We are delighted to have Alex Bailey contributing to Dynamic. She is a Global CEO and Co-Founder, with 20+ years of expertise in HR leadership, psychology, coaching, and organisational change. She specialises in cultural evolution, leadership,and performance, delivering impactful programmes globally while speaking at international events.

This theme highlights the importance of pace. It is hard to increase pace in this world when we are relying on others. We can have great ideas, put together events, develop compelling marketing and invoke calls to action, but if we cannot get others to match the urgency and pace, action isn’t accelerated at all. It’s often slowed and never even gets off the ground.

How do we accelerate action?

Meg Wheatley talks in her latest phenomenal book, ‘Restoring Sanity’ (2024), about the need for all leaders, not just women, to have islands of sanity in this changeable and uncertain landscape. She describes these islands of sanity as a community that is reliable, committed, and intentional in going through the grieving, frustration, excitement and joy of human experience.

Community that is part of who we are and has made us successful as a human species. Chris Yates points out in “Share, 2020” how important it is for our species to have shared beliefs and follow pathways together as it creates more action and urgency. We feel more motivated, more focused, and more trusting in our direction if we are going together. Our interconnectedness and interdependence are at the heart of human needs, and the depletion of these leads to malady in all its forms.

Finding what works for us and doing it on purpose rather than allowing our subconscious to guide us in a meandering method is an important first step. If we can be fully aware of who we are, what we are good at, and what our purpose is, we have greater clarity to take steps quickly.

With this foundation in place, our reliance on others to share and be on our journey together is what will really accelerate action.

What does this really mean? We all choose to prioritise what is important to us, our families, loved ones, and colleagues, even if it’s the altruistic benefit of ‘doing good’ that positively impacts our own sense of self.

When others ask us for help, we can bring this to the forefront of our attention and be more human in our response. Asking others for help is often an incredibly difficult thing to do, but now, generations are experiencing more anxiety with simple social interactions – let alone asking for help. Asking others for their time, for their attention, for their choice in working with you are all huge asks that are dwindling into email requests stacking up in inboxes which are never read.

I’m not suggesting we answer every spam email or sales call, but I’m highlighting that asking for help is an increasingly hard thing to do. So when it comes from people we know, we can accelerate action by listening to the question and offering assistance however we can. Even if we cannot provide exactly what is being asked for, what can we do, and possibly what more could we do?

If invited to an event, respond, commit and follow through - avoid cancelling last minute or rescheduling and delaying. And if you can’t, who could you find that would be a great person in your place?

Being flaky makes others’ lives harder to manage, but we often forget that it might be easier to step out early and find a better solution than mess others around. Turning up with the energy to support and carry people on to better futures is something we can all do to accelerate action – we do not need to have initiated the action ourselves. We have the power in us to be the better humans we expect from others and role models every day in every interaction.

I’ve found in the last year that I’ve asked people for help, and they have gone above and beyond in their response, offering way more than I asked for without any benefit to themselves. What gets you to that point? Invested relationships, shared understanding of values, putting in the time and effort to be there for others when they need you, and even surprising them. That’s when they then step up for you.

So accelerating action for me this year is being there for others, listening to their needs, putting my influence behind their ambitions, committing intentionally and going beyond whenever possible.

What situations do you have right now to do this too?