The Future Is For Leaders Who Are Ready. Are You?

At the start of February, I wrote an article called “How To Successfully Lead Your Hybrid Team.”

I have also been doing a series of videos called “The Future of Work Is The Future of Leadership.”

The driver for both the article, the videos and this article is that the future of work is hybrid and the fact that most of our leaders are not ready, They have not done this before and are just not equipped.

If we do not change this situation, It is going to have devastating effect on our hybrid workforce. Increased stress, uncertainty, anxiety, fatigue and burnout will result and no employer should be prepared to accept that as a future state. No one.

This is uncharted territory. Let’s chart it.

Emotional Support

This is my hybrid leadership model that is evolving the more I write about it.

Great leaders provide emotional support. This should be provided at all times but is especially important for employees working in a hybrid team for the first time.

Wellbeing

Employee wellbeing should be the top priority for every leader. Despite the fact that many, if not most, employees have welcomed the freedom to work from anywhere, it can also lead to feelings of isolation and depression.

Start with a regular check-in and four words “How are you feeling?”

You need to have awareness of how others are feeling and coping. This includes all your team regardless of where they are working from.

When you understand how others are feeling, you take the appropriate action.

Find out more about mental health in the workplace in my infographic.

Vulnerability

Regardless of whether there is light at the end of the pandemic tunnel or not, the stresses and anxiety it has cast over our workforces is not going to lift anytime soon. The uncertainty that remains will only serve to increase the stress and anxiety.

The chances are that you too are experiencing those feelings. If you share those feeling with your team, they will do the same.

There is still an assumption that vulnerability is a sign of weakness when in fact it is a sign of courage.

Showing your vulnerability doesn’t mean you spread doom and gloom which will not help your team in the slightest. You need to spread optimism and hope for the future.

However, sharing the fact that you have felt anxious about leading the team in a bi-modal manner and that you are on a learning curve shows your team that you are not superman/woman but rather just as human as everyone else with the same emotions. Sharing encourages sharing and sharing one feelings and emotions can alleviate the fear and anxiety.

You can read more about empathy and vulnerability in my 2020 blog on building resilience.

Empathy

It is paramount that you have empathy for everyone in you team. Everyone is different and experiencing different challenges. It is easy to think we are empathetic but often hard to practice it.

The 2020 State of Workplace Empathy study report stated:

One of the key takeaways in this year’s study is empathy has stalled. Employees feel as though their leaders are not doing enough to display empathy, and that was before the world was rocked by a pandemic.

https://www.businessolver.com/resources/state-of-workplace-empathy#expand-1

The study also found that only 48% of employees believe companies as a whole are empathetic versus 68% of CEOs. 91% of CEOs said their company is empathetic but only 68% of employees agreed. There is clearly a disconnect.

I believe that empathy is not as simple as walking in someone else’s shoes. It is about understanding how others feel walking in their shoes.

It is about removing your filters and biases and really understanding the feeling of others in their context and reaching out with help and support. You have to really feel what the other person is feeling.

Watch the brilliant video on empathy versus sympathy from Brené Brown.

Read more in my 2019 blog on empathy and empowerment.

Compassion

As stated in a McKinsey article “When people exhibit fear and a desire for protection and self, preservation, compassionate leader validate those feelings as normal.”

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/tuning-in-turning-outward-cultivating-compassionate-leadership-in-a-crisis

Leaders who lead with compassion make every employee, regardless of their proximity, feel genuinely cared for.

Compassionate leaders listen - they really listen and hear what is really being said. They are servant leaders and put the team’s needs before theirs.

The understand the perspectives, motivations and challenges of others. They then use their power to make the lives of others better.

When you show compassion you create a safe space for open and honest conversations.

Summary

Emotional support for employees regardless of their location is crucial. Often those working remotely feel less cared for than those in the immediate proximity of a leader. That cannot be allowed to be a new reality.

Emotional support comes from leaders who lead with vulnerability, empathy and compassion and have the wellbeing of every employee as an overarching priority.