Today I had the absolute privilege to join the Centre for Army Leadership’s conference on Remote Leadership. Each presenter was absolutely excellent. Here are a few of my take home messages…
- To achieve effective remote leadership there needs to be a devolution of decision making and an enablement of operational delivery.
- Be more eyes on, hands off
- Do not micromanage from afar – support from afar
- Lead like a gardener – nurture, feed and care for the plants and they will grow on their own
- Lead via a mission command model: don’t worry about the how, concentrate on the what and the why
- Punish negligence not mistakes, or as I like to say, hard on the facts and soft on the people!
- Remote Leadership is about being remote not being a remote-being
- A remote leader focuses on people. A leader that’s remote focuses on the tech and the process
- Virtual meetings give quieter voices the chance to input, via chat functions (as an introvert, I love this principle)
- Don’t be a know it all, be a learn it all
- Ask yourself, why would anyone be led by you?