The tightrope walk of complexity
A few days ago I went to see the play ‘Mrs Hitler, Dr Freud Will See You Now’. The play imagines what might have happened had Adolf Hitler and Freud met. Whilst there was a period of time when both lived in Austria, there is no evidence they ever did. The play traces a series of imagined interactions, allowing us to look at the subject through a psychoanalytic lens. Unsurprisingly, it’s an interesting and disturbing play. One line in particular stayed with me:
“It’s fascinating how, as modern life becomes more complex, the masses look to their leaders for ever more simple solutions.”
It hit home on a number of levels. And you can view it in many different ways. Patronising? Dangerous? Historically, though, it is hard not to see an element of truth in it. The rise of populism in so many countries is a reminder this danger does not go away. And with party conference season in flow in the UK, the temptation for simple explanations in the realm of political leadership is obvious. Soothing, perhaps, but wrong.
Where’s the segue then? Well, it made me wonder if the same temptation exists in the leadership of organisations. Amid ever-increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, how tempting might it be to reach for seemingly simple solutions? How soothing might it be to believe them? But we know that leading through complexity and change is anything but simple.
I’ve become increasingly interested in this topic in the last few years. Working with senior leaders and learning from leading figures in politics, business and academia, I’ve seen consistently that certain leadership capabilities come to the fore:
Intellectual agility: shifting your assumptions and viewpoint, seeing things through multiple lenses and imagining multiple possible futures. Embracing curiosity and taking a question-led approach. Committing to a line of thinking or a course of action whilst simultaneously realising that at any point you could be proven wrong.
Emotional agility: handling these kinds of shifts and staying grounded takes a special alchemy of confidence and humility.
Resilience: the sum of the above is critical to remaining resilient. But so is adopting a holistic view of our wellbeing—on this, I have found Bob Rosen’s model, which breaks down health into physical, emotional, intellectual, social, vocational and spiritual—to be particularly instructive.
Connection: recognising, understanding and empathising with the needs of those you lead is ever more important.
Optimism: a degree of optimism bias is helpful, because it can help sustain us and those around us. But too much and we risk myopia and a refusal to face hard truths.
Purpose: all of this can be exhausting if you’re not clear why it even matters and what it’s all for.
Cutting across many of these qualities is a mental tightrope that leaders need to walk: just enough optimism without myopia; the agility to shift positions but the confidence to commit to one when needed; emotional resilience without disconnection. Leaders are constantly pulled between extremes. The challenge is not to collapse into simple answers, but to hold the tension, stay agile, and walk the tightrope with clarity of purpose.
If these themes resonate, take a look at our senior leadership journey here: https://www.thelearningspace.uk/ourleadershipdevelopmentoffer
