Regardless of the course that COVID takes in our world, one thing is clear: people will be working virtually more than ever before, even after we’re cleared to meet in person again.
At Path Forward, we take a profoundly relational view of leadership – that is to say, we see leadership success coming directly from the leader’s abilities to form, sustain, and grow key relationships.
Much of this relationship-building has traditionally occurred in unexpected ways – the shared ride on the elevator, the lunch table conversation, the drive-by “how are you today?” conversations, the sharing of a birthday cake.
Now, as we interact in less visceral and personal ways, I hear leaders saying, “I just can’t relate to people the way I did before – I’m concerned about our culture coming apart at the seams if we can’t be together.”
We can do things to keep things fresh and lively while we’re working with one another virtually.
I think all of this comes under the category of not wasting our time just wishing things could be different than they are. And remember, all this virtual relationship-building work is building capabilities for you and your organization that will be essential even after COVID.