Vulnerable leadership for consumers in vulnerable circumstances
Looking at the prospects for fair access to essential services can be tough. Whether it’s the braying politicians we look to for a roadmap or tech bros who are supposed to transform the utilities with innovation, there seems little space for the connection to people’s lives we need for inclusive decision making.
The evidence is clear — to deliver the innovation we need at the pace required to literally save the planet — we need diverse perspectives (1). And we can’t wait for the existing gaps in representation and leadership to narrow at their existing pace. Instead we need to build communities with diverse perspectives locked in.
In my area of academic expertise, — decision making by regulators — this looks particularly challenging. Despite a period of transformation including new legal powers and an active public debate about affordability, my research showed that only one set of ideas held power — that of rational robotic optimisers.
My key takeaway from that academic work is that we cling to the ideas of the past against an avalanche of evidence that we are wrong. The refusal to incorporate diverse experiences and ways of thinking places boundaries on decision makers actions. Luckily, there is plenty of research from others showing how to short cut our way out of an ideas monoculture — diversify decision makers. This means accelerating work to ensure decision makers come from diverse backgrounds and bringing diverse groups together to articulate their experiences.
Understanding and supporting consumers has been the focus of my career for over ten years. Year after year I’ve been part of work to bring people’s lived experience into decision making to design and reform essential services. One of the most significant challenges of this work has been the fact that decision makers have adopted a theoretic picture of an average person in their work. The rational, economic decision maker image that underpins these decisions has sidelined anyone and everyone that does not match that description. Instead, people who do not reflect decision makers expectations are categorised as a separate “other” group — consumers in vulnerable circumstances. This traditional distinction between an “average” consumer and “other” consumers in vulnerable circumstances has never served people well but this winter it is a dangerous distraction.
So who is going to change this picture? I’m going to argue that it is leaders who are ready to be vulnerable. People who are willing and able to bring their authentic self into these vital debates. Professor Brenee Brown has pioneered a new way of leading, interacting and communicating (2). In this consideration of vulnerability showing up authentically, listening to the experiences of those around us and empathising with their experiences are the core of leadership. Luckily for us all, along with TED talks and bestsellers, there are also tools to use to build this style of leadership.
I believe that vulnerable leadership is particularly needed to face what will be a very difficult winter in people’s lives. People are facing challenges to their physical and mental health against a backdrop of their financial resilience being put under strain. Many are already at crisis point, with Citizens Advice highlighting that those hit most hard include the key workers at the front line of the COVID crisis and people who have been shielding (3).
Responding to these challenges will need urgent support that responds to the reality of the issues that people face now and that will mean putting listening to people’s experiences as the heart of the response. This is particularly important for those of us working in essential markets.
I know this is a tough ask, particularly with such an enormous shift required to make markets work for everyone. While the emergence of these two very different debates — vulnerable consumers and vulnerable leaders — have arrived from completely different settings, I believe that it is vital that we bring them together.That’s why I’ll be sharing my reflections on these challenges more regularly on Medium along with the resources I draw on to deliver this change. Please get in touch either using the comments box here or over on twitter — you can find me @CA_Blakelock. I’d love to hear your perspectives on all of these topics and how they intersect.
On Twitter I’m following
@BreneBrown
@betterallies
Podcasts I’m listening to
Mothers of Invention
Unlocking us
I’m reading
Mismatch — How inclusion shapes design by Kat Holmes
Rising Strong — Brenee Brown
References
1 Why Diverse Teams are Smarter https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter
2 Dare to Lead https://daretolead.brenebrown.com/
3 Excess debts — who has fallen behind on their household bills due to coronavirus?
