Managing Polarities: A meaningful approach in Leadership

As a leader, you are confronted with issues daily. In addressing these, you must constantly assess whether you are being asked to solve a problem or to manage a polarity. It is crucial to make this distinction because many challenges in leadership are not about providing the “right” solution but about managing opposing actions. In this article, I will discuss what polarities are, why it is important to think and act from polarities, and how you can deal with them in your daily practice as a leader.

Problems versus Polarities

Problems are questions that need to be solved, leading to a clear endpoint. Based on analysis, experience, or advice, you come to a decision. After making your decision, the question no longer exists, and you move on to implementation. Some examples of “problems” that have a question/solution structure are allocating budgets, hiring or firing a team member, approving or rejecting a proposal, or prioritizing projects.

The definition of a polarity is that it consists of two opposing actions that both have value, lie on a continuum, and are interdependent. These are issues where you do not choose one of the two actions as a solution, but as a leader, you try to manage the opposing actions in coherence. Sometimes focusing more on one action and sometimes more on the other action, depending on the context and necessity.

An everyday example of a polarity is inhaling and exhaling. You need both to take in O2 and expel CO2 from your body. Only inhaling or exhaling is not possible. However, you can choose how the balance changes each time. Do you inhale more than you exhale, and how intensely or shallowly are you breathing in and out? Turning this to business, examples of polarities in daily work are: centralization and decentralization, task-oriented and relationship-oriented, short-term and long-term, stability and flexibility, control and empowerment, etc.

A real-life business example

In an organization, several teams do not work well together, even though they depend on each other to realize the final product. This leads to a loss of productivity and a deteriorating mutual atmosphere. More and more team members withdraw, and “closed teams” emerge. The leader wants to solve this issue by setting up a training program focusing on collaboration. This is a typical problem reasoning with a question/solution structure, focusing on only one side of a polarity.

From a polarity-thinking perspective, you would set up a program that teaches team members to deal with the opposing actions of both collaboration and contradiction. The teams need to learn to deal with that tension. Why?

Advantages and disadvantages of collaboration

Focusing on collaboration increases efficiency, creates better relationships, utilizes creative synergy, encourages teams to support and motivate each other better, and results in shared responsibility. However, if these teams overuse collaboration, you may face disadvantages such as groupthink, less drive for innovation, excessive communication structures, underestimating individual contributions, and ultimately a loss of productivity.

Advantages and disadvantages of contradiction

To prevent the disadvantages of collaboration from arising or to minimize them, the program should also train teams in organizing and providing contradictive viewpoints. This leads to critical evaluation of ideas, new insights, open debate, thoughtful decisions, and innovative solutions. But if contradiction goes too far, teams may again face disadvantages such as internal conflicts and tensions, delayed decision-making, loss of cohesion, and increased stress. And thus, to counter these disadvantages, teams must train in collaboration, bringing you back to the organization’s core question.

Focus on managing polarities

Despite the organization asking us to solve their problem by developing a program focused on collaboration, we advised them to focus within the program on dealing with polarities like collaboration & contradiction, task-oriented & relationship-oriented, transparency & confidentiality, and stability & change. This aims to initiate a movement of continuous evaluation and adjustment, ensuring that teams do not swing to the extreme of the opposite actions but consciously use the benefits of both actions depending on the context and necessity.

Practical tips for managing polarities

Here are some initial steps to familiarize yourself with thinking in polarities and to start working with them within your organization, team, or leadership role.

• Identify key polarities.
  Research which polarities are most relevant to your organization, team, or role.
• Use Polarity Mapping. Visualize the polarity by mapping the opposing actions and their positive and negative aspects. This helps to understand the dynamics and impact of overusing either one of the actions. To support you with this step, you can download our PDF “Exploring Polarities.”
• Conduct open dialogues.
  Engage in stakeholder conversations to gain new perspectives and a broader understanding of the polarity. This promotes mutual understanding and cooperation.
• Set warning signs.
  Define clear indicators that signal when you focus too much or go overboard on one of the opposing actions. This helps you adjust in time and prevent extreme consequences.
• Develop flexibility in leadership.
  Be prepared to adapt your approach as new information becomes available and the context changes. This requires continuous evaluation and adjustment of your strategy.

Conclusion

Thinking off, and managing polarities is crucial in leadership. By understanding the dynamics between opposing actions, leaders come to balanced and sustainable solutions. Instead of opting for simple solutions, this approach helps to leverage the benefits of both opposing actions and minimize the drawbacks. Practical techniques like Polarity Mapping and open dialogues promote flexibility and adaptation, leading to better collaboration, innovation, and resilience within teams and organizations.

Would you like to know more about how you can manage polarities in your leadership role within your team or organization? Contact us for a conversation, coaching, team development, or targeted training.

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About the author

• 6 August 2024
/ by
• Marco Buschman

I am an energetic and challenging leadership expert, team and executive coach, international facilitator, speaker and author of the bestseller Verbindend Vermogen. I focus on the (further) development of the Connecting Ability (The Connection Quotient) of leaders, executives and management teams at home and abroad. In my performance I tackle questions in a practical and solution-oriented way. Clients describe my style as optimistic, decisive, empathetic, passionate, result-oriented and inspiring. Read more