Five Shifts Today’s Leaders Need to Make

Explainers
Written By Paul Thallner

When I first had direct reports, I was really excited. I felt like a boss. I wanted to do all the boss things. So, as I started my new boss role, I used what I learned from my managers to lead my organization. Epic fail!

It turned out that what I was taught from my managers was an outdated, ineffective, and frankly inconsiderate way of leading. I gave orders. I didn’t listen. I expected people to simply do what I told them to do. And as you would expect, people weren’t happy. So, at the urging of my sister, I went to get some more training about not only how to evolve my thinking about managing, but also how to understand the way organizations themselves have evolved. Knowing this helped me understand why my previous bosses left me with their leadership legacies.

Orgnaizations Are Evolving

If you’re also wondering how you may have inherited some of your leadership habits or mindsets, just remember that there’s a long history of leaders and organizations from which we all have emerged. And over time, organizations have evolved; in fact, they continue to do so. Interestingly, there are fragments of past organizational types that still remain today and heavily influence how we approach our leadership. Author and researcher Frederic Laloux in his book Reinventing Organizations, maps out the different types of organizations we’ve seen throughout history. We see remnants of these organizations today, and fortunately there’s a positive evolutionary path forward - and leaders need to be ready for the next evolutionary stage.

FIVE Evolutionary Stages of Organizations according to Frederic Laloux (photos from TargetTeal.com)
RED - Impulsive Organization
RED - Impulsive Organization

About ten thousand years ago, small clans and tribes coalesced into large societies. Those societies were much more complex, so the role of chief emerged to enforce social order - often through brutal force. These types of societies/groups are referred to by Laloux as “red” or “Impulsive” organizations, and the metaphor used is that of a wolfpack. Loyalty is the glue that keep this organization together, and a leader showing weakness is toppled by a younger alpha-male. Today, organized crime gangs operate as this type of organization. But “Red” organizations made two contributions: division of labor and top-down authority.

AMBER - Conformist Organization
AMBER - Conformist Organization

Amber organizations started emerging around 4000 BC as societies became more complex, stratified, and agrarian. They gained control over impulsiveness, internalized rules and exercised self-discipline in service of a common belief. Guilt and shame were the glue that held these organizations together, and people spent time and energy trying to fit in. Many armies, religious institutions, government agencies, school systems, and universities run along the lines of Amber organizations. Amber organizations contributed replicable processes and stable organizational charts (not dependent on a specific person).

ORANGE - Achievement Organization
ORANGE - Achievement Organization

Orange organizations represent the scientific and industrial revolutions. They are focused on achievement and believe that being faster, better, stronger will achieve more success. The main metaphor of an Orange organization is “machine.” They can hum with efficient activity, but feel lifeless and soulless. Examples include Wall Street banks, publicly traded companies, etc. They contributed innovation, accountability, and meritocracy to the organizational landscape.

GREEN - Pluralistic Organizations
GREEN - Pluralistic Organizations

Green organizations are more pluralistic came about in response to the shadow side of Orange companies: materialistic obsession, social inequity, loss of community through staunch individualism, etc. Green companies are more matrixed, collaborative, and feel like a family vs. a machine. Green companies have contributed empowerment, values-driven culture, and a focus on stakeholder (vs. shareholder) value. Southwest Airlines, Ben & Jerry’s, and the Container Store are some contemporary examples of pluralistic “green” companies.

Teal - Evolutionary Organization
Teal - Evolutionary Organization

Finally, Laloux predicts that the next evolutionary stage of organizations is “teal.” Teal organizations blur the work/life boundaries and create a place for both personal and collective growth. The workplace is seen as contributing to a person’s sense of purpose and “wholeness.” There are some organizations that have gotten close to this stage. For example, a 9,000 person healthcare company in the Netherlands called Buurtzorg operates with no hierarchy and only self-managed teams.

Shifts Leaders Need to Make

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a leader is thinking of yourself or your organization as a fixed entity. Neither are. You and your organization are on an evolutionary journey, and every day is an opportunity to grow and develop in new ways.

For more information about evolving organizations, check out my friends over at The Teal Team. They have lots of resources to help you learn about self-organizing, self-managed organizations. Plus, they often have webinars and guest speakers. Definitely worth checking out.

You may be called to evolve how you manage and develop people as the organization evolves. And quite honestly, the world has lost patience with old-school, inhuman, transactional organizations. The companies that will win will be the ones who evolve to become more human-centric. In fact, you may be called to lead the evolution of your organization. 

So, what does that mean in practical terms for you? There may be a gap between how you currently think of leadership and what future organizations will need from you. To close that gap, we suggest five shifts in your leadership mindset. Let’s explore five from/tos so that you can create opportunities for those that you lead now and those that will be following in your footsteps.

  • A tactician focuses only on perfecting execution using the resources they have. A strategist is able to see beyond the day-to-day in order to detect when a strategic shift is necessary.

  • A manager monitors and measures task performance and, after enough time satisfactorily working in their role, suggest that a worker receive a promotion. A coach Understands where the employee wants to go professionally, and supports them to get there, even if it means not being their boss anymore.

  • Micromanagers not only define the precise solution to a problem and expecting the team or team member to execute, they also are overly specific about how to get there. Today’s leaders need to simply define a clear desired outcome and allow the team or team member to get there the best way possible.

  • Yesterday’s leaders make and/or maintain assumptions about people’s needs, perspectives, and/or ways of working, while today’s leaders remove barriers that limit full participation in the workplace experience.

  • It’s no longer fair or sustainable to constantly think of your team or organization as a set of problems that you have to solve. Today, leaders need to think of organizations as limitless potential, and your job is to unlock and unleash it.

As a leader you will always be responding to external changes. And that can often feel like change is something that is “done to you.” But, you have much more control than you might realize. Making key decisions about how you choose to lead will not only help you personally evolve as a professional, but it will also help the organization and industry evolve as well. You got this. Good luck.

Paul Thallner
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