Episode 107: pragmatic leadership
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Looking Outside is for curious people looking for a fresh take on familiar topics, in business and beyond.
Leaders in volatile and unpredictable markets are often asked to steady the course and stabilize the ship. But what if chaos is the new business normal? Organizational change expert Niven Postma says any leader navigating uncertainty today needs to harness a new type of workplace intelligence. She points to the Stockdale Paradox, where the brutality of the moment is recognized as the reality. Pragmatism, therefore, is the most required skill of the future leader. Without that, Niven argues, the most idealistic leaders quickly become cynics, and cynics become complicit to the complacency of corporate life.
To look outside, Niven taps into her curiosity, inputting and learning about all things that fascinate her. But equally she gives herself permission to stop and say, ‘that’s enough’, even if it feels a little guilty.
Niven has been described by Forbes magazine as the world’s leading expert in organisational politics. She is the author of If you don’t do Politics, Politics will do you and is currently pursuing her PhD in Organisational Behaviour to understand how organisational politics are different for women. The outcomes will form the basis of her second book.
She is a contributor to Harvard Business Review, a tutor at Cambridge University’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), a guest lecturer at Stanford University and London Business School and a LinkedIn Learning Instructor. Her LinkedIn Learning course (Navigating Office Politics for Senior Managers) has been completed by over 120 000 people and her new course Strategic Influence for Senior Leaders will go live in early 2026. She was elected an Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellow in 2007 and is now the Programme Director for the Fellowship.
Niven has held executive positions since she was 29 in a career that has spanned multiple sectors and roles, including being CEO of the Businesswomen’s Association, CEO of NOAH (Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity), Head of the South African Reserve Bank Academy and Head of Leadership and Culture for the Standard Bank Group (the largest bank by assets in Africa).
More:
Learn more about Niven at nivenpostma.com
Connect with Niven on LinkedIn
Grab a copy of Niven's book If you don't do politics, politics will do you
Check out Niven's LinkedIn courses on organizational leadership
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