Are you AFRAID, our dear leaders?

Couple days ago, I shared a video on my YouTube channel asking our leaders this question: “Are you afraid?” Here was the story behind that.

In my recent meetings with leaders around the region, the topic of asking people to go back to office full-time was repeatedly showed. It seemed like companies in this part of the world are pushing the employees to let go of their wishes of having flexible working conditions. The reasons for this push? Lack of creativity. Low performance. Little tracking on individual’s works. Bottom line didn’t meet. Poor collaborations. And much more. You can name them.

The challenges I put forward for leaders are this: “Where are we in the process of change? Are we reacting or responding to change? Let’s go back to three years ago. When the pandemic first hit a few countries then across the globe, what did we do? We tried our best to find ways that could keep the business operating as normal. And we did. We found ways to let employees work from home completely and we called it the new normal. When people got used to it, their perception about working and living changed forever. They found the golden key to a life that they could treasure the jobs they are doing, also enjoy time for other important priorities in their personal lives. Less time to commute, more time with your loved ones. Work-life balance started to seem real and achievable.

But not for long.

With all the uncertainties and chaos around the world, business results got hit longer than expected. That’s where patience got its test. Shareholders pressured management for better returns on investments. Where increasing revenue was hard to achieve, cutting cost was the best option. We experienced mass layoffs first by a few big giants, then that trend continued by those who were waiting to see the global reaction. How could leaders justify such decisions? Creativity. Collaborations. Individual performance. Bottom line. Forecast. You name it. And those things happened because employees were allowed to work remotely full-time or on hybrid. So, one way to make a turnaround is to bring the employees back to the office.

That leads to another question: Was remote or hybrid work the cause of companies’ poor performances? Or was it just a justifiable cause for leaders to react to the current pressure? Are they reacting or are they responding to the current change? In reacting and responding, it says a lot about leadership. The definition of react in Latin is “back, perform” which means we take action back at something, or at someone. The word respond in Latin means “back, answer” which means we take time to answer back to something or to someone. For millions of years, we have been more wired to react than to respond because reacting is quicker, and it shows immediate actions. People can see such actions. Shareholders expect such action. However, with the complexities of life today, reacting rarely takes us to positive outcomes. Responding produces far more desirable outcomes. And it takes time to see results.

It is the job of our leaders to make the ways, share the approach, and lead people to that new destination where the responding part of their decision is in charge, not the reacting one. Never forget that for million years, we found problems, then what did we do well? We found the solutions. We are good at problem solving. If things don’t work now, it is our job to figure out how to make it work. If remote work or hybrid work doesn’t work well for the time being, how can you as leaders find the way to make it work? Don’t just call the employees to come back because that is reacting. And in that reaction, people feel hurt. Their voices were unheard. Their expectations were ignored. Their existence then isn’t important. That is not something you want to create.

Don’t be afraid, leaders. Keep going and you will figure the way out with your people. ?