Blue Chip Issue 89

FINANCIAL PLANNING | Leadership
BLUE
CHIP
What if disruption could be used
as a positive force for good?
What if individuals could see their own reinvention as impacting
today’s society and its transformation? What if disruption could be
used as a positive force for good?
Let’s encourage ourselves, our clients and each other to tap
into new voices and new thoughts to reinvent and create new
opportunities out of the risks and challenges we are facing.
If we did more of this, I think we might just be able to agree
with this beautiful quote from Arundhati Roy:
“Another world is not only possible, she’s on her way – on a
quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
Using disruption as a positive force
When people are demotivated, worried or burdened by the
disruptive and worrying events we face today, it can be useful to ask:
• How could what you are experiencing be “forcing” you to rethink
things, to reinvent?
• How could you tackle what is happening to you differently and
shift your approach for the better?
• Could what is happening today be the basis for us to create a
new, better way?
One aspect that is helpful in rethinking things or tackling
something from a different perspective is to look in different
places and to listen to different voices. This is best described as
inclusive leadership.
Inclusive leadership as force for reinvention
Inclusive leadership is a practice of recognising the uniqueness and
value that every human being can possibly bring to a discussion. It
is about creating psychological safety for everyone to be part of a
discussion and bring themselves in, without fear of being judged
or discriminated against.
It is also about bringing in marginalised voices. By valuing
and respecting diverse perspectives, inclusive leaders encourage
open dialogue, active participation and constructive dissent.
They establish a culture that embraces different viewpoints and
encourages everyone to contribute their thoughts without the
fear of being judged or marginalised.
Who can practice inclusive leadership? Absolutely every one
of us. Whether we are leaders in organisations, whether we are
financial planners serving our clients, leaders of our own lives…
absolutely everyone. We need new thinking in our world today, so
let us not listen to the “usual” voices, but rather those who have
not been heard so much so far!
What does this all mean?
South Africa is so culturally rich and filled with such incredibly
different people, but we do not fully tap into this potential. We
have incredible potential to use disruption as a positive force for
good; to reinvent and to practice inclusive leadership.
How do we encourage ourselves, our clients and our network
to search for differences rather than similarities? To look for
answers to their challenges in new places? To be able to reinvent
ourselves, our organisations and our lives to face many of the
risks we face today.
Judith Haupt, Managing Director, CONTRACT South Africa
www.bluechipdigital.co.za
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