In early March of 2020, the world began to shut down due to an unprecedented virus killing people all over the planet. With this unique situation the world of business turned to working remotely, to keep their employees working and their companies and governments from failing. While many around the world are going back to the office, there is now a newfound appreciation for working from home. How will the future of business and government be led in a virtual workforce? The answer is unclear, but the characteristics of a transformational leader may be more important now than ever.
The transformational leader will be a visionary, who has the ability to help their followers be successful without the normal support of having the team in one location. According to Bass and Riggio followers of today want to be inspired and empowered during these uncertain times (2006). It will be more important now than ever that followers know and understand the vision of not only their leader, but the organizations they serve. These people are removed from society and need to feel apart of the organizations vision (PSU, WC, L.10, 2016). Never before has there been a complete isolation of society, and people need to feel connected.
With employees working virtually it can be hard to know if they are on task or fulfilling their potential. This is where the transformational leader will have to lead by example and trust that the team they have put together is of moral conviction and has the ethics it takes to be successful (PSU .WC. L.10, 2016). It is more important now than ever before that leaders understand what the American Psychological Association says on the topic of remote staffing, “the impact of such arrangements on productivity, creativity and morale has been up for debate, primarily because working from home offers employees fewer opportunities to talk and network with their colleagues” (APA. Vol 50. No. 9, p54). Using products like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, will help with this concern. It is essential that the team stay connected and can collaborate face to face.
Motivating the team will be vital to them staying focused and keep them committed to the shared vision of the organization and co-workers. However, no matter how motivated a team member is, if they are not intellectually stimulated, boredom or mundane work could bring down productivity. Working form home is new to most people, so a transformational leader could use this time to allow the employee to find innovating ways through their own problem solving skills to solve the predicament of working remotely, possibly with many new distractions (Northouse, 2016).
The entire world finds itself in new and adapting times, as we reopen our society, what is the new normal employees can expect from their leaders and employers? This very question leads to the need for transformational leaders since they can inspire others to accomplish new and exciting goals. Leaders of the future will need to be intuitive to the needs of their followers, to have the vision of the future, and to know how to show that vision to the followers that will need to be inspired to follow that person into the great unknown of virtual offices (Northouse, 2016).
References
Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
PSU WC. (2020). Lesson 10: Transformational Leadership. Retrieved from Penn State University World Campus: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2015147/modules/items/29089241
Abrams, Z. (2019, 10 1). The Future of Remote Work. Retrieved from American Psycological Assciation: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/10/cover-remote-work
Bass, B.M., & Riggio, R.E. (2006). Transformational leadership (2nd ed.) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Lyne Sabrina Kolb says
Hi there,
The title you used for this blog post is catchy and very currently relevant! The moment I read your title I was hooked and wanted to read more. I was, unfortunately, one of the 30 million Americans who ended up having to file for unemployment due to losing my job in March because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and its only expected to get worse in the next few months, (Kochhar & Passel, 2020, pp. 1-4). According to a survey, 40% of adults say that they have to work from home because of the effects of Covid-19, (Kochhar & Passel, 2020, p. 12). That means that for every 10 workers, 4 of them had to start working remotely while the remaining 6 workers either lost their jobs or had essential jobs to keep attending. It seems completely unreal to me, but I can only hope that we all come out of this situation more educated so that we can tackle these huge problems more efficiently when they arise.
I agree with you that a transformational leader could be very helpful during these strange and uncertain times. Transformational leadership would allow a leader to help followers develop and transform in an inspiring and empowered way, (Northouse, 2016, p. 161). It is important right now for transformational leaders to help their followers’ transition from the old normal from before the pandemic, to a new normal. They also need to remember that their followers still need to have their needs met and their goals recognized, (Northouse, 2016, p. 161). Leaders and followers will need to work closely to be successful in all of these areas.
When you mentioned that there was never before a time where there was an isolation of society where people need to feel connected, I think that this is not fully accurate. While the technology and work-life is changed in almost every single way since then, the flu pandemic of 1918 was another point in history that lead to, “closing schools, shops, and restaurants; placing restrictions on transportation; mandating social distancing, and banning public gatherings,” (Champine, 2020, p. 11). Worldwide, it is estimated that 50 to 100 million people died in that pandemic; however, social distancing was the key to eventually flattening that curve, (Champine, 2020, pp. 9-14). Even though this happened a very long time ago, and we have since then advanced in medicine and technology to an incredible degree, it is important that we learn from our pasts so that we don’t make the same mistakes twice. This resonates with the transformational approach because the model proposed by Kouzes and Posner posits that one of the five fundamental practices is to challenge the process, part of which says that a leader should learn from their mistakes, (Northouse, 2016, p. 174). I would go as far as saying that a leader should pay attention to other people’s mistakes and learn form those as well.
The weak point with the transformational approach in these changing and uncertain times is that it looks at leadership as being an inherent personality trait, meaning that it cannot be learned by those who are not predisposed to having the trait, (Northouse, 2016, p. 178). This means that with so many people having lost their jobs, there are even fewer people in the job pool to look to for guidance, and this being seen as a trait would limit our leadership even further. We would only have those with the leadership personality trait and wouldn’t bother developing or learning new traits or skills. This weakness can cause serious problems going forward because we would likely end up with a lack of leadership all around.
All the best,
Lyne K.
References
Champine, R. D. (2020, March 27). How some cities ‘flattened the curve’ during the 1918 flu pandemic. Retrieved from National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/03/how-cities-flattened-curve-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic-coronavirus/
Kochhar, P., & Passel, J. S. (2020, May 6). Telework may save U.S. jobs in COVID-19 downturn, especially among college graduates. Retrieved from Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/05/06/telework-may-save-u-s-jobs-in-covid-19-downturn-especially-among-college-graduates/
Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.