On the LONG flights (total over 20 hours in the air) to Southeast Asia earlier this week, I had the opportunity to reflect on the previous few weeks. I remembered that my actual flight arrangements for 3-April had not been booked until very late in March. . .and that I had been waiting for a prospective client in Kuala Lumpur (KL) to decide when/if they wanted to schedule the two-day workshop that had been in discussions for months.
Just after they had opted to postpone the engagement until my next visit--due to internal project challenges--another prospect woke up and emailed to ask if it was too late to get onto my crowded schedule. After not booking until the last minute, I still ended up changing my flight arrangements three times to accommodate the new client.
As my professional speaker colleagues will confirm, our clients have been booking us to speak with less and less notice. My engagements for 2-April and 23-April in the US were both booked within six weeks of the date of delivery.
I think it is valuable to look at what's happening, why, and what it means to organizations moving forward. First, as we have said so many times before: the world is changing at an ever-increasing rate. The future is here today; that future we thought would take years to arrive.
I also noticed that unlike in the past, when I obsessed about the fact that my plans had remained fluid, I was "OK" with not knowing. I was OK with living in limbo. This development reflects a shift in my emotional being---not to mention that it drives others around me, friends, families, and staff a little crazy.
A while back, Roger Herman and I were working on a book called Future Skills.. It was about the skills that people would need in the future to thrive in corporate environments. I would have to place "tolerance for uncertainty" at the top of the list.
It is an important part of being an enlightened leader in the 21st Century and will be one of those most sought after qualities by major corporations. Moreover, any corporate leader must embrace change; it is a part of mastering change management.
As the speed of change continues to increase, we can expect the need for tolerance of uncertainty to increase. The most sought-after leaders will be those who have the highest thresholds of tolerance of uncertainty.
Looking Forward. . .
Joyce Gioia-Herman
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