By Dr. Sanghamitra Bhattacharyya
Ever since management education became formalised in the higher education curriculum, be it in India or abroad, leadership development has been one of the most sought-after topics of instruction among professionals. The unexpectedly rapid pace of change and dynamism characterizing today’s business environment, exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic which continues to pose survival threats to businesses globally, has seen marked shifts in the motivations, aspirations and profiles of the workforce.
As a result, the format of work and employment has taken on a more ‘hybrid’ character, straddling multiple worlds: offline vs online, brick & mortar vs cyberspace, and gig economy vs regular employment, to name a few. Literature on leadership has long advocated that the most effective leader is one who is able to adjust his/her approach depending on the needs of the situation.
Given the recent phenomenon of the ‘Great Resignation’ and growing rates of employee turnover that organisations are being confronted with, it is clear that leadership in this hybrid era will need to remain relevant by reinventing and reformatting traditional approaches to command and retain followership.
Why Do Leaders Need To Reinvent Themselves?
With little previous experience to draw from, limited information and mounting external pressures, leaders will nonetheless need to choose how to address this new normal of hybridity.
In a recent roundtable discussion (2020) with HBR’s editor-in-chief, Adi Ignatius, top leaders identified what it takes to be an effective leader today – the need for leaders to be ‘humane’, willing to demonstrate vulnerability along with realistic optimism while being flexible and agile to respond speedily to rapidly changing priorities.
The problem today is not of availability of talent, but retaining this talent. The younger generation is keeping a watch on how companies are treating employees in these times of uncertainty and would be expected to base their future employment decisions on how companies fare on this dimension.
On the other hand, leaders in the hybrid world are likely to have to deal with increasing virtual reporting relationships, separated in space and sometimes in time zones, making it more difficult to stay aligned, engaged and communicate effectively with their followers/ reportee, without giving rise to feelings of alienation, and still manage to achieve the desired goals.
In such cases, leaders will need to develop ‘remote leadership’ skills – not remote as in being unapproachable or cold, but the ability to operate effectively through remote control. This would require a greater investment of personal time in setting up face-to-face meetings, checking in with the team more often, and using appropriate digital means, to ensure that the connectedness remains unaffected.
The seemingly unending cycle of turbulence and uncertainty over the last few years has also been a source of emotional exhaustion for employees, who have begun to question their life choices, priorities and expectations.
The tenets of ‘servant leadership’ is predicated on the Ubuntu philosophy of social sensitivity and personal responsibility for collective well-being (2021), and includes a person-oriented style of leadership, that prioritizes followers’ needs and well-being, and helps to empower them by developing them to their optimum potential.
Such an approach could be helpful for employees to deal with their emotional exhaustion and uncertainty, regaining their sense of purpose and optimistic outlook for the future.
Leadership Development In The Hybrid Era:
There will be increasing expectations from leaders to be more caring, socially responsible, and willing to serve and be a collaborator rather than merely dictate and instruct, which had traditionally been the expected forte of a leader. This would require organizations and leaders to invest in building strong relationships and a culture of resilience (2022), while also promoting psychological safety among employees/ followers. The change has already started and is expected to accelerate and gather force in the days to come.
Accordingly, leadership development would need to focus on building up the following key competencies:
Tolerance for ambiguity: A leader needs to not only be comfortable with ambiguity but also be comfortable in being the container for the anxiety that ambiguity creates among their followers and organizations;
Cognitive flexibility: the leader needs to be cognizant of alternatives, willing to adapt to the situation, believe in their own ability to be flexible, and possess the ability to switch between different thoughts and different actions. In a similar vein, Ferrazzi, Gohar, and Weyrich (2022) have advocated the concept of “radical adaptability” as the new model of leadership for creating future-ready organisations;
Integrity: The leader would be expected to demonstrate as well as encourage ethical courage, courageous candour and transparency, from himself/herself and followers, in every action;
Innovation: The leader would be expected to harness the collaborative creativity of followers to come up with new and innovative ideas and approaches, and
Inclusion: The leader would be expected to demonstrate authentic respect by making employees feel included, valued, respected, trusted and cared for, to negate the sense of alienation and disengagement that might have set in.
To borrow from the words of ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu: A leader is best when people barely know he/she exists; Of a good leader, who talks little, when his/her work is done, his/her aim is fulfilled, they will say: “We did this ourselves”
The author is a Professor, Organisational Behavior & Human Resource Management, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon.
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