We’ve come a long way, ladies! We haven’t quite reached the end of our journey to close the gender gap or achieve broader inclusivity overall, but we have made—and are still making—progress.

The phrase transition plans, change in control, new leaders at the top, assimilation, and onboarding have dominated the media since January, as changes in governments’, corporations’ and other organizations’ leadership occurred.

A new year brings the opportunity to apply learnings from the previous year and plan for areas where you want to improve. One thing I’ve seen over my years of coaching are leaders who go through their days bouncing from place-to-place and task-to-task, at the end of the day, feel as though they’ve not accomplished any of the work they planned.

Leaders have long been encouraged to empower and engage the people around them. But usually it’s talked about as a one-way approach – the leader as the provider and the employee as the recipient. What if there was a reciprocal strategy on the part of the employee to further capitalize on the empowering approach the leader provides? In other words, what’s the analogous work-smarter-not-harder response for the employee in this situation?

Leadership is all about helping others to excel. As a leader, how do you achieve that?

In 1982, W. Edwards Deming published his 14 Points of Management and described what he called the System of Profound Knowledge. His ideas and writings continue to revolutionize manufacturing and organizational excellence by influencing innovators, thought leaders, and organizational teams throughout the world.

“How do I know my remote team is just as productive as when I was able to see them in the office?”

“How do I know they are doing the right things in the right way? Are there metrics I can use?”

“How can I be sure my remote employees are fully engaged, even though I’m not around?”

I’m hearing these questions a lot as remote work has become the “new way of work.” As a leader, what can you do? Do you use keystroke counters and always-on cameras to see them—because you can’t fully trust them? Or, maybe you should “trust but verify?” Or, “trust and hope for the best?”

Virtual conferences, in some form, are here to stay. And they come with unique challenges and benefits. With that in mind, ALULA developed a checklist of how best to prepare for—and engage in—virtual conference activities. These will ensure you get the most out of the experience—and hopefully you avoid some common pitfalls that may occur with this new way of engaging in virtual events.

There is a time-tested military leadership best practice that is known by the mantra; “Officers eat last.” It is reflected in what Simon Sinek described as a “circle of safety” that exists in high performing organizations so that all members will feel safe and secure and able to focus on battling external challenges and “seizing big opportunities” as a team, rather than worrying about internal conflicts and threats. That safety net is established by supportive leaders; those who put their people first and who will make personal sacrifices for the good of their teams.

Leaders planning the return to workplaces for employees who have been required to work from home (WFH) because of the COVID-19 pandemic, are finding they will need multiple working arrangements to keep their businesses thriving.
Whether returning to the office all at once, in staggered shifts, using split schedules, or maintaining WFH for some or all, leaders will need to be flexible and adapt their behaviors and management skills to deal with the fusion of the unique cultures attributed to each of these ways of working. Complicating the situation further are the still-to-be-determined cultural norms for how to behave in a socially distanced work-world.