If you’re a people leader, the past year hasn’t been easy. While the pandemic strained supply chains, changed consumer and customer needs, and put into question strategic growth plans, it also put a spotlight onto new employee needs around wellbeing and engagement. All of these topics have one thing in common: You, as a leader, are tasked with adapting to all these challenges and making the most of these changes. While many initially thought these shifts might be temporary, the reality has set in that they may be here to stay—and that more changes are on the horizon.

“Trust has to be earned and should only come after the passage of time.”                    –Arthur Ashe

Trust is fundamental in our daily interactions, but we don’t talk about it enough. We’re social animals, and the very foundations of society are built on trust. So it should be obvious why trust is critical to success in everything—including business.

According to The Trust Outlook[1], about 85% of people believe that a high-trust work environment helps them perform at their very best. Virtually all metrics improve when employees trust their employers and vice versa, and that is especially true in a hybrid working world.

When the pandemic forced us all to move into virtual work environments, there was one topic that immediately worried leaders and employees alike: How do we keep our company culture going strong? How can we ensure that we don’t lose the culture that keeps us all connected? While a valid question, for many it never truly was resolved. The demands of focusing on emergency response plans, moving the entire company to a virtual model, and dealing with supply chain issues—among many others—caused a focus on firefighting and surviving.

It’s approaching two years since the pandemic forcefully transformed our lives. For most of us, it was an abrupt transition from customary ways of working to a virtual work environment. There was no alternative – we had to figure it out and make it work.

Ultimately, we realized that working remotely fit many people pretty well, driving higher-than-expected engagement numbers and keeping productivity high after the initial shock.

Fast forward to today. We’re still dealing with the pandemic, but businesses are realizing that it’s time to redirect their organizations for positive growth. There is renewed hope that we will overcome this virus – or at least get better at living with it. The show must go on, and we can’t be in “emergency mode” forever.

As we push through the second half of 2021, many unknowns remain from a tumultuous 2020. We’re in uncharted territory, so it’s important to consider what leadership skills will be critical as teams sail this new course.

Your company’s culture: strategic asset and competitive advantage

Your company culture is what employees say and do every day, how they work together (or don’t), what leaders reinforce (or don’t), and all the habits, practices, processes, and customs of the workplace.

It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark. — Howard Ruff

When’s the right time to change the oil in your car? When’s the right time to buy insurance, or to improve your diet? The “right” time is before there is a need. Timing really is everything.

For organizations, when’s the right time to begin developing tomorrow’s leaders? In time-starved organizations, leadership is constantly faced with tradeoff and prioritization issues, but one thing that should be at the top of their priority list is developing tomorrow’s leaders, today.

Author: Jessica Miller

Kitchen tables, make-shift computer trays on car consoles, scribbling notes on the back of napkins… Working arrangements in 2020 looked a lot different due to the pandemic’s impact. We toughed it out one video call at a time, but all the while our mindset of what was “normal” was shifting and evolving, and so was the mindset of the global workforce. We truly are in a work-from-anywhere world now and like many of you, ALULA was curious about the impacts of that dramatic shift.

Recently I moderated the virtual Women in Leadership panel at the American Biomanufacturing Summit. This was my second time moderating this panel virtually, and I continue to be amazed by the richness of the conversation—despite being unable to meet face-to-face. The panel included senior female leaders of Acceleron, Genentech, Novartis, Roche, and Sobi, each having rich experiences to share.

Author: J.P. Martinez

The flames are mesmerizing, the noise overwhelming, and the sheer power is remarkable. These words do not come close to illustrating the brilliance of a rocket launched on its way into space. And while truly incredible, the awe-inspiring physical representation of achieving escape velocity in some ways distracts from the true accomplishment; consider what is necessary for a successful launch. All the people, all the parts, and all the conditions must line up together, in just the right way, at the right time.