It's All About The Workplace Leadership Lessons Taught By COVID-19

COVID-19 proves to be a learning lesson in the workplace. There are terror, confusion, and fatigue all around. Situations have changed overnight. The speed in which the pandemic has affected the workplaces are beyond imagination.

Needless to say, the problems of leaders and their teams today are much different today. Talent management and cybersecurity are growing concerns. Managing a remote workforce, assets, and preparing for new normal has got difficult.

But, leaders continue to inspire and motivate. Despite the obstacles, we have seen many leaders standing up and taking up the task as their duty. As they say, a crisis draws the best out of good leaders. They have found their way and have already planned ahead of the next stage of this global crisis.

In short, the crisis has brought some invaluable leadership lessons. Out of them, here the top 8 lessons that I thought might be useful to share as we work together to navigate this new world. Let’s know in detail.

8 Leadership Lessons Taught By COVID-19

1. Accepting That Remote Working Is A New Reality

Companies that already have work from home policy in hand are doing fine. But, it took a pandemic for many to understand the benefits of a work from home policy.

Coronavirus results in an increasing number of employees working from home. As a result, many employers have found themselves in an unfamiliar situation. They are trying hard to adapt and adjust to a new way of working.

But, they have already accepted the fact that remote working is real. And it’s big.

Transformation is the real test of leadership. Many employers have come forward to overcome the challenges put by the crisis. They have learned to address the situation in the first place. They have dived deep into the concept of remote working, and the challenges involved

They have developed policies for employees situated in different locations. Currently, remote working tools are also being highly used. Thus, it has inspired great leaders to make the remote workplace efficient.

Related article- 25 Leadership Qualities That Makes You A Great Leader

2. Prioritizing Personal Safety Of Employees

Employers all over the world now agree that health and safety issues are the top priorities.

For example, IBM has taken a totally new approach. The company has adopted new travel restrictions for the safety of its employees. They have closed domestic travels for internal meetings and participation in external events.

They have allowed domestic travel, but not to the restricted locations. Otherwise, employees have to self-quarantine for 14 days. In the process, they have already proved to be good role models for many.

Thus, business leaders have understood their priorities now. They have also displayed them in many easy ways. They are also sharing safety health tips with their employees regularly. It is basic that every employer can do the same to stop the virus from spreading even further.

3. Understanding That Digital Is No More Critical

For the past years, several organizations have failed to move ahead. COVID-19 pandemic is driving the rapid adoption of digital technologies across companies. It has become the most important strategy to stay relevant.

Real-time remote actions have replaced manual performances. Thus digital is no longer critical. Leaders who considered ‘going digital’ to be someone else’s job now believe the same to be the only hope.

4. Considering Honesty With Their People

Research shows that the workers feel less-informed by their employers. But in unpredictable times like this, transparency is essential.

As employees feel unprepared for the same, employers have developed new work cultures. They, by now, know honesty can manage difficult times. It’s all about creating a transparent work environment. It helps put employees at ease, explaining how such disasters can be planned to handle.

5. Dividing Authority

Fighting through complexities, employers now feel employees should be proactive and make decisions. They should not always wait for directions from the superiors. It requires fast, and transparent communication from the employers’ end.

In the process, they have to give some more authority to their employees than usual. By showing trust in them, many leaders have already achieved clappings.

6. Getting More Confident In Leadership Skills

Showing confidence is leadership’s number one job in a crisis.
Michelle Batt, Lead with CX.

After tackling the pandemic for months now, employers have started to respond. By far, they are quite positive about it. They know that the situation is not going to be easy soon. But they can get through it all together. It brings a new light of hope among the employees too.

Also read: Leadership Skills For Managers That Will Help You In 2020

7. Understanding The Power Of Joint Efforts

During this crisis the leaders of the best workplaces have recognized the power of joint efforts. No matter how strong they were in self-decision making, they now need the support of all their employees. They expect the full dedication of their team towards shared objectives.

8. Keeping The Personal Goals Aside

Most leaders often keep going over strategies about how they are more likely to get a promotion. They now have realized that there is a lot beyond the fancy titles and attractive perks.

They now look into broader, deeper, and longer-term concerns while knowing that less fortunate employees in his team are worried about even keeping their jobs. They are now deeply empathetic to the challenges of their people. In the process, leaders create a unique opportunity for themselves to become the leader as others want to have.

These leadership lessons are going to go a long way in all businesses. Do you have anything else to share in this regard? Let us know in the comments section below.

This article is written by Susmita Sarma, a digital marketer at Vantage Circle. She was involved with media relations before shifting her interest in research and creative writing. Apart from being a classical music buff, she keeps a keen interest in anchoring and cooking. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com