This is a picture of us celebrating the Chinese New Year. A catch-up to kick start what was the beginning of our 2022. It feels like a while ago already!
What to expect?
According to experts in Chinese mythology and culture, the Year or the Water Tiger “(…) will bring about new changes, and encourage people to overcome all challenges and difficulties — which is particularly important for this year, when we’re all trying to come to terms with all the difficulties around the world,” Dr Lin says. (ABC Everyday, 29 Jan 2022)
Fittingly, last week we started taking Adaptive Learnings from our golf lessons; and looking at the adaptive challenges that some of our Winter Olympic athletes have been facing.
But let’s have a look at some of the characteristics of the Water Tiger that most resonate with the critical traits of an Adaptive Leader in particular.
The Tiger is always enthusiastic about getting involved in a challenge and anything that he might think has an interesting future or something that catches his imagination.
He is prepared to take risks and does not like to be bound either by convention or the dictates of others. Tigers are very adaptable people with an adventurous personality and love to experiment and try new things.
Adaptive Leaders:
- Create a safe environment for risk taking, healthy conflict and a multiplicity of options.
- Like to challenge existing ways of working and bring an experimental mindset.
- Understand team’s strengths, motivations and passions and leverage that to create independent and empowered leaders and thinkers.
However, the Water Tiger may also encounter challenges when acting as an Adaptive Leader.
The Water Tiger will remain calm in a calamity but can sometimes be very indecisive.
Throughout their life Tigers will also want to retain a certain amount of independence.
Ultimately, to create competitive advantage, the level of adaptation required cannot come from one leader working alone. The adaptive leader fosters a collective vision and builds team commitment to achieving this together.
The challenge for the water tiger is the desire for independence getting in the way of this collaboration. When multiple options or new opportunities are created the water tiger will need some discipline to make decisive choices and not be overly distracted by the shiny new adventures.
Whether you are a water tiger or not, this is the year the universe is ready to help you to bring about new beginnings, make adaptive changes and ensure you’re ready to pounce.
If you need us to support this, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Michelle