If we ignore noise in the system eventually something will break. This is true for bodies, machines, organisations and our planet.
The noise is there for a reason. It is feedback that something isn’t quite right. Sometimes the noise is visible, sometimes audible, and sometimes felt. It is a message carrier providing clues for where the system needs energy and attention.
In the domain of leadership, I call this The Tension Compass. The tension might be between people, functions or stakeholders. It might be in systems and processes. The tension is guidance for leaders about where their energy and attention is required.
We have internal and external Tension Compasses.
The Internal Tension Compass is that gut feeling, or the worry in your head keeping you awake at night. It’s the niggle of your chatter, and the conversation you know you need to have but are avoiding.
The External Tension Compass is the repeated whispers in the kitchen and the corridor conversations with a certain candour. It’s the friction in your team, and the elephant in the room.
There are always hotspots to notice.
Leaders are paid to make things happen. To respond to hotspots and have difficult conversations. But difficult conversations are uncomfortable, and it can be easier to avoid them than to have them.
Engaging in tension requires curiosity, enquiry, listening and learning first. It’s about seeing a problem as information rather than as something to fix.
It’s about:
Remaining present with reality rather than denying, pretending or defending in a misguided hope for security.
Letting life be life. Being in the experience of life and letting it be a guide - much like a compass.
Recognising our fears and vulnerabilities while trusting our resilience, resourcefulness, and the process of change and evolution.
While expanding one's knowledge is important, it is meaningless in an organisation context, without application. The practice of doing, reviewing, learning and refining is where confidence and results come from.
The more you practice engaging in tension, the more you feel safer in navigating uncertainty.
Accessing the External Tension Compass is about being present and noticing all the hotspots in your organisational world.
Noticing the unspoken tension between people and functions. Noticing the friction in relationships and seemingly competing departmental objectives.
You will probably be aware of many already, so a starting place for this is to:
Mind map or list the hotspots you are aware of
Consider your purpose in terms of what you are trying to achieve for:
Your organisation
Your team/s
Yourself
Consider how you are best to engage with that tension
Sometimes this can be overwhelming. Here’s a stakeholder mapping exercise that uses the Tension Compass to bring some clarity to your key relationships.
Think about the purpose of your job, or a project area within it that you want to make progress with
Draw a stakeholder mapping grid for the work as shown above
Place the relevant stakeholders in the appropriate quadrant
Some useful considerations to start with:
What 4-5 relationships are imperative?
What is the current quality of relationship with those 4-5 people?
Considering your objectives, what do you need the quality of the relationship to be?
What is the gap?
How might you begin closing any gaps?
What conversations will be required?
Matt helps leaders and teams develop their mindset and resourcefulness so they can relate productively, communicate effectively, and navigate challenge, change and complexity with confidence.
Through coaching and training, he empowers leaders with better choices and more options for progress - building better leadership from the inside out.
Curious what that could look like for you or your organisation? Let’s talk.