Developing a High-Performance

Organization in a VUCA World

Sattar Bawany

“In essence, the heart of the leadership challenge that

confronts today’s leaders is learning how to lead in situ-
ations of ever greater volatility and uncertainty in a glo-
balized business environment, allied with the needs to
deal with scale, complexity and new organizational forms
that often break with the traditional organizational mod-
els and ­structures within which many have learned their
‘­leadership trade’. So the basic assumption that past experi-
ence is the key to future leadership success is more open to
scrutiny than ever.”
—Prof Sattar Bawany (2014)

Abstract: How do organizations become h ­ igh-performance

organizations? Research and experience ­ indicate that
there are many factors that can contribute ­toward the de-
velopment of a high-performance o ­ rganization ­including
but not limited to the mission; shared values; organiza-
tional design and structure; people, e ­ ngagement, and
culture; and leadership.
Increasingly, companies are recognizing that leaders
who demonstrate high emotional and social intelligence
Prof Sattar Bawany is the CEO of ­competencies are crucial to their organizational ­effectiveness.
the Centre for Executive Education They must be able to impact and influence others to ­follow
(CEE). He is also concurrently the them and help them implement. This is the essence of
Regional Managing Director & C-Suite leadership in a high-performance organization (HPO).
Master Executive Coach of Executive
Development Associates (EDA) in Asia
In this article, we will focus on the leadership as the
Pacific. He is also the Adjunct Professor key driver of financial and operational performance as
of Leadership and member of the well as an enabler for companies to execute their strategy
Advisory Board of the Curtin Graduate and achieve success. 
School of Business (CGSB) of Curtin
University, Australia.
Email: [email protected] Keywords: High Performance Organization, Emotional
Website: www.cee-global.com and Social Intelligence, Leadership Styles, Leading
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ Teams, Organization Effectiveness, Results-based
bawany Leadership, and Employee Engagement

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 Developing a High-Performance Organization in a VUCA World

Introduction Organizations need leaders to visualize

Today’s businesses face u ­ nprecedented the future, motivate and inspire ­employees,
­challenges operating in a global e­ nvironment and adapt to changing needs of both the
that is ­increasingly ­volatile, u ­ ncertain, ­internal and external stakeholders.
­complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). ­Leaders are In essence, the heart of the leadership
also confronted with increased ­competition, challenge that confronts today’s l­eaders
globalization, d ­ emand for g ­ rowing social is learning how to lead in situations of
­responsibilities, and a stream of ­technological ever greater volatility and uncertainty
revolution ­causing disruption in the m
­ arketplace. in a ­ globalized business environment,
Hence leaders need to c­ hallenge their m ­ ental ­allied with the needs to deal with scale,
models in their efforts to build and sustain ­complexity, and new organizational forms
a high-performance organization (HPO) that often break with the traditional orga-
(Bawany, 2018). nizational models and structures within
A “can-do and true believer” ­mentality which many have learned their leadership
pervades HPOs. Everyone believes in trade (Bawany, 2015).
the vision and mission and aligned as
well as demonstrates the values of the Characteristics or Profile
­organization. People put the organization of High-Performance Organizations
above ­themselves, team, or department as In 1982, when Tom Peters and Bob
they believe that they are involved in some- ­Waterman produced In Search of Excellence,
thing bigger than simply their self-interest. the idea of comparing, identifying, and an-
They have a strong sense of purpose and alyzing the best-performing organizations
values as well as they ­ identify with the came into vogue (Kirby, 2005). Since that
­organization and act as if they were o ­ wners. time, many studies have used comparison
Great examples are e ­ mployees of Disney, techniques to try to tease out what sets
Southwest Airlines, and Starbucks just to HPOs apart. For example, in Built to Last,
name a few. They have a reason to work Jim Collins (1994) took a somewhat similar
and it shows in each and every day. That’s approach.
the hallmark of successful HPOs. But what But the goal of identifying the most
or who is impacting these employees’ durable high performers through the art
­
behaviors? of comparison is a difficult one to achieve.
Today’s turbulent business environment One of the problems is that sustaining high
demands that individuals and organizations performance is a major challenge for any
perform at higher levels and with greater organization across all industries. Many
speed than at any time in the past. Organi- business leaders bought In Search of Excel-
zational leaders and employees alike must lence and Built to Last in droves and trying
place a new emphasis on developing an to adopt the practices of many of the pro-
open and trust-based relationship that will filed companies; however, interestingly the
lead toward the development of a positive same organizations were unable to sustain
organizational climate and organizational high performance.
success. HPOs are the role models of the b
­ usiness
Aligning people is about generating world. They are being benchmarked by
awareness and understanding of the differ- other organizations as they provide or
ences between individuals in the way they ­represent real-world versions of a modern
prefer to work and the way they make de- managerial ideal: the organization that is
cisions or manage relationships. By creat- so excellent in so many areas that it consis-
ing a common understanding, a common tently outperforms most of its competitors
sense of purpose and a shared commit- in the same industry over extended periods
ment to action evolves. of time.

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 Developing a High-Performance Organization in a VUCA World

Leaders want to know more about e. They align strategy, goals, and ­objectives
HPOs so they can apply the best practices with the demands of the external
­approaches or lessons learned to their own ­environment so corporate renewal
companies. Of course, the goal is to ensure is always based on customers’ need.
that their own organizations excel in the f. They adopt the strategy that will set
marketplace. the company apart by developing
Over the years, researchers have been many new options and alternatives to
trying to identify and study HPOs for years. compensate for redundant strategies.
Much has been learned during this time. g. They adhere to high ethical standards
As Julia Kirby (2005) noted in the ­Harvard throughout the organization.
Business Review, management experts h. They create an organizational design
­continue to build on one another’s work and structure that complement the
in order to formulate more sophisticated intended business strategy.
ideas about organizational performance. i. They stimulate cross-functional and
The various published research ­including cross-organizational collaboration by
that of André A. de Waal (2007) and A
­ merican making teamwork and collaboration
Management Association (2007) Report top priorities of management, fostering
on “The High-Performance ­ Organization teamwork by stressing the importance
Survey 2007” provides ­
­ insights into the of teams for the performance of the
­characteristics of HPOs. Generally speaking, organization, and developing a team
HPOs are superior to their low-performance feeling by creating team commitment,
counterparts in the following areas: getting everyone on the same team,
and establishing shared responsibility.
1. Strategy j. They simplify and flatten the ­organization
a. They define a strong vision that ­excites by reducing boundaries and barriers
and challenges, which is based on between and around units, thus g­ etting
a winning strategy or big idea and rid of bureaucracy and organizational
which is continuously propagated. complexity.
Their strategies are more consistent, k. They foster organization-wide sharing
are clearer, and are well thought out. of information, knowledge, and best
Their mission, vision, values, and practices by creating the ­infrastructure
­operating philosophies are consistent and incentives for these.
with their strategies. l. They continuously realign the ­business
b. They balance long-term focus and with changing internal and e ­ xternal
short-term focus in order to safeguard ­circumstances by setting up an ­adaptable
the long-term continuity of the b­ usiness business model, which is easily altered
and its contribution to the world, and based on o ­ pportunities in the external
at the same time obtain short-term environment and shifts in customer
­results, which makes it possible to needs and market conditions.
plan against possible futures. 2. Leadership
c. They set clear, ambitious, ­measurable, a. In an HPO, trust-based ­relationships
and achievable goals, which raise with employees on all levels are
­levels of aspiration and thereby ­create ­maintained and strengthened ­because
a sense of stretch. loyalty is valued, smart ­people are
d. They create clarity and a common treated smart, people are shown
understanding of the organization’s ­respect, a learning attitude is ­fostered,
mission, direction, and strategy, which ­individual ­relationships between
is understood by everyone within the managers and employees are created
organization. and ­maintained, both leaders and

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 Developing a High-Performance Organization in a VUCA World

employees are encouraged to believe managerial capabilities to enhance

and trust each other, and people are flexibility, and by being personally
treated fairly. involved in change activities.
b. Leaders live with integrity ­ and k. They recruit and leverage on a diverse
­demonstrate ontological ­humility. and complementary management
They lead by e ­ xample by b­ eing h­ onest team and workforce to help spot the
and sincere, showing ­commitment, ­inefficiencies of their operations and
enthusiasm, and ­
­ respect, having a create a climate that supports ­innovation
strong set of e ­thics and standards, and creativity in solving them.
being credible and consistently
­ l. They are committed to the ­organization
maintain a sense of v
­ ­ulnerability for the long haul by balancing c­ ommon
and by not b ­ eing arrogant. purpose with self-interest and ­teaching
c. They apply decisive, action-focused organizational members to put the
­decision making by avoiding ­overanalysis needs of the enterprise as a whole first.
but coming up with decisions and m. They are holding people responsible
­effective actions, while at the same for results and are decisive about
time fostering action-taking by others. ­nonperformers by keeping their focus
d. They coach and facilitate the develop- on achievement of results, maintaining
ment of employees by being supportive, clear accountability for performance,
helping them, protecting them from out- and making tough decisions.
side interference, and by being available. 3. Customer
e. Leaders stretch themselves and their a. They go above and beyond to delight
people by setting high standards and their customers through a distinctive
stretch goals and continuously raising branded customer experience.
the performance bar. b. They strive to be world-class in
f. They demonstrate a repertoire of ­providing customer value, think
­situational leadership styles, which are hard about c ­ ustomers’ future and
effective in communicating the ­long-term needs, and exceed customer
­organization’s values and by making expectations.
sure the s­ trategy has been received and c. They are more likely to leverage on
embraced by organizational members. data analytics and leverage on their
g. They allow experiments and mistakes customer information as the most
by permitting taking risks, ­being important factor for developing new
­willing to take risks themselves, and products and services.
seeing mistakes as an opportunity d. They continuously strive to enhance
to learn. customer value creation by learning what
h. They inspire people to accomplish customers want, u ­ nderstanding their
extraordinary results by applying values, building excellent ­relationships
charismatic leadership, creating a with them, having direct contact with
larger-than-life mindset, inspiring them, engaging them, being responsive
all to do their best, and mobilizing to them, and focusing on continuously
­individual initiative. enhancing customer value.
i. They develop or grow leaders from within e. They maintain good and long-term
by encouraging people to ­become relationships not only with their
leaders, filling positions with internal ­customers but also with all s­ takeholders
talent, and promoting from within. by ­networking broadly, being ­generous
j. They stimulate change and ­improvement to society and creating mutual,
by continuously striving for ­self-awareness ­beneficial opportunities and win-win
and renewal and developing dynamic relationships.

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 Developing a High-Performance Organization in a VUCA World

f. They continuously monitor the VUCA h. Their employees use their skills,
business environment and proactively knowledge, and experience to create
responds to shifts and opportunities unique solutions for customers.
in the marketplace, by surveying the i. Their high-performance teams have
markets to understand the context of a shared purpose and values, which
the business, identifying trends and serve as an operating philosophy
exploring scenarios, capturing external enabling them to be adaptable and
information quickly and accurately, respond quickly, as necessary, to
anticipating adversaries through changes in the environment, using
careful study and assessment, and creativity and outside the box thinking
by creating a warning system to spot in creating ­innovative resolutions to
changes to which the ­organization the business challenges.
must r­ espond quickly so as to ensure 5. Organizational Culture and Climate
that all s­ takeholders’ expectations, a. They create a culture where people
in particular those of the customers, are empowered and give them the
are met. ­freedom to decide and act by devolving
4. Employees decision-making authority and giving
a. They empower people and give them the autonomy to organizational members
freedom to decide and act by d ­ evolving to operate within clearly established
decision-making authority and giving boundaries and constraints of what is
autonomy to organizational members allowed and what not.
to operate, within clearly e ­ stablished b. They establish clear, strong, and mean-
boundaries and constraints of what is ingful core values and make sure they
allowed and what not. are widely shared within the company.
b. They establish clear, strong, and c. They develop and maintain a performance-
­meaningful core values and make driven culture by ­fighting inertia and
sure they are widely shared within complacency, challenging the enemies
the company. of a winning ­mindset, focusing strongly
c. They develop and maintain a performance- on getting high ­excellence in whatever
driven culture by fighting i­nertia and the ­organization does, and stimulating
complacency, challenging the e ­ nemies people to achieve high performance.
of a winning m­ indset, f­ ocusing strongly d. They create a culture of transparency,
on getting high ­excellence in whatever openness, and trust by establishing a
the o­ rganization does, and stimulating shared understanding, openly sharing
people to achieve high performance. information and fostering informality.
d. They are superior in terms of ­clarifying e. They create a learning organization
performance measures, training by continuously investing in training
people to do their jobs, and enabling and upgrading of skills, establishing
­employees to work well together. good management development and
e. They create a culture of transparency, top-of-the-line training programs, and
openness, and trust by establishing a by constantly identifying and a­ ccessing
shared understanding, openly sharing new competencies.
information, and fostering informality. f. They attract exceptional people with
f. Their employees are more likely to a can-do attitude who fit the culture,
think the organization is a good place nurtures highly talented employ-
to work. ees and gives bright people space to
g. They also emphasize a readiness to change and excel.
meet new challenges and are c­ ommitted g. They engage and involve the work-
to innovation. force by involving people in developing

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 Developing a High-Performance Organization in a VUCA World

vision and values, in interactive in HPOs is difficult even for companies

­discussions and the decision-making who have the benefit of dedicated and
process and by communicating issues knowledgeable employees and business
­
and ­developments important to the leaders to leverage.
organization. In ongoing research by the Centre for
h. They create a safe and secure w ­ orkplace Executive Education (CEE), it has been
­
by giving people a sense of safety found that various leadership c­ ompetencies
(physical and psychological) and job including cognitive readiness (critical and
security and by not laying off people strategic thinking skills), emotional and
(until it cannot be avoided). social intelligence, managerial coaching
­
i. They master the core competencies and leading team for performance, e ­ ffective
and are innovators themselves by decid- negotiation and conflict management and
ing and sticking to what the company cross-cultural communication and ­diversity
does best, keeping core competencies management are crucial in ­deriving results
inside the firm and outsourcing non- and achieving organizational success in an
core competencies. HPO operating in a highly disruptive and
j. They develop people to be resilient increasingly VUCA-driven business envi-
and flexible and recruit a workforce ronment (Bawany, 2016).
with maximum flexibility. The business environment is continu-
k. They align employee behavior ally changing, and a leader must respond
and values with company values in kind in the effort toward the develop-
and ­direction at all organizational ment to be an HPO (see Figure 1).
­levels by translating vision into l­ ocal The fundamentals remain that orga-
­objectives and letting individuals nizations need to continuously deliver
­realize that they have accountabili- service value and build good customer
ties and obligations to themselves ­relationships in order to generate sustain-
and the organization. able results through their satisfied and
loyal customers. Employees being at the
The HPO Framework forefront of the service delivery chain hold
for a VUCA World the key to building this satisfied and loyal
Leading in a world that is highly d ­ isruptive customer base (see Figure 2).
as well as Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Employees who are engaged and moti-
and Ambiguous (VUCA) not only provides vated are instrumental in delivering the
a challenging environment for leaders to service experience for the client that will
operate and for executive d ­evelopment ­result in customer engagement. The level of
­programs to have an ­impact, it also ­provides employee engagement is ­dependent on the
a ­much-needed range of new c­ ompetencies. organizational climate (sometimes known as
The new reality is ­resulting in the ­realization corporate climate), which here simply ­refers
that new and different c­apabilities are to “how employees feel about w ­ orking in
needed to succeed (Bawany, 2016). the organization.” O ­ rganizational climate is
We are operating in a hypercompetitive the process of quantifying the culture of an
VUCA business environment. The world ­organization. It is a set of p
­ roperties of the
moves faster today when compared to 20 to work e ­nvironment, ­ perceived directly or
30 years ago. Companies feel the pressure ­indirectly by the ­employees, that is ­assumed
to decrease time to market and improve to be a major force in i­ nfluencing employee
the quality of products while delivering behavior and engagement (Bawany, 2014).
on ever-changing customer expectations We know that leaders create, transform,
to maintain competitive posture—that is, and manage organizational cultures. The
be adaptive and nimble. Deriving results leader’s values, beliefs, and leadership style

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 Developing a High-Performance Organization in a VUCA World

Figure 1:The Results-Driven HPO Framework for VUCA World

Figure 2:The Results-Based Leadership (RBL) Framework for HPOs

will impact the ­organization’s ­climate. In a and responsibilities toward engaging the
VUCA-driven workplace, “Level 5” leaders employees.
(Collins, 2001) are r­ equired who p
­ ossess on- Managers often fail to appreciate how
tological humility and e ­ motional ­mastery. profoundly the organizational climate can
They also need to possess ­essential integ- influence financial results. It can account
rity in discharging their day-to-day role for nearly a third of financial performance.

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 Developing a High-Performance Organization in a VUCA World

Organizational climate, in turn, is ­influenced In 1998, in Working with Emotional

by leadership style—by the way that man- ­Intelligence, author Daniel Goleman set out
agers motivate direct ­ reports, gather and a framework of emotional intelligence (EI)
use information, make decisions, manage that reflects how an individual’s potential
change initiatives, and handle crises. for mastering the skills of Self-Awareness,
As shown in Figure 1, the five pillars of Self-Management, Social Awareness, and
leadership competencies that are c­ritical ­Relationship Management translate into
for an HPO operating in a VUCA world ­on-the-job success for a leader. This model
­includes the following: is based on EI competencies that have
been identified in extensive published
1. emotional and social intelligence, ­research on hundreds of corporations and
2. cognitive readiness (critical and strategic ­organizations as distinguishing outstanding
thinking skills), performers (Goleman, 1998).
3. managerial coaching and leading team An emotional competence is defined as
for performance, “a learned capability based on emotional
4. effective negotiation and conflict man- intelligence that results in outstanding
agement, and ­performance at work” (Goleman, 1998). To
5. cross-cultural communication and d­ iversity be adept at an emotional c­ompetence like
management. Customer S­ervice or Conflict M ­ anagement
requires an underlying ability in EI
Emotional and Social Intelligence ­fundamentals, specifically, Social A
­ wareness
Competencies for HPO and Relationship M ­ anagement. However,
The next crucial next-gen leadership emotional c­ ompetencies are learned abilities:
competency is that of emotional and
­ having Social Awareness or skill at m
­ anaging
­social intelligence. Emotional i­ntelligence relationship does not guarantee we have
has ­ become a major topic of interest in mastered the additional learning required
organizations since the publication of a
­ to handle a customer adeptly or to resolve a
bestseller by the same name in 1995 by
­ conflict—just that a leader has the potential
­Daniel Goleman (Goleman, 1995). The early to become skilled in these competencies. 
­definitions of social intelligence ­influenced Emotional competencies are job skills
the way emotional i­ntelligence was later that can, and indeed must, be learned.
­conceptualized. ­Contemporary theorists An underlying EI ability is necessary,
such as Peter Salovey and John Mayer though not sufficient, to manifest compe-
originally viewed emotional i­ntelligence tence in any one of the four EI domains,
as part of social intelligence (Salovey and or clusters.
Mayer, 1990), which suggests that both The competencies are classified into
­concepts are related and may, in all like- four clusters of general EI abilities:
lihood, represent interrelated c­ omponents
of the same construct. 1. Self-awareness
Because individuals in organizations 2. Self-management
can rarely be successful alone, they must 3. Social awareness and
influence, lead, and coordinate their
­ 4. Relationship management
efforts with others in order to achieve
­
their goals—to translate vision into action. Nested within each of those four areas
A leader’s success rests in large part upon are specific, learned competencies that set
his or her ability to influence the different the best leaders and performers apart from
groups he or she must relate to in the or- average.
ganization: the superiors, peers, and direct The framework illustrates, for ­example,
reports. that we cannot demonstrate the competencies

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 Developing a High-Performance Organization in a VUCA World

of trustworthiness and c ­ onscientiousness Relationship Management concerns the skill

without mastery of the fundamental ability or adeptness at inducing desirable r­ esponses
of ­Self-Management or the ­Competencies in others. The ­Relationship ­Management
of Influence, ­Communication, Conflict cluster contains six competencies:
­Management, and so on without a handle on
Managing Relationships. a. Developing Others: Sensing others’
Self-Awareness concerns knowing one’s development needs and bolstering their
internal states, preferences, resources, abilities.
and intuitions. The Self-Awareness cluster b. Inspirational Leadership: Inspiring and
­contains three competencies: guiding individuals and groups.
c. Change Catalyst: Initiating or m­ anaging
a. Emotional Self-Awareness: Recognizing change.
one’s emotions and their effects. d. Influence: Wielding effective tactics for
b. Accurate Self-Assessment: Knowing persuasion.
one’s strengths and limits. e. Conflict Management: Negotiating and
c. Self-Confidence: A strong sense of one’s resolving disagreements.
self-worth and capabilities. f. Teamwork and Collaboration: ­Working
with others toward shared goals. C­ reating
Self-Management refers to managing ones’ group synergy in pursuing collective goals.
internal states, impulses, and r­esources.
The Self-Management cluster contains six Importance of Empathy
competencies: as a Leadership Competency
Many leaders and managers vaguely
a. Emotional Self-Control: Keeping dis- ­understand the impact empathy has on
ruptive emotions and impulses in check. ­leadership ­effectiveness. One of the r­ easons
b. Transparency: Maintaining integrity, we have found out is that very few of them
acting congruently with one’s values. have been trained or taught how to cultivate
c. Adaptability: Flexibility in handling empathy in their lives and work as a daily
change. practice (Bawany, 2017).
d. Achievement: Striving to improve or The empathetic leader put themselves
meeting a standard of excellence. in their follower’s shoes and attempt to see
e. Initiative: Readiness to act on opportunities. things from their perspective. E ­mpathy
f. Optimism: Persistence in pursuing goals doesn’t mean agreeing with someone.
despite obstacles and setbacks. ­Empathy is not sympathy. Empathy doesn’t
mean telling them that they are right, or
Social Awareness refers to how people even addressing their concern. Demonstrat-
handle relationships and awareness of ing empathy shows that you care enough to
­others’ feelings, needs, and concerns. The give someone else’s issue the same level of
Social Awareness cluster contains three respect and attention they do.
competencies: Empathy can be simply defined as the ­ability
to be aware of and u­ nderstand how others feel.
a. Empathy: Sensing others’ feelings and It is a key component of p ­ eople-oriented and
perspectives and taking an active i­ nterest participative ­leadership. This would include
in their concerns. being ­sensitive to the ­feelings, concerns, and
b. Organizational Awareness: Reading a needs of the c­ oworkers and is able to see the
group’s emotional currents and power world from their perspective.
relationships. Empathy can also be seen as demonstrat-
c. Service Orientation: Anticipating, rec- ing an active concern for people and their
ognizing, and meeting customers’ needs. needs by forming close and supportive

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 Developing a High-Performance Organization in a VUCA World

relationships with others. Leaders who lack 4. Intuition: Check your gut, but don’t let
empathy may be perceived by others as cold, it rule your mind.
uncaring, and having little interest in them 5. Problem Solving: Use analytical and
as people. Leaders, who score high on this creative methods to resolve a challenge.
competency, work to develop close bonds 6. Adaptability: Be willing and able to
with others. They spend time ­getting to change, with shifting conditions.
know people and are able to give their col- 7. Communication: Inspire others to
leagues the feeling that they are p ­ ersonally action; Create fluid communication
involved with them. They tend to ­emphasize pathways.
the importance of being ­generous and kind
and displaying a sincere interest in the Overall, heightened cognitive readiness
well-being of o
­ thers. If c­ arried to extremes, allows leaders to maintain a better sense of
however, this closeness may cloud a leader’s self-control in stressful situations.
objectivity and result in decisions that do
not properly consider the organization’s best Microsoft Corporation—Case
interests. Hence it would be crucial for the Study of Leadership in Development
leader to bear in mind the saying Familiarity of HPOs
breeds contempt.
In today’s hypercompetitive, disruptive VUCA-
Cognitive Readiness Competencies driven business environment, we need a new
for HPO breed of CEOs and business leaders who are
The next generation leadership compe- defined less by commanding and controlling
tencies will include the suite of ­cognitive or autocratic/coercive and pacesetting leader-
readiness skills that can be viewed as ship styles, but rather more of inspiring and
part of the advanced thinking skills that ­empowering or ­authoritative/visionary and
make leaders ready to confront whatever coaching ­leadership styles (Bawany, 2017).
new and complex problems they might A great example of a leader that
face. As stated earlier, cognitive r­ eadiness ­demonstrates this approach e ­ffectively and
is the mental preparation that leaders successfully is Microsoft ­ Corporation CEO,
­develop so that they, and their teams, are Satya Nadella. Unlike his p ­redecessor, the
prepared to face the ongoing dynamic, ­notoriously combative Steve Ballmer, Nadella
­ill-defined, and unpredictable challenges has dramatically revived M ­ icrosoft’s reputa-
in the highly disruptive and VUCA-driven tion and its relevance by e ­mphasizing col-
business environment (Hagemann and laboration and what he calls a “learn-it-all”
Bawany, 2016 a,b.). culture versus the c­ompany’s h ­istorical
The Executive Development Associates know-it-all one. As Fast Company’s s­ enior edi-
(EDA) has identified the following seven tor Harry M ­ cCracken ­explains in “­Microsoft
key cognitive readiness skills, collectively Rewrites the Code,” the results have been
known as Paragon 7 (see Figure 3), which ­eye-popping: more than $250 billion in mar-
develop, enhance, or sustain a leader’s ket value gains in less than four years—a
ability to navigate successfully in this new feat that, quantitatively, puts Nadella in the
normal: league of Jeff Bezos of A
­ mazon, Tim Cook of
Apple, Larry Page of Google, and Mark Zuck-
1. Mental Cognition: Recognize and ­regulate erberg of Facebook.
your thoughts and emotions. Nadella demonstrates ontological humil-
2. Attentional Control: Manage and focus ity: when a few months into his tenure,
your attention. he made a major faux pas at a c­ onference
3. Sensemaking: Connect the dots and see for women engineers that spawned a
the bigger picture. wave of criticism. He owned the mistake

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 Developing a High-Performance Organization in a VUCA World

Figure 3: Paragon 7 Cognitive Readiness Competencies

and ­ admitted to biases that he hadn’t rather than a fixed personality trait, that
realized. The episode ended up building
­ can be addressed with coaching.
his c­ redibility in the long run. Finally, Nadella demonstrates ­empathy
Nadella’s leadership style is to e
­ mphasize as he recognizes that his coleaders
what’s been done right. He starts each and ­ employees’ perspective is real and
­senior leadership meeting with a s­ egment ­important to them. It may not be real, or
called “Researcher of the Amazing,” important, to him, but it is very real and
showcasing something inspiring at the
­ important to them. He gives it the same
company and by doing so he created an level of respect and attention they do.
organizational climate of trust partnership
with his coleaders. Conclusion
Nadella is a strong believer in ­talent High-performance organizations exhibit a
management and has been p ­ersonally set of characteristics that are available to
­involved in the recruitment of new talent almost every company, regardless of the
into the company, and he has e ­ mphasized industry and scale of business. However,
the ­ importance of an ­ outsider’s to achieve sustainable success, companies
­perspective in steering the o­ rganization to may benefit from the experience of those
greater heights. But he has put even more that have achieved it, if they are able to
focus on unleashing potential within the ­examine and benchmark every aspect of
leadership team ­including high-potential the business including strategy, structure,
leaders. He’s created a high-performance- people, climate, and processes and take
driven culture with his empowering and steps to bring their organizations in line
coaching style of leadership, which relies with the high-performance profile.
on managerial coaching as an organiza- Leading an HPO in a highly ­disruptive
tional development tool. He also believes and increasingly VUCA-driven b ­ usiness
that re­sis­­tance to change is a behavior, ­environment and workplace requires leaders

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11
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