Subject: All

What Makes A Great Hybrid Leader?

Posted on September 21, 2023 by -

Many conversations with my clients this month have focused on this question as leaders around the world build teams and businesses within an evolving, hybrid working environment.  There is no blueprint; a tight labour market; balance sheets overburdened with debt due to the pandemic, a sense of urgency everywhere, and a workforce which is extremely reticent (role allowing), to return to the office full time.   

So, no pressure then…

You’d expect me to say that at the heart of any great hybrid leader has to be exquisite communication skills…..but it’s true.  Leadership is a relationship business, which means it is a communications business.  The challenge is, in a hybrid working world… what is it that we need to strengthen our communication skills to be able to do?  Well, here’s 5 of my favourites…

  • Build Trust: Any healthy relationship is based on trust; otherwise, it’s not a healthy relationship.  If we’re going to meaningfully move the needle on trust, then it starts with giving others our full attention.  So, put down the device, turn on the camera, move your phone to one side and start giving others your full and undivided attention… for more than just a few seconds or minutes.  This muscle group is unbelievably out of shape, and it will take some meaningful work to start to strengthen.  Always remember, if we appear distracted, what we’re really saying to others is clear and simple: “you and this conversation are not worth my full attention”.  Listen deeply, without agenda, with fascination and curiosity.  Again, easy to write; most people don’t do this.  Ego, pride, shame get in the way and we just can’t help ourselves; we stop listening, start talking… and keep going. 

  • Play An Actively Involved Part In Developing Your Teams’ Skills: Irrespective of seniority, we all need to continually learn, practice, play and evolve new strengths.  We shouldn’t abdicate our responsibility in the form of simply booking them on a training programme and passing the ball to the learning and development department.  If each member of your team (and theirs) does not have a personal development plan, then they need one… and fast!

  • Empower Others To Own And Be Accountable For More:  That doesn’t mean ‘dump more on your team’… it means, that if you’ve built trust and coached your team regularly to develop their skills, then they will be ready for more and be more effective to deliver more.  I see too many virtual catch ups to check in on progress against task… staying connected makes sense of course, but overburdening calendars with calls which effectively say ‘I don’t trust’ you are not useful at all.

  • Agree And Iterate The Ground Rules: How often do we want to be in the office?  To do what?  How do we co-ordinate our calendars and activities so that being together is enjoyable, useful, creative, fun, social?  What are the ground rules for virtual communication so that we avoid the black screen of boxes where lots of people are on calls not listening to or engaging with one person who is talking to themselves? 

  • Continually Talk About Communication:  It is the source of so much conflict.  It’s not the case to talk about it once, or at the start of a project.  We need to talk about it often, canvassing opinions widely and be willing to be open, flexible, responsive to feedback and meaningfully appreciative of the contributions of all.

Are there more than 5 aspects to consider?  Yes.  But this is a great place to dial up our skills meaningfully, deeply and effectively.

Until next time….

Sarah Brummitt
FFIPI AICI CIP

Emotional Labour Is Part Of Being A Leader

Posted on September 21, 2023 by -

I’m working with a global brand whose executive team is exhausted.  There are many reasons which could point to the reasons why: a world recovering from the impact of Covid-19, a war in Europe, the charge of customers to buy online, a challenging economy, difficulty in recruiting the best talent, trying to get the workforce back into the office… the list is endless.

And yet… as businesses everywhere grapple with the consequences of all these undoubted difficulties, one powerful reason behind the exhaustion is easily overlooked.  It is the challenge and responsibility of ‘emotional labour’.  

Wait, what?  

Yes, ‘emotional labour’ is a ‘thing’ in leadership.

Harvard Business Review published – as they always do – some brilliant research in 2022 which explores ‘The Emotional Labour of Being A Leader’, and in some ways it explains what leaders have known for years.  In order to be effective, we need to balance optimism and pragmatism, we need to translate powerful emotions from those above us into messages that will enthuse our teams, we need to be seen as calm and in control whenever things look like they are falling apart.  Here’s another list which is endless.  Anyone who has ever managed others will know that this means there is always an emotional issue or difficulty going on for at least one member of their team, which needs our support in some way.

And that’s emotional labour.

So what?

Well, so there are so many angles to explore here aren’t there? 

  • Let’s start with ourselves.  How has the emotional labour I’ve undertaken impacted how I’m now ‘showing up’ at work to my team?  What’s been the impact on my resilience? Authenticity?  Energy levels?  If the answers to these questions are ‘not good’, what is it that I must now do do to rest, recharge and restore my zest for what I do and why I do it?

  • Now let’s turn to our teams.  There’s also the ‘how’s my team’ angle.  If our view is that we’re in a good place, but our team might not be (because of the amount of emotional labour they’ve undertaken), what’s the impact?  How is it affecting their professional relationships?  Productivity?  Engagement?  What do they really need now?

  • Oh, and one more challenge – to do all of this  for ourselves and others in the hybrid world of work, which is here forever more. 

As we mark the third year since the pandemic began, and take a moment to look back at everything that has happened to us and our teams, we will have engaged in emotional labour as never before.  It’s easy to be flippant; one leader said to me that this is just ‘tea and sympathy’… which is fundamentally to miss the point… and the opportunity.  Every leader – no matter their role, industry, geography or economy is in the business of relationships first and foremost.  Being an engaging leader, conveying presence, impact, authority and driving that ‘I’ll follow you anywhere’ loyalty amongst teams, colleagues, customers and stakeholders alike means reflecting on how we really are, what we really need to be even more energized amidst the challenges, and how we can help our teams to step up, deliver more and have a brilliant time as they do so.  

That’s emotional labour and that’s leadership….meaningful, effective, inspiring leadership.

Until next time…..

Sarah Brummitt FFIPI AICI CIP