The Future of Leadership in a Hybrid Reality

For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, more of us work remote than next to each other. This leads to a re-contemplation of employees world-wide. The “Great Resignation” dynamic took hold, and with it, impacted all industries in its wake.?

The good news? Plato praised empathy and engagement thousands of years ago. Bell invented the Telephone in 1876. Cellular communication has been around since the late 80’s. The Internet, instant messaging, video, VoIP applications, and agile methods -? arrived on the scene in the 90’s. In 2002, Atlassian crafted the first distributed project tracking and knowledge base systems. All combined - here’s your framework for leading remote teams.

Companies world-wide were caught off-guard with this shift. Almost overnight. That’s because the market is still leveraging Post Industrial Revolution models. Sweat-shops, assembly lines, the office and others - all haven't changed for centuries. In line with these models - Managements have remained Command and Control centric.?

Empathy is far from being a standard selection criteria for leadership appointments. Unfortunately.

The Era of the Micro-Manager is Over!

Trust gets You halfway there!

It was a loss of trust in outdated companies and models that triggered the "Great Resignation". A defining moment for employers and their people.?

Companies that wish to attract and retain talent will have to leave command and control or P&L optimization methods behind. They will need to embrace becoming societies that care for (and take care of) their people. Empowering them, growing their careers and safeguarding their mindfulness.?

In that vein, managers and their teams become dependent on each-other. Winning trust back is now a central focus for the new status-quo - and it’s on any company’s management to make it happen.

"When we take care of our people, our people take care of our business."

Simon Sinek

Empathetic Leadership

It is especially during crises that people look to their leadership for guidance. The shift to remote work alongside the pandemic has driven high levels of anxiety in teams. In other words: empathetic leaders are more important now than ever before.

Leading teams in 2022 means you offer people a safe haven. A secure and stable work environment, and a shoulder to lean on. Covid’s end might be in sight, but it’s still a moving target. As we toggle ourselves from fully remote to a hybrid setup - our people will need all the attention and support possible.?

Through the years I have evolved my own framework called Gandalf Leadership - my take on building the teams and companies of tomorrow. If you haven’t read it, now's the time. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/gandalf-leadership-future-successful-teams-yehuda-hofri/?

Be the Gandalf, shift from managing to supporting and mentoring your team. Help your people transform into leaders and make sure you Sherpa them up to the summit.

Clear Communication

Setting a drumbeat of clear and consistent communication is paramount. If you want to jumpstart and lead a progressive and meaningful culture. This need further intensifies when working remote or Hybrid. Go beyond daily stand-ups or check-ins and establish a continuous line of communication. Your people will thank you.

Driving team happiness, efficiency and retention requires communicating purpose, mission, goals and expectations. It demands leaders enable space to be held for the team to confide in you. Today's uncertainty means your team needs you to be the rock. Your task is to make things as obvious and simple as possible. Avoid adding even more uncertainty to what’s already happening in the world.

Tech & Methodology

Online collaboration tools help us gather people from around the world around the same table. There’s a massive amount of products out there. Some highlights:

• Knowledge based platforms - Google Docs, Wiki, Confluence
• Project Tracking platforms - Monday.com, Trello, Wrike, Asana, Jira?
• Video Chat/Comms - Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Skype
• Chat - Slack, Teams, Google Chat, Twist, Troop

Packaging all of the above, requires process and cadence. Easily achieved by leveraging an agile methodology. Fit for purpose is your north star here and iterating with the team is paramount for a proper adaptation.

I go into a bit more detail in my toolkit article here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/how-rocket-your-company-using-data-driven-culture-jay-yehuda-hofri/

Epilogue

There was a time when people considered remote work to be a luxury, a convenience. Distributed teams, and the technology that enables them, has now become the norm. No longer a luxury, but rather a necessity in a post-pandemic reality. After months of this, people have grown accustomed to a new - evolved - form of labour.

This evolution has shifted our understanding of what it means to work for and within a company. It has changed our traditional understanding of labour-power relations. It is in that shift that a new, more resilient, empowered - and empowering - leadership style emerges. The fusion of a new technological, cultural, and heightened self-awareness. One that seeks a balanced and healthy life for teams as a prerequisite condition to building a resilient business.

Gone are the days where leadership is zero-sum. A healthy team and ambitious company - like life - is always better achieved together. Whether you're in the same room or not.

Credits: Art by instagram.com/yaelhofri

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