Presentation by Madelyn Blair to SIKM Leaders Community on December 21, 2021

1. Resilient Leadership & KM
Madelyn Blair, PhD •December 21, 2021

2. u Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our
response. In our response lies our growth and our
freedom. –Victor Frankl
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3. 3
Disruption Choice New Actions
Actions
Discomfort

4. Resilience means many things?
u Soil - carbon
u Virus - speed
u Forest - health
u Banks – margins
u Teams – trust
u Organizations – ideas
u People
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5. Resilience
u Know who they are
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6. Knowing who you are leads to
u More confidence
u More creativity
u More effective communication
u Stronger relationships
u More effective leadership
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Tasha Eurich in HBR, 1/4/18

7. Companies who know who they are
u Companies that are purpose driven have revenue growth that is
4 times that of companies that aren’t
u Companies with consistent set of values outperform the general
market by 15 to 1
u 60% of companies choosing corporate partners consider values
(innovation is 20%, dominates the market is 20%)
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8. Resilience
u Possess deep knowledge
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9. Twyla Tharp
u “Repository of creative potential”
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10. Knowledge Management adds value
MAKE awards are granted annually to acknowledge companies that
excel in using KM to enhance organizational wealth.
MAKE winners experience:
(1) positive abnormal returns around the award announcement
(2) superior operating performance relative to their peers
(3) upward analyst forecast revisions following the award
(4) positive upward stock price drift following the award
In other words: the market has taken time to learn how to process and
interpret information useful in valuing KM. *
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*Capital markets valuation and accounting performance of Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE)
award winners by Mark L. DeFond a, Yaniv Konchitchki b, Jeff L. McMullin c, Daniel E. O'Leary

11. 11
u One skill that every executive must have?
u Ability to manage in ambiguous situations.

12. Deep Knowledge
u Diving deeper into a specific field to discover more about what is
known and unknown
u Pushing the edges of the subject to explore what might not seem a part
of the subject but rather the interaction of the subject with another
u Learning is formal, conversational and experiential
u Conclusion: deep knowledge allows you to draw from unexpected
places within your own knowledge while being comfortable in the white
spaces.
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13. Resilience
u Insatiably curious
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14. Companies and Curiosity
u Companies who survive longer than the average are
sensitive to the environment and are willing to push the
edges to learn and adapt. –Bloomberg
u Curiosity is the beginning of all learning. –Boris Jaeger
u When companies seek to remain in safe places, they
‘drop out of learning mode’. –Gary Pisano, Harvard
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15. Know who they are
Deep knowledge
Insatiably curious
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16. Silence
Practices that Count
u Silence
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17. Practices for the KMer – Silence
u Silence – promotes reflection
u Send out questions ahead of a discussion
u Make space so that the less talkative get heard
u Ask for reflections on new ideas
u Be comfortable with silence in meetings
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18. Story
u Silence
u Story
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19. Practices for the KMer – Story
u Story – puts things in context and makes
connections
u Gather stories about the mission
u Assure that the team’s goal is clear by sharing stories
inspired by a word in the mission
u Build trust by asking members to share something they
are very proud
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20. Social
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21. Practices for the KMer – Social
u Social interaction sparks ideas
u Be a real person
u Recognize others
u Select with care
u Regularly assess value
u Provide contact management tools and implement
them
u Bring virtual members together periodically
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22. Seeking
u Silence
u Story
u Selection
u Seeking
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23. Practices for the KMer – Seeking
u Seeking – builds curiosity and encourages
pushing past the obvious
u Model asking questions
u Schedule time for questions
u Conduct Question Storming
u Take on a Practice Partner
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24. Selection
u Silence
u Story
u Selection
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25. 25

26. Practice of Selection
u Selection – provides practice in making decisions; helps
people be comfortable in uncomfortable places
u Provide the context
u Ask unexpected questions such as:
u Wait, what? I wonder why…?
u I wonder if…?
u Couldn’t we at least…?
u How can I help?
u What truly matters?
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27. Tofler – The illiterate of the 21st century are
those who cannot learn, unlearn, & relearn.
uTime to create the environment where staff can develop resilience
u You need the mission to be clear – it’s where initiative is sparked
u You need knowledge to be accessible – repository of creative potential
u And you need the right environment for learning -- where questions are
the norm
uResilience prepares you for the uncomfortable
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28. 28
Never confuse comfort for safety

29. Questions
u My question
u What about resilience surprised you today?
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30. Resilience is up to you…
Madelyn Blair, PhD
Madelynblair.com
Madelyn@madelynblair.com
Psychologytoday.com/blog/resilient-leadership
Renaissance Leader of 2021 by The Stone Register
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