How are you leading online?
A square inch of screen to make an impact from the neck up!
Is your role as a leader any different today to your role in the environment we may have just left behind? If it is, how do you adjust in order to maximise your leadership impact?
We spend a lot of time thinking about and developing strategies for keeping our people, customers and suppliers engaged and productive in the current remote and virtual world. There is no shortage of good advice and guidance on the practicalities. These are all things that can be strategized, organised, provided and learned. And they really matter.
Do they matter as much as you, the leader, showing up in every virtual/remote interaction you have with those people who are important to you and your business?
And if showing up is more than broadcasting to-do lists, checking numbers and remedial actions, agreeing decisions and debating courses of action, then, as leaders, we need to look at how we show up as a person because that’s what shows up in that square inch of screen.
Showing up is about how you demonstrate that you care about your team, their mental health and working environment.
Showing up is about being someone who empathises with the difficulties they are facing.
Showing up is about them knowing, without thinking, that you are in the bear pit with them.
How do you do all that when you are communicating as a “head and shoulders” 100% of the time in a full-on virtual world on computer, screen, or phone screen?
If celebrated TV presenters are struggling with this new world where there is no physical interaction between them and their audience, it’s not surprising that leaders can feel a bit on edge when facing the same challenges.
I had never had formal on-screen training, especially in headshot mode, and especially being on-screen for long periods of time. So, I took a lesson from an expert in the field of professional and personal presence in the virtual world. Eye opening is an understatement. What I learned in a couple of hours has enabled me to relax, be myself, come across (I am told as the authentic person they know), be human and attract and inspire my team to come on this new journey with me.
My biggest learning ? How you show up really matters so pay attention to it!