The SwitchINTERACT SwitchINAR series provides a deeper dive into the themes introduced in SwitchINFORM and can be taken without having attended the SwitchINFORM Series.

It is a series of live, individual, interactive, facilitated SwitchINAR events designed to promote deeper self-awareness, self-reflection and self-regulation. The aim being to stop unhelpful behaviours and habits and create goals to adopt new ones.

Each 90-minute SwitchINAR explores one of the 6 themes previously introduced in SwitchINFORM:

1. Moving from being Dependent to becoming Self-directed;
2. Shifting from being Uncompromising to becoming Understanding;
3. Changing from being Avoidant to becoming Accountable;
4. Moving from being Reactive to becoming Responsive;
5. Shifting from being Inflexible to becoming Receptive;
6. Changing from being Controlling to becoming Empowering;

Each of these themes expands on changes in how we manage ourselves, as well as the behaviours we can choose to adopt or ignore in our transition towards becoming an Efficacious Leader.

The SwitchINARS feature Break Out Room interactions, a digital Switch JOURNAL for self-directed reflections and group activities as well as post SwitchINAR exercises to support moving towards Efficacious Leadership.

There is a seventh capability and theme centred on how leaders communicate; that is, transforming from a Transactional communicator to a Relational narrator. This is foundational to both Series and is provided as a BONUS.

SwitchINAR 1 focuses on the issues of relying too heavily on others to make decisions and the tendency to be led rather than leading from a place of confidence.

Being dependent means an unhealthy degree of:

• looking to others for direction and guidance,
• playing things deliberately safe,
• maintaining the status quo and
• limiting risk.

To become self-directed, leaders need to activate their aptitude for personal agency and control. This can be done by recognising the capacity to influence their surroundings. Via that process, ambitions are raised, leaders act with conviction and passion regarding what’s important and set clear goals and standards of excellence for themselves and, inevitably, others.

SwitchINAR 2 raises the challenge of moving from an uncompromising approach to leadership that relies on a top-down, directive style to one that embraces a people-first, empathetic approach.

The focus shifts to creating psychologically safe environments for teams to feel safe to innovate, make suggestions and voice concerns. It nurtures the capability to build knowledge around WHAT to be uncompromising about (values and vision) as well as building the ability to be flexible and collaborative on HOW to get there.

It starts with managing our internal tension and anxiety about outcomes and recognising our capacity to manage our emotions and fear of failure in the process. Becoming comfortable with ambiguity and paradox and the power of healthy debate forms the essence of moving from uncompromising to understanding. Once this is attained, we can turn possibilities into reality.

SwitchINAR 3 highlights the challenge for people who need high levels of assurance, including the need to gain the favour of and approval of others.

During this process, we avoid taking on the difficult issues and remain agreeable to what others think and do. Becoming accountable requires leaders to be willing to step up and ask difficult questions, set high standards and hold themselves and others to account to achieve them. It’s about making sure we’ve been disciplined in our approach to work without becoming obsessed with detail and about managing a ‘win’ at all costs mentality.

SwitchINAR 4 addresses the issue of being reactive rather than responsive to day-to-day, professional and personal issues.

It focuses on managing our emotional response, where anger and irritation can spill over with negative consequences for ourselves and others. Overreaction leads to conflict and blame-shifting. On the other hand, becoming responsive demonstrates our interpersonal sensitivity, ability to build consensus and demonstrate an interest in working with and through others. Leaders learn to be patient and use our listening as well as our speaking skills by exerting our capacity to self-regulate our behaviour.

SwitchINAR 5 raises the challenge of moving from a rigid, inflexible approach to leadership to one that is open to experience and feedback from others.

Learning to suppress our own opinions and actively listen to others are necessary actions to move from being inflexible to becoming receptive. Inflexible leaders are often resistant to new ideas, the antithesis of what’s required in today’s contemporary workplace. Rather than valuing their own ideas, receptive leaders value the ideas of others. The switch to being receptive starts with recognising our personal agency and being open rather than closed.

SwitchINAR 6 highlights the challenge many leaders face as they move from a manager-dominant mindset and approach to a leadership-dominant mindset and approach.

Being in control is a ubiquitous environmental factor for managers. In being taught that control is a core management function, we behave as if control is an expectation and begin to expect it of ourselves. However, being authoritarian and overly direct with others isn’t always helpful in contemporary work environments. Instead, leaders need to engage and empower their teams, demonstrate warmth and project openness in their interactions with others. It begins by recognising that our internal need for control needs to be managed before we can manage our interactions with others.