Leadership skills for leading flexible teams
The last couple of years have tested all of us – most of us are leading and working in a way that is different than before – with many individuals and organisations embracing flexibility in a way never before seen. When most of us think flexibility we think ‘hybrid’ – the ‘wherever’ of ‘flex’ (the locations of work). But flex is more than that – it is also the ‘whenever‘ (hours of work – the start/finish times, compressed work weeks) and the ‘however‘ (the patterns of work – job share, part-time, split shifts etc).
We have found it useful when working with leaders in the last 6-12 months, to refer to two terrific blogs / research papers that provide some practical insights and suggestions for leaders to consider now we are navigating new ways of working. Here are links to both – they are publicly available to access and worth setting time aside to read and reflect on!
Forbes – Six fresh leadership skills for today
This post on Forbes and written by Lynne Cazaly explores 6 fresh skills required to help lead today.
How do you rate on these 6 skills? How often do you place deliberate attention on these skills?
Work 3.0 – Reimagining leadership in a hybrid world (Centre for Creative Leadership)
This paper is the culmination of 8 months of research led by the Centre for Creative Leadership in partnership with many organisations around the world. It shares a view on work and work practices in the Asia Pacific region and offers perspectives on what leaders should know about the hybrid world ‘separating myths from reality’; how leaders must frame the ‘tensions’ and polarities in the new work environment; and how they must transform themselves and their organisations for success in the Work 3.0 era’.
As shared by the REA group in their ‘hybrid approach to working’ paper, leaders need to proactively engineer purposeful moments to leverage the in-person working environment. And as shared in the CCL paper, hybrid is not just ‘an amalgamation of remote and onsite. It needs to be looked at and treated independently’.
How are you navigating this ‘new plane’ to overcome the challenges and tap into the benefits of flex?
