Intrapreneurial Leadership Is More Necessary Than Ever
Covid-19 has changed organizational priorities to such a degree that leadership competencies today hardly resemble those of, say, five years ago. Almost overnight, the imperative of digital transformation went from something blurry on the horizon to the crystal-clear exigency of the moment. Adopting more agile workforce management models — a move that has been long incubating and often discussed among organizational leaders — has finally arrived on a massive scale. By every indication, changes like these are here to stay.
All of this brings the concept of intrapreneurship, a topic I have written about in the past, to the fore. At a moment when 80% of the workforce, 93% of managers and 77% of senior leaders say they feel "poorly prepared for the future," according to a recent Gartner survey, it would appear obvious that new mindsets, attitudes and behaviors are already taking hold. How we harness or channel them is very much the question of the day.
I believe that intrapreneurial leadership may be illuminating in this respect and, in part, the answer. Let's reexamine the concept in light of Covid-19.
Four Core Competencies Of Intrapreneurial Leaders
Let's start with a clear definition. What, exactly, do I mean by "intrapreneurial leadership"? Think of intrapreneurship like this: It's the ability to drive innovation throughout your organizational culture in a way that stimulates downstream creativity, and in turn persuades others to experiment and find cutting-edge alternatives to outdated or legacy processes, strategies and programs.
The circuitry between leadership competencies and organizational culture is an essential part of the value proposition of intrapreneurship generally. Simply put, where intrapreneurial leadership is exhibited, organizational culture follows, and you can see that reflected at companies that are thriving across the board right now.
Almost universally, these companies are placing a premium on things like agility, learning mindsets, employee well-being and comfort with risk and disruption. Do you notice what all of these characteristics have in common? They're all finely tuned to one of the noteworthy and broadly-based features of the global pandemic: its tendency to accelerate changes that were already afoot well before the advent of the crisis.
Digital transformation initiatives, for example, were either planned or underway at something like 70% of companies prior to Covid-19. Needless to say, we know what's happened since then, and with further changes to products and services being a key piece of revenue strategies at the majority of companies today, according to a recent PwC survey, intrapreneurship will be more critical than ever.
Strategies For Fostering A Culture Of Intrapreneurship
In the interim, how can intrapreneurial leaders help their companies embrace innovation, drive cultural change, accelerate transformation and replace outdated ways of thinking? Of course, the answer is going to be different for every company, but even if organizations can't become 100% flat overnight (and they shouldn't try to), forward-thinking leaders today should have abundant opportunities to implement some of these tenets of intrapreneurship.
Here are three pieces of tactical guidance that should inform your approach:
• Encourage the formation of self-organizing, cross-functional teams for new projects. When employees are empowered by intrapreneurial leadership and work within these sorts of teams, they're more motivated to develop creative solutions and alternatives.
• Evangelize upskilling, reskilling and learning and development (L&D) initiatives. This is especially critical right now, as organizations are feeling more of a pinch from digital skills gaps within business functions than in core IT.
• Lead toward decompression. This is a strategy I've previously written about, and it is an especially valuable leadership methodology right now, and a way for organizations to stop thinking transactionally when they should be acting strategically.
Looking At The Road Ahead
At this stage in the global crisis, it's premature to say with confidence which changes to the workforce will permanently stick, but we can already see how short-term shifts are playing out in culture. You can bet that broad-based social change is sure to happen, and the change that matters, while impinging on organizational and workforce structure, ultimately has more to do with mindsets and culture.
For now, I wish you good luck on your journey. No matter what comes next, I hope that you and your workforce are successful — and that you all remain strong, safe and healthy.