Written by: Poly Panou, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The post-pandemic work environment has changed dramatically. Nowadays, the leadership style differentiates itself greatly from the one in previous years. The future of work is taking a turn to mental health & embracing even more diversity at all levels of the organization.
The future is now, and we need to focus on the following attributes to better lead in the post covid environment:
1. Check into your and your teams’ mental health
The first thing that a leader should do is to check on his mental health. Reflect on your own needs and prioritize them since it is the only way to be a role model for your team and eventually the organization. Then it would be best if you focused on improving the team’s mental health. Recent research by Adecco highlighted that the level of support that workers feel from their company plays a major role in whether they decide to stay in their jobs or leave for better conditions. Thus, the more you improve the mental health of your team the better engagement levels your company will have resulting in a great place to work.
2. Redefine communication with empathy
Find the right way to communicate with each one on your team. Nowadays, there are more communication channels than ever before, but on the other hand, poor communication is a reality in our everyday working life. Firstly, using empathy, you should discover the proper way on delivering good and bad news to your team focusing on enhancing the shared vision and values. Moreover, you may ask your team to decide on the channel that you could use for your daily interactions. Using these two techniques will empower and boost your effectiveness as a team.
3. Embrace diversity & inclusion
As a leader, you will be responsible for people that have diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and sexual orientations contributing to the team's skillset that will make you stronger together. The way you will make everyone feel safe and secure to bring more of his/herself into the workplace will play a vital role in the future of your team structure and organization. Letting everyone be more open, curious, and honest within the team will make them feel like being in their second home. So be the change you want everyone to see as well as an ambassador of equality in your organization
4. Coach & Be coached
As leaders, we tend to train simultaneously also as coaches with the basic principles of coaching. In this way, we could assist our team members to maximize their professional & personal development. But we should consider reverse coaching as well. The best practice to do is to pick two timeslots within the week, in the first one you will coach one of your team members with a purpose, and during the second one let one other team member coach you. This is the best gift for you and your team.
5. Support your team in their development
An outcome of McKinsey Global institute research for the future of work found that in the U.S. alone, 17 million workers may need to change occupations by 2030, which is 28% more than had been forecasted in pre-covid-19 research.
This means that you as a leader should assist the development of each team with a diverse skillset to be able to adapt to the new norm of the working environment. In that way, you could keep your team relevant to new challenges that may occur in the following years.
Last by not least, having these skills post covid will ensure that you as a leader will be on top of the new way of working. Being an inclusive and servant leader is the attribute generation Z &X will search for.
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Poly Panou, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Panou Theopoula (Poly) is an HR Manager/Business Partner, a Coach, an Agile HR Practitioner, and a Mentor. She is currently responsible for the entire HR cycle, specializing in Talent & Performance Management, Engagement, and Retention of Talent & Business Coaching. She is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) accredited by the ICF Federation and specializes in Solution Focused Coaching, supporting teams and professionals to improve/develop their professional & personal lives. She is an HR enthusiastic that loves to talks about coaching life, hr management, business coaching, and hr business partnering.
