A vital element of leadership is the notion of increased situational
awareness. A leader must be a keen observer of her/ his work
environments. This allows for a better range of effective action to best
accomplish the mission or other desired outcomes. Beyond awareness, it
is useful to have an increasingly larger array of situational analysis
‘frameworks’ in your head…into which to quickly plug your information…in
order to help make better sense of what you are observing (or otherwise
becoming aware of). The more frameworks you integrate into your
personal perspectives and later situational analyses, the more you can
understand the REAL (versus initially apparent) issues.
Expanded personal awareness and diagnostic frameworks helps you avoid
over simplifying a complex situation, then committing the dreaded
‘ready, shoot, aim’ phenomenon!
As an example, one way to look at a situation is to see events as
part of a ‘connected system.’ Thus, if something happens in one part of a
‘system,’ it can likely affect something somewhere else. This means you
might want to look further than the immediate setting to see what is
causing an issue…and, just as importantly, what might be the ‘unintended
consequences’ of a chosen solution in other parts of the system.
Another useful ‘analysis model’ is to first sort out the details of what
might be an ‘ideal’ solution/ result to be accomplished (establishing a
‘like it to be’ picture). Then go back and review the issue as it
stands now (developing the ‘as is’ picture). The difference between the
two is a ‘gap’ or ‘discrepancy’ for which you can plan remedial steps
(closing the gap).
• In brief, highlight the essential details of a leadership/ management/
supervisory problem, challenge or opportunity you have had in the
past…or perhaps are currently facing.
• List any assumptions or analyses frameworks you then used…or are now using (or forgot to consider).
• Note the results…and comment on how aware you felt you were/ are of all the situation issues.
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