“The times they are a changin” – here’s how to lead for the long-term

In today’s hyper-connected global economy, when tech transformation is happening at pace in every sector and hybrid working models have become the norm, effective leadership is more important than ever. After all, we’re still living and working in uncertain times. Businesses are facing known and new economic, geopolitical and environmental upheavals on an almost daily basis, providing a challenge for leaders looking to galvanise their people to work together effectively through not only the highs but also the inevitable lows. So with so much change going on, how do you lead for the long-term?

Here are my reflections learned over the course of my career as both a follower and now as a leader of a global team . . .

Be visionary.

Every leader I admire has a clear vision -? a vision which motivates and inspires - which they’re able to articulate succinctly. To be an effective leader for the long-term, you need to nail this. And you need a heavy dose of realism and authenticity when you communicate because it’s tough out there! You need to be honest with your people – achieving the vision is going to take hard work and there will be challenges along the way, but – even if it takes time - it’s achievable. Make sure you take time to visibly celebrate the success on the way and talk honestly about the things that haven’t worked.

Be a brilliant communicator.

For me, being a great leader and being an excellent communicator are two sides of the same coin. You can’t be one without the other, it’s as simple as that! And when you have a multi-national team spread across multiple office locations, and throw home-working into the mix too, you need to up the ante on the communications front. Never assume the message will get through on the first telling, whether it’s news about a product launch, an update on the company’s strategy or sharing necessary HR information – communicate, communicate, communicate. It’s the only way to ensure the message reaches everybody who needs to hear it and lands correctly. Remember you are always on, people read and interpret from body language, from the tone of emails, from who you are seen around and perception can quickly be seen as reality.

Be consistent.

Leading effectively for the long-term requires more effort and discipline than being (what I call) a “fair weather” leader - consistency is key. That’s why I hold a regular meeting for my own leadership team. Everybody knows we’re going to do this, and the meeting invitations go into everyone’s calendar in advance. At every session, we reflect on what’s happened since the last meeting, we celebrate successes and share lessons learned, then we highlight priorities, whether that’s client work, organisational change updates, finance, marketing campaigns . . . We cover all topics so that everyone is on the same page. And this is happening in every region where we operate, consistently.

Be cognisant of culture.

It’s important to consider cultural nuances when leading a global team for the long-term. When I was living and working in Asia, for example, clients generally expected to meet face-to-face. But cultures evolve, as I learned when I was chatting to Eric Wong, Expereo’s head of Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. He explained that although meeting in person is very easy to do given the size of Singapore, lots of clients are choosing to connect via video call versus in person these days. It’s because everybody got used to doing business virtually during - and that trend is sticking in Asia.

Be visible.

Leaders can’t sit in an ivory tower – being visible and approachable is a must. That’s why, in additional to virtual meetings with the global team, I make time to regularly travel to our regional offices to meet up in person. It’s a two-way street – I want to get to know our people on the ground and I also want to give them the opportunity to get to know me too, so that we build a strong rapport.

At the end of the day, all of these are underpinned by trust. In fact, when I started thinking about what leadership for the long-term meant to me, I was reminded that throughout my long and varied career, there have been lots of tough times. But one thing that really stands out is that I always had brilliant leaders to guide the way and I trusted them – and my peers - wholeheartedly. When we weathered those storms together and came out on the other side, we’d become an extremely tight-knit team – a team built on mutual trust. Knowing that everybody has each other’s back stands you in very good stead ahead of the next challenging situation. And that’s paramount for leaders to grasp, because the one thing that’s certain is that we’re going to be facing uncertainty for a while!