employees and some significant leadership
challenges: namely to maintain a connected,
collaborative workforce working on multiple
projects from different locations. Sounds
like it has always been right? Now add
in the new 'hybrid' work challenges, with
some employees working in person in the
office or on site, some online using virtual
platforms across different time zones, and
all needing careful management in order
to collaborate productively. Still, this now
means they all need inspiration, guidance
and an understanding that wherever we are
and whatever we are working on, we are still
all one team - Committed to Collaboration,
Clarity and always delivering professional
Competence. And with all that in mind we
are still driving our brand and delighting our
customers.
This is the landscape that our leaders and
future leaders will need to operate in. The
world has changed, and our leaders must
change with it.
AL: Having the functional 'smarts' is one
thing, but is it enough?
AM: Today's multi-zone hybrid work
environments need more from our leaders
than just being 'book smart' or 'tech savvy'.
IQ or intelligence quotient has not been
the recruitment measurement of choice for
some time when engaging and assessing
new leaders or colleagues. IQ, normally
represented as a number relates to standard
intelligence, what people know or how
smart they are based on a series of tests,
and some would argue has never been the
most important factor when it comes to
communication or inspirational leadership.
What is truly important is how leaders
share their knowledge, demonstrate care for
people and the world around them, and make
real connections. And we mean personal
connections, not just a LinkedIn network,
social media engagement, or how many views
the corporate speech clocked up. Leaders
who can consistently make this happen have
emotional intelligence or 'EQ'.
AL: What is EQ and how can it be developed?
AM: Considering it is a key type of leadership
performance focus in today's modern
workplace, leaders need to discover this
quickly and understand how to demonstrate
it.
Obviously, in the last two years the connection
between people has suffered a lot. Therefore,
leaders were forced to change their connection
methods. Leaders must adapt to a much
more engaging, personal, dynamic and
clearer way of leading. People's attention has
been diminished and pulled away for a long
period of time, real human connection has
been jeopardized - leaders have struggled
to re-motivate people to stay focused and
connected. They have struggled to use the
media and technology in the new 'virtual'
reality. They are trying to connect using social
media, intranet, webinars and even with blogs;
but they are still missing the mark, particularly
from a personal perspective.
AL: It seems that 2020 has changed the
business landscape for good. So how does
leadership emerge out of that?
AM: Management has fallen into two
very distinct camps; the 'traditional-style'
managers felt that they had lost the control
and ability to oversee their teams and as
such tried to hold on tighter with more rules,
and more one-way meetings about numbers
and performance. 'New-style' leaders saw
an opportunity to connect with their people
in a different way and set up different ways
of communication. For instance, focusing on
short bursts of live face-to-face activities and
two-way engagement. To be effective, leaders
had to focus on transferring their feelings and
charisma and get the personal message across
on a small screen and really try to lead through
the personal connection to each colleague.
An interesting part of the progressive modern
leadership approach being developed at
Swisslog is 'Service Leadership'. It is built on
the premise that the leaders' primary focus
is to both service and focus on the needs of
our customers. At the same time leaders give
the support required to our colleagues to
perform, grow, and develop in order to service
our customers together as one team. Service
leadership comes with a notion that people
do not serve the leader, it is leader that serves
the people and the organization in which they
lead. Swisslog wants to encourage partnership
through collaboration with colleagues and
customers. By doing this, we can realize
opportunities and deal with problems together,
rather than taking the traditional approaches
which have held back the future focus of
some of our strategic drivers. The traditional
approach may be a comfort zone for some,
but it is an approach which is no longer
capable of delivering the performance
required of today's complex people-centric
organizations.
This requirement for modernization changes
the leadership dynamic completely and
fundamentally.
AL: Why is this change necessary?
AM: It is simple; leaders do not have all the
answers. The late Steve Jobs, founder of
one of the most successful companies of all
time, left us with more than some amazing
technological innovations. He also had a
07
Aleksandra Laskowska, Market Analyst, was
curious about current trends on leadership.
Alex Martin, Global Change & Development
Consultant
Has 29 years practical hands on senior
development and leadership experience.
He is married, has two kids and 14-yearold cat.
'True empowerment is based on trust, and
support to act. What we need is a partnership
of support, direction, and understanding to
help us find a better way. It is not about 'what
can you do for the bosses', but very much
'what the leadership can do for the people
within our organization.''
VIRTUAL LEADERSHIP