If ever there was a time to move forward from command-and-control style management to a world where leaders inspire their people and, in business terms, their teams then surely this is it.
A cultural shift from management to leadership has been coming for some time, but let’s not just assume the reasons and benefits are clear to all. This is about far more than the semantics around different words, this is a reflection on modern ways of working, the desire for collaboration across organisations, where employee participation is fostered, engagement is nurtured and trust underpins employment.
From all directions, when you consider whether it is more productive, more efficient, more effective to put our heads together as equals, or to compete within flse hierarchies, surely there is only one conclusion to draw?
Who wants to work in an organisation where you can only do what you’re told to, in detail? Where is there any form of satisfaction to be had in just executing someone else’s ideas?
On that note, ask also how many new ideas can a stretched executive spin up, while trying to maintain operational delivery within good governance.
How many barriers to open thought do long-standing, senior employees have which more recent recruits are free of when they seek to innovate, when they dare to pursue the art of the possible unfettered by experience and failure.
To be dynamic, to grow, to be digital we need input from all corners of our organisations.
If ever there was a time to appreciate the value and perspective of every employee then it is now, and we need to keep this front of mind as and when we find a way through the disruption of the pandemic.
Let’s not talk of a return to normal, but of progressing to a new current state, informed by this experience, and celebrated by every one of us for we have all contributed to its achievement.
