The Elephant in the Room

There’s an elephant in the room.

2020 proved to most Leaders that their people can be trusted.
Whether we were working remotely or on the front line – we certainly were productive.

But now another major challenge faces those same Leaders.
That of rebuilding positive cultures, while some people work from home and others are onsite. One of the major cultural challenges facing these leaders will be around decision making.

Decisions, Decisions

You see, throughout the pandemic, senior executives had no option but to allow local operations and managers to make the decisions themselves. And they made then at pace, so that they could keep services operating and meet customer demand. Some decisions were so effective they led businesses to pivot how they operated!

There was no time for decisions to be sent up the traditional and longwinded route of gaining sanction from executive boards. So, decentralisation happened remarkably quickly and leaders had to trust people at lower levels to do the right thing. They did the right thing.

Decision-making usually involves a mixture of intuition and rational thinking. But it also benefits from a large dose of the practical knowledge of the operating environment too. These front line managers had that by the bucket load.

Many bosses were delighted with the discovery of an impressive capability among their people further down the hierarchy. That is interesting in itself, isn’t it?

The future

Decision making authority truly shifted. But the question now is whether those same leaders can continue to trust and allow decision making at the lowest possible level.

Will they allow those closest to the front line operation to continue or will control and decision-making return to the top?

In the new reality, individuals and teams who have proven their value will look for a new kind of leadership. If they don’t get it – the best will move on.

There’s an elephant in the room!
Are your Leaders up to the job that their new reality brings?