Staying Relevant in the RUPT World: Aligning Your Team with Organizational Transformation

“Staying relevant in our RUPT world isn’t about clinging to the past; it’s about proactively shaping your department’s future within the evolving organization.”

Atip Muangsuwan
CEO Coach and Coach Supervisor

In today’s business landscape, we’ve moved from VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) through BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, Incomprehensible) and now into the R.U.P.T. reality – Rapid, Unpredictable, Paradoxical, and Tangled. Organizational structures constantly shift in this environment. For leaders and their teams, the critical question becomes: How do we stay relevant?

This challenge is deeply personal. One leader recently faced this head-on. His department, despite its hard work and value, was perceived by others as disconnected and unproductive. Proposals were met with “That’s not your job,” leading to frustration and a pressing realization: misalignment threatens not only the department’s reputation but its survival, career growth, and the organization’s future success.

The Core Issue: Bridging the Perception Gap
The situation revealed several key factors:

• A Lack of Visibility: The department’s true value wasn’t being effectively communicated or understood.
• Misalignment: A disconnect existed between the department’s activities and the perceived priorities of the new organizational structure and senior management.
• Unclear Expectations: The specific purpose, objectives, and roles expected of the department within the new paradigm needed clarification.

The Path to Relevance: Applying the EE-FI Leadership Model

Coach Atip’s EE-FI Leadership Model provides a powerful framework for navigating this challenge:

1. Engage: Initiate consistent, open dialogue. Move beyond formal meetings. Seek informal opportunities to connect regularly with senior management, peers, and key stakeholders. Make communication frequent and multi-channel.
2. Empathize: Shift perspective. Actively listen to understand the viewpoints, pressures, and strategic goals of senior leadership and other departments. See the organization’s needs through their lens.
3. Fulfill: Once you understand their needs, expectations, and pain points, proactively align your department’s work to address them. Demonstrate how your team can contribute value in the context of the new structure and leadership priorities.
4. Influence: By consistently Engaging, Empathizing, and Fulfilling needs, you build trust and credibility. Influence – the ability to shape perceptions and gain support – becomes a natural outcome.

Key Insights for Realignment

1. Diagnose the Landscape: Deeply understand the current organizational climate, strategic direction, and pain points.
2. Clarify Expectations: Proactively seek to understand senior management’s specific vision and expectations for your department within the new structure.
3. Align & Deliver: Refocus your department’s efforts to directly fulfill those clarified expectations. This is the core of becoming indispensable.
4. Communicate Internally: Ensure your team fully understands the new expectations, the “why” behind them, and their role in meeting them.
5. Adapt & Transform: Be prepared to evolve. Staying relevant often requires reviewing and potentially renewing your department’s purpose, vision, missions, values, and culture to fit the organization’s future needs. Transformation is not optional; it’s essential for survival and growth.

Action Steps: Your Roadmap to Relevance

1. Initiate Informal Engagement: Schedule regular, casual check-ins with senior leaders. Build rapport and open communication channels.
2. Seek & State: In your conversations, actively seek clarity on their expectations. Clearly communicate your department’s readiness and commitment to fulfilling those expectations.
3. Team Realignment: Translate senior leadership’s expectations into actionable goals for your team. Foster understanding and buy-in.
4. Lead the Transformation: Guide your department through the necessary adjustments. This may involve redefining roles, processes, or even the department’s core identity to ensure alignment and value delivery. Embrace change as the pathway to relevance.

Staying relevant in our RUPT world isn’t about clinging to the past; it’s about proactively shaping your department’s future within the evolving organization. By understanding expectations, realigning your team, and embracing necessary transformation, you secure not just survival, but the opportunity to thrive and lead.

About Atip Muangsuwan: Atip Muangsuwan is the Founder & CEO of The Best Coach International Co., Ltd. He is a CEO & UHNWI Coach, Certified Mentor & Supervisor for global executive coaches, Holistic Life Transformation Expert, Business & Life Strategist, and Corporate Facilitator/Trainer. With a proven track record of helping clients achieve their career goals and job promotions, Atip is dedicated to supporting individuals in their personal and professional growth.