A story about rapid change. What agility means for leaders.

The context.

When you operate in an extremely competitive sector - becoming more transactional by the minute - flexibility and adaptability were never optional. They were survival, and the only path to growth. You might assume that working for a large global brand would offer insulation from fierce competition and rapidly changing economic conditions, but that wasn’t always the case particularly if HQ views slow-growing geographies as a drain on resources, preferring to invest and move talent into markets generating faster returns for shareholders. The joys of leading in Australian markets.

The opportunity.

With that culture embedded as an everyday way of life, we were constantly searching and sensing for gaps and opportunities. And when we found one, it felt like adrenaline blasting through our high-performance mind-sets. Well, that is how it felt for me when I was given the greenlight after presenting my whitepaper.

The problem. In my scenario.

I considered myself an agile leader. I could adapt and flex in most situations. But when I stepped into a newly created role leading transformation projects, the pace accelerated - and so did the growth - without my leadership adapting fast enough. I wasn’t prepared for a market opportunity that demanded we grow, shift, and adapt incessantly.

Being unprepared meant decision-making needed to look different … yet we applied the same thinking. What used to be “out of the box” thinking was now in the box. Processes weighed us down. Limited time meant we couldn’t embed new approaches well.

Resourcing became an ongoing challenge requiring to be tackled creatively.   And leaders got stuck in “how we do things,” “the structure doesn’t allow for it,” or “we don’t have capability.”

Capacity and energy strained and burnout started to look like a final destination. Mind you, we achieved extraordinary success over a 3–4-year period.

What agility calls for.

Agility recognises that leaders navigate relentless acceleration - from shifting team dynamics to the systems we lead within, to the ecosystems that house them.

It calls for us to rethink decision-making, embed structures and processes that stay open to change, cultivate agile cultures, and solve complex problems creatively.

It means strategy and business plans are not a set and review process, strategy results in ongoing sensing of market conditions.

For leaders, it means exercising behavioural agility: rapid, appropriate adjustment to changing circumstances.

It also means questioning and reimagining our organisational bottlenecks. 

And leading others to be just as agile.