In Part One, we outlined the VUCA framework, its context, and how to respond. This article will examine what it means to be a Portfolio Executive working with smaller organisations in a volatile world.
There are two elements to this: What does it mean for you? What does it mean in the context of the organisation you’re seeking to operate in?
As you enter the second half of your working life, you may naturally transition from seeking success to seeking significance. In that context, finding a community of purpose can be a powerful way to build relationships with others who desire to deliver a similar purpose, creating a sense of belonging and value.
At one level, these terms—fractional Director, Fractional Executive, Fractional Leader and Portfolio Executive—could be seen as interchangeable. Still, with the rising popularity of fractional, I am keen to preserve the term Portfolio Executive as different from a Fractional Executive.
For those who haven’t heard of VUCA, it is a military doctrine developed after the Second World War when people recognised that conventional warfare wouldn’t be the only way to respond to military threats. They realised that the world was Volatile (V), Uncertain (U), Complex (C) and Ambiguous (A).
When you step out as Portfolio Executives, you risk becoming isolated. Often, you are recommended to go out and ‘do networking’. Networking is a valuable business development activity, but I believe there is a much richer way of thinking about what we need.
As I work with Portfolio Executives, there are two things that become increasingly important. One is to help them to have a distinctive point of view about the world in which they inhabit and the second thing is for them to develop a stronger sense of personal purpose about what they’re trying to do through their work. One of the very powerful ways to start to articulate this and bring it into focus, is to develop a document that I call a manifesto.
Within the AQai model of adaptability, Environment is a critical dimension reflecting the impact of company, team and the experience of individuals at work.
As city dwellers, too often we lose track of the seasons. For many of us we step out of one climate-controlled environment into another, home to car/bus/underground to office to gym or home to shopping centre, restaurant or cinema. There are no seasonal foods any more with everything available anywhere anytime. We are insulated from the rich experience of spring, summer, autumn, winter.
It is incredibly valuable as a senior professional to get experience as a board member. There are three reasons that this really can make a difference to your career.
What is the ‘Capability Attitude’ and why is it about ‘Build not Fix’? For senior professionals, whether as employees, interims or consultants, they are indoctrinated with the mantra: ‘don’t just bring me problems; bring me solutions’.