Disruptive Leadership: Tackling normalcy in our society

With the advent of change occurring more regularly than not and the speed of creativity continuing to expand at a rapid rate, conventional forms of leadership are always attempting to catch up. In this regard, disruptive leadership has come to the fore as a strong force that is able to change organizations, industries and entire economies. It’s more than just being in charge of a bunch of people or business; it is actively seeking change, questioning conventions and opening new doors to success. Such leaders have the right mix of vision, courage, resilience—these qualities motivate them to achieve goals that their team members consider to be too risky, or plain impossible.

Disruptive leadership is redefining the idea of leadership. Leadership as understood does that mean pushing further but instead doing the bare minimum to keep the peace, going through the motions, and waiting for nominal changes. Beston, asserts that Disruptive leadership is meant for everyone who enjoys disrupting the status quo and goes against the traditional way of thinking because they have brilliant, possibly game changing concepts. It’s all about breaking down walls, taking strategically planned risks and the willingness to try and fail in order to achieve success. That is not the case with global leaders who aim to advance business sectors, address intricate issues, and establish a legacy for future generations, they are motivated by the urge to change.

A key feature of disruptive leadership is the capacity to recognize opportunities in situations where others only see barriers. These leaders have an uncanny knack for recognizing market voids, unfulfilled demands, and domains in which previously offered solutions ceased to be valid. They are always looking for new and better things and challenge their teams to be imaginative and debunk currently valid notions. Disruptive leaders actively foster an atmosphere for invention by encouraging creativity and rapid trial and error, which leads to the development of new ideas and non-traditional approaches to problems. This not only results in new innovative products, services and concepts being developed but also allows the company to be regarded as an Innovative Leader in its market and be able to out maneuver rival organizations while quickly adjusting to the environment’s dynamics.

For one to be considered a disruptive leader one should be comfortable in the unknown and be willing to embrace the risk and uncertainty that comes along with that, leaders should always be able to view the future from a more historical point as during a world of disruption it is quite impossible to try and predict what comes next. Disruptive leaders are well aware of this concept and as a result do not mind the grey areas with regards to making decisions, they understand the importance of taking risks and with that making bold decisions and working towards ideas that have great potential regardless of the uncertainties that come along. The ability to navigate through the unknown has allowed many visionaries to reach the pinnacle by building revolutionary businesses, but one can also fail, which more often than not is considered a good thing; to them, especially according to Dr. Adizes, who said that changing his approach to ambiguous situations is a sign of leadership, and being a leader means accepting failure as an intrinsic part of the whole innovation cycle, the key skill is being fast and agile enough to adjust the strategy afterward, failure in business is not fatal, borrowing an analogy from sport, many factors in sports depend on the luck factor, and so professionals practice often to reduce the possibility of failure in professional scenarios. If one wants to succeed in the business world, one cannot be resistant to changes to the marketplace as resilience coupled with great adaptability is what allows for great potential as a leader to really be put to use.

Disruptive thinking leaders not only have visions as well as take risks, but they are also fully focused on supporting their teams. Such leaders know that cultural transformation is not a solo endeavor but rather a result of a group effort. Leaders that transform the normal into ‘out of the box’ ideas sufficiently inspire and motivate their followers to develop a sense of ownership and responsibility. In such leaders, there is no place for traditional organizational structures characterized by tiers, trust deficits, or inability to communicate freely. They create a culture of confidence such that when there are goals to achieve, the team would be motivated enough to go all out and reach for those goals for the betterment of the organization.

Disruptive leaders typically disregard the status quo because a major characteristic of leadership along their perspective involves innovation. In fact, countless fields have businesses whose modality or business model has existed for the past few decades. This is because these models place a great emphasis on stability, growth, predictability, and more. Disruptive leaders defy these boundaries and instead search for opportunities to transform how business is conducted. It can be noted that they are not scared to break industry standards, appropriate and long-standing practices, and suggest new possibilities for them. For all of these being said it can be seen how disruptive leaders change things by eliminating current restrictions in practices and advancement: for example, the growth of ride-share services crossed a boundary within the transport sector as did telemedicine within the healthcare sector.

Leadership that goes beyond the bounds of traditionalism greatly owes it to technology in the first place. With the modernization of technology, new avenues of creativity and innovation have been unlocked which remain to be a game changer within business models, operations as well as customer experiences. This is where the role of a transformative leader comes in, they utilize technology to enhance efficiency within services or products and find new ways to interact with their target audience. Such leaders are willing to bear the risks that come along with undertaking new strategies within the digital space and are motivated to transform the industry through investments in new technologies. A perfect example for this would be Amazon, Tesla and Netflix who have successfully redefined e commerce , transportation and entertainment via tech use. This goes without saying that such companies managed to shift from the norm by establishing entirely new ways of doing business via emerging technologies for industries that have long stood their ground.

Regardless, disruptive leadership does not mean just innovating— it means leading with a vision. There are those, however, who are good at being disruptive and have a clear mission in mind and want to do good. These leaders do not just think about making money or achieving an award for themselves, they think of ways of how businesses can serve their customers, staff and the community at large. By serving a cause greater than oneself, disruptive leaders motivate the minds of their subordinates and evoke loyalty within their consumers. They grasp that real transformation is not just about developing and launching novel ideas, a new product or service, it is about touching people’s lives, addressing issues and making the world a better place than what we had inherited. This feeling serves to encourage them to hatch ideas that can be turned into reality and empowers them to face adversity and endure periods of hardship.

Disruptive leadership is deeply concerned with changing the organization’s orientation towards agility. Agility in this context is being adaptive, being able to pivot even under pressure. A disruptive leader is cognizant of the fact that the one constant is change, and there is a new opportunity, a new threat, and a new challenge waiting to be pounced on. Moreover, they are always on the lookout for avenues to improve efficiency, to enhance systematization of processes and to remain one or more steps ahead of the market. Therefore, there exists a need for an overwhelming degree of tolerance towards flexibility and experimentation with ideas. Agility, they know, is without a doubt, crucial for survival in the ambit of business which is violent and rapid in nature.

Watching the business world is only a fraction of the whole ecosystem that needs leadership. It comprehensively spans across the society, culture as well as their economy. With the influence that disruptive leaders carry in the industries they operate, their influence and effect can be seen further into the social and economic arena. They called the savers because they are able to save the society and enable the world to change by promoting alternate ways in which things are done and new norms and standard created which help in social progression. It could be in the form of standing for the environment, social justice, inclusivity and many such issues which were if not addressed had the potential to change the world adversely.

Challenging leaders are bound to face obstacles that come with having an entrepreneurial mindset. Sustaining the current system is of utmost importance to certain key players and those key players will resist any sort of changes. Leaders who wish to bring about the change will be faced with scrutiny from naysayers to even their own organization. Courageous leaders who are ready to bring about change need to anticipate fierce opposition and grapple with the intricate interrelations within an organization. They must also be prepared to be held accountable for where their decisions take them. It is, however, possible also that the goals of the business changers are accomplished, and that encourages and motivates further undoing of previous accomplishments.

Disruptors steer to the unconventional, and this proves to be transformative. When the future is ambiguous, those who can manufacture solutions, who have the inclination to attack the present, industry, and market with grit and bravery are the leaders who stand out. Aggressive leaders challenge their peers to abandon the norm, be unorthodox, and to overreach extensively in new proposals. It is vital to grasp that success is not about the pursuit of what exists but the journey of discovering what will exist. Already in today’s world, there is a growing assortment of problems and solutions and over time the world will undeniably need more aggressive leaders with foresight and intent to changing the status quo.