Published on 10 March 2022 by Craig Paton
Pelicam’s Intelligent Change Forum (ICF) is a series of events bringing together the leaders of some of the most well known organisations in finance, insurance, utilities among other sectors. The intention is to create a space where people can share their experience and engage with peers from outside their organisation.
In the latest of our Intelligent Change Forum sessions, John Monks, Leadership Coach and author of “Closer Apart” facilitated a virtual session. John’s book “Closer Apart” explores people’s differing workplace responses to the restrictions imposed by Covid-19. The research is based on work with leaders in the UK and USA, ranging from startups to global organisations, and in senior leadership roles in organisations and in transformation (read a full article on the research). The session was attended by leaders from industries including Investment Management, Utilities, Software Development, Big 4 Consultancy, Insurance, Telecoms and Consumer Rights; we wanted to share some of the key outputs.
What’s the problem?
People were forced to adopt a completely new style of working almost overnight, unsurprisingly this posed huge challenges to both people’s personal and professional lives. For those in leadership roles this was particularly challenging; not only did they have to understand how to work themselves, they have to understand how to best facilitate the work of their teams. John explained the key findings:
● The research characterised three types of Leaders: Heroes, Technocrats and Sharers
● All have positives and negatives for the individual and the organisation
● Technocrats and Heroes aren’t as heroic as they seem and are more likely to self destruct
● Sharers were seen to drive better performance and ultimately boost morale throughout the organisation
What can we do about it?
● Not everyone is a natural Sharer but it’s possible to develop these skills
● Leaders can adopt different styles at different times for different audiences (dare we say a “hybrid”!)
● There are methods and strategies that can be adopted to help with all of these challenges.
Who needs to do it?
These changes are applicable to almost everyone. Whether you lead a huge team or a small one, by recognising what type of leader Covid has forced you to become you can improve your work life and that of the people you manage. The dangers of ploughing on in the same way as before poses risks both for the leaders themselves as well as the organisation. Pelicam are very well positioned to help leaders adapt and evolve and to work with their teams to ensure positive outcomes.
If you would like to learn more about this session or find out about upcoming sessions, drop us an email to info@pelicam.com and we will be happy to chat.
