The remote leader is the Alpha of a remote team.
Elizabeth Ewudiwa
In February last year, I was at Harvard University and I was privileged to be in the incredible session with Corinne M. Le Goff, current CCO at Moderna and former Amgen Senior Vice President – General Manager US Business Organization. This was barely 4 weeks before the first cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the US and Ghana. At this time, China had an epidemic at hand and the world was yet to face a pandemic that would still not be ended even after 2 years of varying levels of restrictions, treatments, and precautionary measures.
I had raised a subject on how a new world (which could already be predicted) would require people separated by distance to work together to achieve results. I had shared my worry that the way to lead a physically present team is different from how to lead a remote team. The principles may be the same, but the approaches are different. If communication is the crux of leadership and 2020 findings showed that 93 percent of communication is “nonverbal” in nature, including sources like New York Times’ that reveals that only 7% of a speaker’s communication is verbal, then remote leadership has more work to do.
The presence of technology has not fully compensated for the physical absence of people. Whilst video conferencing apps, amongst others can allow us to do what glues a team together -communicate, it doesn’t tell the full story of the non-verbal nature of people.
This leads me to the big question which I’m trying to answer today. What makes an effective remote leader?
- Transparent communication: This leader shows up with emotional intelligence and creates a psychologically safe environment for people, maintains accountabilities, and ensures responsibilities are clear to everyone involved. Read more on the REACH model to building psychological safety (Reframe mistakes, Encourage all voices, Appreciate contributions & Coach other team members to Help and support each other)
- Builds trust: This leader understands that working from home is not a ‘lazy’ option. People do not work less when they are out of your sight. In fact, a recent study by @Bloomberg in September of over 30,000 employees claimed that one day per week spent working from home could boost productivity by 4.8%. Now, that efficiency ratio should not be lost because of mistrust
- Empathy: Probably this is the rarest attitude amongst leaders but the most found amongst great leaders. Employee engagement is tied to the invisible connection you can establish. As a remote leader, show concern for your employees’ life – family, health, environment, because they all contribute to their work and productivity
- Stay positive: Keep a positive vibe that wherever your team is working from, they are driven by your vision. Understand that remote work increases the self-leadership potential of your team. You are leading leaders. When you expect success, you’ll find success and if you don’t, you won’t.
As we close 2021 like the chapter of a book we’ve finally climaxed, make a conscious effort to build your remote leadership skills because the new normal will stay with us for a long time or forever. Truth is, meeting new people from different locations is an opportunity for success than failure, if you let it be.
Happy new year 2022!
I love this short article I read. Thumbs up dear.