Leadership Reinvented

Isaac Asimov, the prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction said “It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be…Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not. “  

Science fiction has shown us the future and, in many ways, presented us with the ultimate form of preparation. In fact, science fiction has demonstrated that we’re not just living in a world of probabilities but a world of endless possibilities as evidenced for example, by the swift development of COVID vaccines.   

The way we work is maturing due to the transformative power of technology and the disruption forced upon us by global events including, but not limited to, the pandemic. Generally, we’ve evolved and improved the way we work in the past decade, becoming more inclusive and diverse, transparent and efficient, and for the most part we have positively embraced changes along the way. Look at the celebration of Pride Month by so many corporations who participated in pride festivities by rolling out rainbow logos and products. Or the many sponsors and fans who rallied behind and unequivocally supported Naomi Osaka’s decision to withdraw from the French Open.  

The world is changing and so should we.  

This improvement in the way we work is one of factors that has made many businesses so resilient when confronted by challenges in the past 18 months while those that haven’t fully matured have accelerated their journey out of necessity.   

This process is also changing the way we lead. Traditional modes of leadership have been disrupted and challenged as organisational structures and hierarchies are redrawn and values and expectations evolve. For leaders, that’s necessitated the need to adjust leadership settings to remain an effective and inclusive leader to people and organisations that are arguably better performing than they’ve ever been before.  

For obvious reasons we’ve dialled down on large and small in-person group meetings, water cooler conversations and coffee chats. It’s not possible right now to walk the floor to check the vibe and attune to the buzz among teams, or gather outside-in insight and intelligence by visiting global or regional offices. For many leaders, these were the staples they relied upon to build and maintain culture and drive performance.   

So much of the connective tissue that makes a leadership group tick – the time spent in taxis and airport lounges, the walk to the elevator or café, conference or event side conversations – has been cut away. We are leaner time-wise, but we lose much of the informal aspects of organisational leadership, like the opportunity to listen, ask questions and decipher issues or opportunities.  

The challenge for leaders is to find new ways to establish presence and influence in a connected but distributed working model as we enter the next more hopeful phase of the pandemic, which will centre on recovery and building resilience through vaccination.  

The start point for effective leadership is always communication. Leaders should dial-up the quality of their communications from emails to voice and video conferences and master the various channels and platforms available. We’ve quickly learned in this new working context that our communication needs to be accurate and thought-out to keep people’s attention, particularly where there is not the same degree of compulsion. Communication needs to be direct, structured, concise and frequent and accountable to cut through. It should also be authentic and real. But effective, leadership communication is more than this.  

Talking with leaders, there are other aspects of communication that are equally critical in this new working context. They are:  

·       Have a relatable message and a story: invest time to get you message right, so that it resonates across your organisation. Even better, support it with a story that’s memorable. Road test your message with smaller groups as it’s harder to read the room on screen, so you’ll want to get it right the first time. A good message will be sustainable, and last for a period of time.  

·       Listen: If you don’t have them already, double down on feedback loops. People need safe and open channels to communicate with their leaders away from the screen. Enable that confidence to grow trust among your leaders and their teams.  

·       Purposely reinvent: Make a conscious effort to do some things differently and give your leadership group the freedom to do the same. This says you're adaptive and open to ideas and trying new things. Try new communications tools and channels. Rebrand or update, but don’t stay still.  

·       Make the time: You now have more of it for the people who are important to your business, but it’s important to bring structure and accountability to your interaction with people so the time is used well and it doesn’t become communication for communication’s sake.  

Most importantly, don’t forget to lead. We live in times of change and transition where the dynamics of work are maturing and the staples, we’ve relied on have been altered or removed. It is also a time where the need for leaders who can combine insight, empathy, direction and energy is greater than ever.