Lately, educational and NFP organizations have seen, perhaps more clearly than ever, how events beyond the campus and around the world can have immediate and potentially harmful repercussions if boards and leaders fail to prepare for and thoughtfully navigate geopolitical volatility and its consequences. Events like these can quickly distract from the bigger-picture goals you may have settled on, so what if your goals actually included ways to be more resilient in the face of what can’t be predicted? 

Can your goals actually create conditions for success in a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) environment?

First, remember that the board creates the right conditions, or as William Bowen states: 

While this podcast interview from McKinsey is focused on corporate governance, many of the insights have relevance to Bowen’s call to action and its application to educational and NFP boards.

One of the key takeaways from this conversation between Jon Huntsman Jr., Celia Huber, Ziad Haider, and Sean Brown is that boards need to build new areas of knowledge and expertise:  

Jon Huntsman: Today, geopolitical risk insights and capabilities must be central to every corporate strategy and leadership team because how you lead and problem solve during this period without a rule book and without precedent will make or break the success of your corporate strategy. Leadership teams need to build new disciplines and new muscles.

A significant hurdle for boards and leadership is moving into adaptive work to address risks where solutions are unknown. New muscle is needed to actively build mission-aligned solutions to novel problems. 

Ziad Haider: When we survey business leaders about their views on risk, geopolitical risk is understandably at the top, and the biggest emergent risk in 2024 is post-election political transitions. Interestingly, when we ask those business leaders about their top priorities, geopolitical and political risks are toward the bottom. It’s puzzling, and our hypothesis is that this is a new discipline for companies. Many executives have never dealt with so many geopolitical fractures. In effect, they’re saying, “We have a pretty good sense of the problems, but we don’t have a great sense of the solutions.”

A first step for moving forward is highly practical: establishing a common baseline of facts. 

Ziad Haider: Next, you can’t have an informed discussion about geopolitics without a common baseline of facts. Too often, we hear, “I heard this from a friend,” or “I read that in a magazine,” and that’s the basis for decisions. The fact is that geopolitics is personal. Leaders of global organizations consume very different media. Additionally, boards need to raise the clock speed. The annual conversation with a geopolitics expert that Jon mentioned—that luxury is gone.

A second crucial element is connecting all the decisions to your organization’s strategy. Staying focused on your strategy and vision will guide you through turmoil and act as a buffer against reactive decision-making. 

Celia Huber: I would add that organizations don’t spend enough time getting alignment between the board and management on the facts that really matter. Where is value really at stake? Then, rather than getting caught up in the latest headlines, they should go back to the strategy and analyze value for the company.

As you look ahead to a fall with a U.S. election and continued conflict abroad, what steps are your board and leadership taking to establish the conditions for your organization to continue to flourish amidst this volatility? How can this translate to your goals for great governance work this year?

One solution is to be a “genius team.” 

We encourage boards to actively compose themselves as a high-performing team, and love this article from HBR because it highlights the rarity of teams that fully realize their potential. The author writes:

What does your board need to do to become a “genius team?” And how can your Executive Committee help? 

In our recent GLP blog post “Got Goals? Activate Your Executive Committee the Right Way,” we explore how harnessing the power of your Executive Committee can enhance the work of the entire board and transform your ability to set—and achieve—goals.

One of the first steps toward becoming a high-functioning EC is to get to work—to activate, learn, and build capacity. 

Start with vision and work backward to goals! The Executive Committee can drive coordinated work to develop goals—facilitating processes among the chief executive, leadership, and committees. Use your opening board meeting to propose goals for the board and leadership, refine them, and agree on where you will focus time, energy, and resources. 

We offer the following framework with a focus on understanding how a leader’s goals and board’s goals intersect and drive institutional goals and priorities with a focus on mission, vision, and strategy.

And, as you prepare to set goals, our blog post on setting goals highlights some tips for success: 

• Start with the big picture 
• Utilize divergent and convergent thinking
• Don’t confuse goals with tactics
• Supercharge your goals with clarity and specifics
• Pressure test your goals

Where are you in your leadership journey? And, as you move into leading an “enterprise,” how do you learn to partner with your board and set goals with intention—in ways that reflect where you are?

This article from Michael Watkins raises a crucial point: “The transition from leading a function or specialized unit to leading an enterprise is a significant leap, one that demands a new level of strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, and the ability to navigate complex organizational dynamics.” 

While it is especially crucial for CEOs, heads, and board members to develop this strategic thinking mindset, the six key areas Watkins highlights have benefits for everyone looking to navigate today’s environment:

• Embracing complexity and ambiguity
• Balancing enterprise and unit responsibilities
• Cultivating emotional intelligence and political savvy
• Communicating with impact
• Leading through paradox (embracing both/and thinking)
• Prioritizing self-care and resilience

Consider Watkin’s guidance as you think about—and shape—the arc of your tenure. The CEO’s Journey is a 3-Act Play from HBR frames three distinct “acts” that each have a different focus: 

• Act One is about taking charge, establishing legitimacy, and using the opportunity that comes from being the new person in command.
• Act Two is about recalibrating and reenergizing the organization based on the results of act one.
• Act Three is about preparing to hand the reins to a successor—and ensuring the company is positioned for longer-term success.

Act One often lasts two to three years. (If you missed it, revisit our July Blueprint, which highlights several resources for new leaders looking to understand how building confidence in the first 2-3 years can result in long-term value creation.)

Act Two is often blurred with Act One, but it is helpful to see them as distinct. At this point, you are no longer the “new” CEO. This is a time to avoid complacency by institutionalizing change, bringing new energy and initiatives, and strengthening the leadership bench.

Act Three is the most overlooked—“this is a phase when the CEO must work proactively with the board to ensure an orderly and well thought out succession.” 

Wherever you are in your tenure, it’s helpful to reflect on this framing—and a great way to engage in productive succession planning, an oft-overlooked responsibility of leaders and boards. 

Finally, as you develop new mindsets and skills to lead more effectively, learning—and asking questions—is an essential part of the process. But is it possible to undermine your role and effectiveness by asking too many questions? This article from HBR says, yes—and highlights 5 ways to help make sure your learning is a catalyst for growth and not a reason for others to question your leadership:

1. Communicate context for your inquiries to help prevent misinterpretations.
2. Connect new skills and knowledge directly to achieving results.
3. Thoughtfully craft questions in ways that not only demonstrate your expertise but also foster meaningful engagement.
4. Display confidence in your knowledge and decisiveness in your actions even while signaling an open mind and inclusive leadership style.
5. Cultivate an environment that values learning as a collective endeavor.

Genius doesn’t mean you have all the answers. So what about vulnerability? Will it help you be more effective as a leader? This BCG article suggests that “results-driven CEOs have a lot to gain from vulnerability.” 

“Research shows that the leaders with the best results are the ones who have a positive connection with their people,” Emma Seppälä, author of the book Sovereign, who teaches executive education at Yale’s School of Management. “They uplift their teams because they take a values-driven approach.”

BUT—just like with questioning, vulnerability can negatively impact your results. 

The article highlights several ways to utilize vulnerability well and avoid its pitfalls:

• Start small. Exchanging personal stories is one of the most powerful ways leaders can break the ice. 
• Share formative experiences. Whether it’s a personal development journey or slip-ups and failures, CEOs who share formative moments can appear more approachable and not threatened by criticism.
• Consider the time and place. When it comes to vulnerability, context matters. Wise leaders assess when vulnerability helps, and when it undermines their leadership.
• Establish guardrails and be self-aware. The risk of harm is integral to vulnerability. It’s therefore crucial that leaders not share information, whether personal or business, with those who may seek to hurt them or want them to fail.
• Confess your mistakes and maintain perspective. Honesty fosters trust. But don't just message the mistake. Talk about what you learned and how you adapted.

Goal setting and strategy are inextricably linked, so it makes sense to start by grounding yourself in your strategy and aligning individual and team goals. But what if you are questioning your strategy?

This HBR article asks, “Is it time to pivot your strategy?” and offers three questions to determine more accurately when a pivot might be needed. 

Question 1: Are you changing course because the strategy needs to change—or because execution has been poor?

When working with NFPs and schools, our GLP team always highlights the importance of first assessing capabilities when designing strategy. Addressing capabilities and setting new goals in alignment with the existing strategy is the solution for this scenario.

Question 2: Are you changing course because of outside pressure or impatience rather than a true assessment of whether you are on the right track?

At times, the most important thing a leader can do is hold the ship steady and withstand the questions and doubts about whether it will reach the right destination. Sometimes that is through reaffirming the current strategy. Sometimes it is also important to put in place structural aspects that protect innovative projects in a pilot phase so that their value can be determined effectively.

Question 3: Are you changing course because of a new opportunity, rather than a conviction that the current strategy is inadequate?

Being purposefully agile is different from being unfocused, unconfident, or over-reactive. Often, an anxious board or a resistant stakeholder group can cause you to pivot. Chances are, pivoting is not the same as designing better goals, adjusting tactics, communicating more effectively, and tending to disciplined execution. 

Finally, as we come to the end of summer and look ahead to a busy fall, it’s helpful to remember that strategy development doesn’t have to be overwhelming. This HBR article offers “Ways to Bring Strategy Into Your Work Every Day.” 

“Small decisions about where to focus and what to do throughout your day may feel inconsequential, but their impacts accumulate.” 

The authors highlight six ways to incorporate strategy into your daily practices. Our favorites are:

The micro moments of your day must map to the macro aspects of your strategy—and the daily discipline to do this is essential. Goals and tactics express your strategy and focus your attention. Once again, mindsets and behaviors are essential for good governance, good leadership, and good strategy!