How to develop leaders during an era of remote working?

Over the last 12 months the world has change. There is no doubt about that, regardless of what generation you live in, there will always be substantial change year on year in your life. However, something that we can all agree on is that the change from full-time office to flexible remote working is a paradigm shift.

Paradigm shifts, in any area, have significant indirect outcomes – good or bad. Take for example the adoption of rapid technology into our work and personal lives. At the beginning, people thought that technology would make our lives easier, make us happier, more efficient and in many situations, that is correct. However, unplanned by-products of this technology adoption are the negative issues of mental health, disconnection and the struggle to adapt to change.

As we enter the paradigm shift of switching to full-time office based working (bums on seats) to flexible remote working (task orientated), there will be a lot of pros and cons. One of the unplanned by-products could be a reduction in the creation of leaders.

Traditionally, we are used to leaders leading from the front. Leadership is usually done in person, is personal to individuals and relies upon connection based influence. With increased remote working there will be a reduction in face to face interaction which will may make it more difficult to form a connection and influence. These issues don’t just apply to remote working as the feeling of isolation and remoteness is an ever present issue which may also contribute to this topic.

Also, we often we talk about individual people changing the world, but today, the world changes faster than most people can deal with. Throughout history it seems that we rely on individual leaders to create change, however, I believe that in this rapidly changing environment we need more diverse leaders to carry us forward collectively. Without this, I believe that many opportunities to create a better society will pass us by.

So how do we continue to develop leaders in a remote world?

Creating leaders, whether in person or remotely, does not change significantly. As a collective I see that there are three fundamental steps:

1. Understanding the meaning of leadership
2. Identification
3. Education and experience

The meaning of leadership

Far too often I see people, companies and society misunderstanding what leadership is. Many speakers, trainers and writers will tell you that “a great leader must be the best! Must be the smartest! Must be the more skilled so that they can teach others!” Depending on the situation, that may be correct. However, on a whole, that concept is incorrect. Leadership is not dependent on a person’s skills, rather how they behave.

When you understand this, you will understand that regardless of where you are, how you communicate or interact, it is possible to be a leader if you behave like one.

Identification

The path of leadership is not an easy one and requires significant levels of discipline and consistency. That is why, when trying to develop the future generation of leaders, to focus on three key identifiers:

1. Identify who will be the focus. Depending on where you are and what your goal is you will need to target a specific group of people to step up to behave more like leaders. For example, for a major company, this could be targeting the youngest generation within the organisation.
2. Identify with the group. Depending on the group you select you will need to understand them and identify them. The majority of people do not naturally believe that they are leaders. You will need to help them understand how their individualism can help and how they fit in to the bigger picture.
3. Identify how to create exposure. Just because you train them does not mean they will automatically become leaders. They will need exposure to gain experience.

Education and experience

The greatest leaders are ones who behave authentically. This will not happen overnight as the future leaders will need to learn, draw on their life experience and learn from new experiences to develop their own identities.

Your goal should be to support them by creating as much exposure to leadership challenges to help them question and test their values. This will help them develop into stronger leaders.

Thank you for reading, JT.