprints based on OKR logic. Sebastian is the author of the book "Expedition Future - how you can use chance to master uncertainty and complexity". He was a pioneer in digitalization and has built seven different business units during his career. He is a certified mental coach and keynote speaker (GSA).
Where to find Sebastian:
Where to find Johannes:
Resources mentioned on the show:
Books:
Expedition Zukunft - Wie wir den zufall nutzen können, um Ungewissheit und Komplexität zu meistern
Things that gain from disorder
Podcast:
Outcome Economy Summit Workshop:
How neuro-social leadership helps to implement OKRs effectively
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