I would like to share with you my personal story since I have joined a new role in a larger IT corporation 3 months before the COVID lockdown.
Like all of you, I found myself in the unknown, back-to-back meetings without knowing if it makes sense to attend it or not, building the trust within my team, understanding the organization and key stakeholders, what is it that it’s expected from me, learning a new technology and the new experience of the 2nd full-time job as a mom with a 5-year daughter seeking for attention.
Looking back there are many things that I could have done differently, one of them is work-life balance, take more time to reflect and correct the course of action, seeing the big picture, and asking myself if what I do is going to lead to a greater business impact and efficiency.
I am happy to share with you few reflections points that I have realized that are more critical in today’s context than it was 2 years ago, and I hope it would inspire you in your journey.
1. Anticipate customer demand by using New Modern Way of Digital Selling.
2. Focus on your customer experience by adopting the right technology (for home, on the go and in the office)
3. Listen to your employees, show empathy, make sure people feel safe and have enough time to recover after a busy day and encourage a work life balance into their daily life.
4. Lead with care, compassion, learn new ways of coaching and guiding your team.
5. Communicate effectively, clarity is a key factor for success, make sure you present your Vision and How the success looks like and what is the role of each team member for make it happen.
6. Inclusiveness, invite everyone at the table to share their experiences and ideas. Be ready to address and recognize Bias in a working place.
7. Make it Fun, looks to have informal meetings with your people without having any agenda established.
8. Implement a Wellbeing program and participate together with your team.
9. Develop and grow people for success. Have a consistent approach focused on people development, discuss career goals and aspirations, mentor, coach, and sponsor people inside the organization. Establish a growth mindset by encouraging people to build a career development plan.
10. Motivate your team by recognition, empowerment, or awards.
11. Encourage a culture of collaboration inside the organization.
To be able to do that we need to have the courage as leaders to change our behavior so that we can change the way we lead. My key learning that this period has taught me, that its ok to Stop, Rethink and Change the course of action and that I need to ask myself a simple question to keep me grounded: “What’s the real challenge here for you?”
Some recommended reading:
What executives are saying about the future of hybrid work | McKinsey
10 Ways To Manage Your Energy At Work (forbes.com)Manage Your Mental Energy To Be More Productive At Work (forbes.com)
