If the world has changed, leadership also needs change

Leading the way for a team is no longer just about “achieving results,” but rather tapping into the potential and needs of those who are walking with us

Rodrigo Bernardinelli

Organizational culture has been changing, and this is happening in all business segments. While such reshaping takes place, leaders cannot be in a hands-off mode. We need to drive this change towards what we understand as a better reality.

The point is that the past two years living through a pandemic has led to great transformations, personal and institutional alike. In fact, a number of studies have been suggesting that the pandemic has seriously altered our perception of time. As a result, our memory has also been impacted, as well as our relationships. One question thus arises: do you believe your behavior at work is the same after these two years?

As for me, the answer is no. Though not just because of the pandemic: all reshaping within Digibee challenged me to learn more, and step outside of the box. But as far as the pandemic issue goes, there are many changes that cannot be taken for granted.

One of the insights it has brought is that genius does not necessarily needs company. The technology for remote work has been long available. Long before the coronavirus. But as we all know, culture often does not keep pace with technological progress. The pandemic ultimately dissolved, even if forcibly, the resistance to working from home.

But does it make any sense to have entire teams geographically spread? Here at Digibee, we thoroughly avail of the possibilities of teleworking, meanwhile we seek to bring people together in the same venue whenever possible and necessary. This last word is meaningful here: there is no point in insisting on the old idea that “being together is key,” while not giving thought to the real necessity of getting together to work. Calling professionals to an event or face-to-face discussion without a purpose isn't just unproductive: it is both nonsense and stressful.

Other inescapable issues geographic dispersion implies are mentoring and the feeling of belonging. How to integrate new employees into the company’s processes – and the team itself – if they will never meet in person? It is not impossible, as the last few years have proven, but not always necessary either. Each position and each responsibility has its own peculiarities, though a case analysis is important before applying the anywhere office idea.

A Gartner’s analysis of the post-pandemic world of work argues that it makes more sense to think about skills than roles within organizations. We second that, so much so that the approach we use in managing our teams, the so-called Team Topologies, assumes that cognitive skills are pivotal in assembling a team, as is its relationship with other company teams. The capacity for personal engagement, building rapport, clear communication, dependability, leadership, and assertiveness are reckoned in this assessment. Likewise, they are especially considered when we think about who is more needed as concerns the physical, personal contact with other employees.

The same study asserts that the humanization of teams is increasingly necessary, but that, at the same time, the risk of dehumanizing personal relationships is significant. In this respect, it is the leaders who will make the difference. Work models based simply on results or productivity often lead to dehumanization in organizational settings. However, if we take into account factors such as resilience, integration, and creativity, we will realize the need for smarter and smoother models, in which productivity is based on the skills and talents of those involved.

Our role, regardless of the type of leadership at hand, should be of facilitators of such change to a work environment that is better suited to today’s world, meanwhile more humane. It is a responsibility we cannot shirk – and one that we build into our mission at Digibee.

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Read more: Back on the road, to new horizons