Problems Are The New Solutions

I’ve learned through this work is that very few leaders want to admit there are problems within their organisation. And who can blame them for feeling that way? The saying ‘the buck stops with you’ rings loud in the ears! There’s an inevitable sense of responsibility that comes with the territory. Leadership books have sold the myth that leaders should know how to solve everything. I’ve seen that flash of shame that comes with having to admit that the picture isn’t quite as polished and rosy as they believed, or hoped it was.

And whilst many organisational problems can be easily explained and resolved, there’s something about issues connected to belonging and experience at work that feels particularly challenging. Perhaps because it’s because it’s hard to admit that people aren’t happy, or content and that leadership had a role to play in it. Throw in questions about racism, or indeed any isms and we’re into a messy place where very few feel comfortable naming their existing in their organisation.   

I can tell you that the best starting conversations I’ve had with new potential clients have been with those who have been willing to lay their cards on the table and start with what they know of the messy and uncomfortable truth. That’s not to say that those conversations are confident, calm and flowing. No, not at all. Sometimes our first conversation is one they’ve been putting off for months and you can feel that energy when we speak. Other times, what they want to say comes out all jumbled and in an order that feels hard to make sense of. Then there are those that haven’t quite worked out what they want to say exactly, they just know they need to make a start.

There’s an intimacy that comes from these first conversations with new clients, that really sets a tone for how we are going to work in partnership moving forward. Maybe it’s because they feel an instant sense of ease and notable absence of any kind of judgment. Sometimes I’m told it’s the matter-of-fact way we explore and ask questions to help them articulate what they see, or think is going on. I hope it’s because they feel the compassion we bring to where they are and the appreciation of a desire to be better. Perhaps it’s the sense of optimism that we will get somewhere new and that they will be leading it confidently.

This honest unpicking of the problem, with curiosity and non-attachment is so essential. Because it THE problem not YOUR problem. Sure, the leadership may have played a role in creating the conditions for lack of urgency in owning it, maybe normalising behaviour around it or even reinforcing it. But it didn’t happen solely because of you. Belonging is complex, it’s messy, it’s multi-faceted, and in a changing world, it can be temporary. The issues that get in the way of it, especially when it comes to racism or other identity-based discrimination are more foundational things for us to unpick and unlearn as an organisation.

We salute those leaders that bring their messy problems. From there it is possible to work together to find the root issues to solve which is the key – knowing where to focus energy for impact. And from that place of clarity, meaningful new solutions arise that let leaders lead with new confidence and energy that re-energises a whole organisation. It’s a beautiful thing to see unfold.