The true importance and role of a leader lies in guiding people and taking decisions when the system fails, but we have never adequately been prepared for such a situation. How do you prepare for the unexpected? In this session we will explore time-tested principles and valuable tools that will help you to lead and take decisions amidst uncertainty as well.

Modern-day corporate has negatively evolved into endorsing advocacy of materialism; organizations & leaders running them see failure of others as the sole index of their own success. This results in destructive competition, conflict, disharmony, and negativity. To reform prevalent toxicity in the corporate world that’s negatively affecting the health, relationships, and overall well-being of employees today, we need compassionate leadership.

A compassionate leader would create an environment which promotes learning, empathy & kindness. Thus, helping teams to take advantage of diversity, reduces conflicts, enhances employee engagement, reduces attrition, and improves performance. Cultivating psychological safety and creating a workplace which encourages collaboration and promotes kindness and treat all as members of a family, is going to be a sustainable competitive advantage.

The ongoing pandemic and technological advancements work in tandem necessitating improvements in the ways businesses can communicate virtually. With the COVID-19 transforming our very way of life, businesses all around the world have been trying hard to adapt themselves in the hope to function smoothly.

However, there is no denying that the curveball of the pandemic to the industries has brought the entire world economy to a grinding halt. This is a new world and as such warrants a shift in workplace standards, insomuch as to keep companies afloat. The impact of these shifts goes beyond the day-to-day functioning of the business but opens an entirely new debate around ideas of leadership. The challenges that the pandemic has brought are unprecedented and unknown to almost all in leadership roles. This mounting challenge in a drastically virtual world, one where we cannot afford to act rashly underscores the criticality of virtual leadership.

Data from the Institute for Corporate Productivity suggests that almost 87 percent of major organizations believe, their business is undergoing rapid transformation. For many of these businesses, the primary cause of such rapid transformation has been greater adoption and reliance on digital platforms owing to remote working ushered by the pandemic. Currently, over 25% of employees worldwide work in a 100% remote work organization observing virtual team collaboration. Furthermore, every employee in these organizations works in her or his domestic time zone.

As the world adjusts to this newness related to work and work-related communication, leaders in businesses have been subject to unseen and unthought-of organizational challenges. Since this is a relatively new way of working and communicating for many businesses, leaders in virtual settings have faced many organizational challenges including that of managing their workforce.

Countering this unpredictability and making the best out of the cards dealt, it becomes crucial for leaders to dig deep and hone their virtual leadership skills. One way to achieve this and make your virtual teams successful is developing an understanding and empathetic approach to maintaining employee morale and motivation while simultaneously being mindful of mental health. In addition to ensuring that the human element exists when handling the challenges that a virtual work environment brings to the table, having certain ground rules established, a detailed plan of action made, and most importantly having patience can go a long way in strengthening work relationships and garnering support as a leader.

Beyond the logistics, training, and building capacity of employees and colleagues to ease the process of transitioning from a physical to the virtual working mode, leaders also need to be cognizant of challenges such as that of internet bandwidth, limited working space, and noise that are often a part and parcel of working from home.

Streamlining work processes and facilitating workshops to further enhance collaboration between teams through cloud-based services and tools like Google Drive, One Drive or Google docs can also be valuable as business leaders work towards rebuilding their organizations after the shock of the pandemic.

How to be your true self as a leader. A walk through the lows and highs of leading while living your values.