The pandemic hasn’t really changed the direction of the marketplace, it’s mostly just accelerated it. Many of the strategies companies are employing to deal with remote work are ones that were already inevitable a year or two ago, but have now become necessities because of the state of the world. The change that we’ve all been thrust into can be destabilizing if we aren’t able to adapt to the new reality.
On today’s episode of the podcast, David Burkus shares key insights from his new book Leading From Anywhere. It’s important that managers learn to understand how these new complexities affect the mindset and workflow of the people they work with, and develop strategies for helping their teams thrive, especially since it’s unlikely the workplace will ever go back to “normal”.
One of the key insights we discuss is the importance of developing empathy for the people on your team. The workplace is often the “great equalizer”, in that we all have access to the same enviroment, the same resources, the same tools, and the same people. However, when we work remotely, each person is in their own environment and some are most definitely better equipped than others to deal with the pressures of the day. While one person may live alone with plenty of space and ultra-fast WiFi, another might be living in a two-bedroom apartment with small children who are doing remote school at the kitchen table. We must learn and adapt to the unique needs of the people on our team if we want to help them succeed, which means we can’t simply layer the same expectations on everyone on the team. We must commit to a posture of continuous learning, then adjust as we go.
Regardless of when the pandemic ends, we will all need to learn to “lead from anywhere”. Hopefully, this episode will help you along that journey.
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