Aspiring business leaders might already be familiar with the concept of VUCA — an acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. This term was first coined by a fellow of the U.S. Institute for the Future, Bob Johansen. While VUCA originated in US military colleges to describe the harsh reality of modern warfare, it was quickly adapted to the business world to help companies navigate the constantly changing landscape.
In recent years, business leaders have improved the traditional VUCA mentality to help update it for the modern age. For people just entering the workforce, it may be worth pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a Concentration in Leadership offered online by Southeastern Oklahoma State University to ensure you have the most up-to-date management strategies. Let’s explore how to use the reimagined VUCA to move your business forward.
VUCA Reimagined
One of the main issues with the traditional take on VUCA is that it emphasizes the environment around you. As any leader knows, there is little that you can do to change your setting. The only thing you can control is how you react and adapt to external stimuli.
With this in mind, VUCA has been reimagined for the modern age, taking the original concept and emphasizing what you can control. The new take on VUCA stands for:
- Vision: Instead of focusing on the volatility of your environment — which cannot be controlled — a leader needs to focus on creating a strong vision. This will help their company weather economic downturns and new competition in the market.
- Understanding: To compensate for the uncertainty prevalent in business, leaders must be in a state of perpetual learning and be comfortable expanding beyond their functional areas of expertise.
- Clarity: When change occurs in the business landscape — which it always will — it can create confusion and chaos. As a leader, it’s your job to foster clarity for your organization during these times to help them move forward.
- Agility: In the fast-paced world that we live in, it’s essential to create and implement new solutions in a timely fashion.
Again, this new take on VUCA shifts the focus from the environment around you to how you respond to it.
Becoming a VUCA leader
There are three key areas for aspiring business leaders to focus on while developing their VUCA mentality. Again, to ensure that you’re entering the workforce with the most up-to-date knowledge, it’s worth pursuing an MBA that focuses on leadership.
To become a VUCA leader, there are three essential concepts :
- Perpetual learning: Since the world is constantly changing, leaders must continuously learn the latest technologies, corporate strategies and management techniques.
- Self-awareness: It’s crucial to know your strengths so that you can take on projects that fit your skill set, but it’s even more important to recognize your weaknesses and understand when others are better suited for a role or task.
- Trying new things: A common saying among VUCA leaders is that “the status quo is not an option.” As such, you need to constantly try new things so you can implement what works and discard what doesn’t. In this sense, VUCA leaders not only embrace change but welcome it.
Essentially, as a leader, you want to be everything your company should be. Namely, innovative, fast-moving and resilient.
Preparing for the Future
While it sounds cliche, today’s world is changing rapidly. In just the past few years, business leaders have had to confront a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, decades-high inflation and the introduction of AI. These factors significantly impacted the economy, and businesses that adapted quickly thrived.
When confronting and adapting to change, there is no substitute for experience. This is why so many aspiring leaders choose to pursue an MBA.
In addition to the coursework, most MBA programs feature experiential and hands-on learning. For example, Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s online MBA with a Concentration in Leadership program is designed to help professionals become successful adaptive and transformational leaders in today’s complex business world.
In this program, students take staple courses such as Strategic Management, Managerial Economics, and Research Methods. In addition, they also take leadership-specific courses like Leadership Theories and Practice, Team Development Behaviors, and Negotiation and Conflict Management.
This program can be completed online in as few as twelve months, so graduates can quickly reach the next step in their professional journey and enter the workplace confident in their abilities.
Learn more about Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s online MBA with a Concentration in Leadership program.