4 - Office of the future - Darleen DeRosa on her book – Leading at a distance – Lessons on Virtual Leadership

Darleen speaks about some the nuances in building and maintaining relationships in a remote world. A lot of things that we might do in the rhythm of an offline world don’t apply. She speaks about some observations from the leaders she has worked with. Sahiba Singh from Spencer Stuart India team also shares her perspectives on the topic.

Darleen speaks about how leaders should walk the tightrope between letting people be, giving them autonomy and seeking performance. It is a fine line and it is easy to swing too far without realizing it. She speaks about the ATC (Action, Timetable, Check-in) approach in dealing with colleagues.

Darleen speaks about how leaders need to look at the way an organization works and the cadence to ensure that people are not overloaded with responsibilities and information. She goes on to say that it is less about technology but more about how it is used and applied in an organizational context.

Darleen speaks about how organizations are beginning to think about the role of the office in the future. She provides her perspective on the insight from Charles Handy who said “An office will be like a club: a place for eating, meeting, and greeting, with rooms reserved for activities, not people”

Darleen speaks about how Boards have evolved in a Remote working context. She speaks about CEO succession coming back front and centre in the Board agenda. In addition, Atul Bhandari (who sits on the Global Spencer Stuart Board) and Ritu Kochhar (who leads the India Board practice) share their insights around how Boards have started thinking about risk and the kinds of skills that are becoming more relevant in the Boardroom today.

Darleen speaks about how leaders and organizations have thought about apprenticeship in these times. Rohit Kale (who leads Spencer Stuart in India) speaks about how peer mentoring has been impacted in these times but also goes on to speak about the silver lining here as this provides opportunities that didn’t exist earlier for some colleagues to experience the “moment of truth”.

Darleen sheds light on how leaders and organizations can get more thoughtful in the way they get the cultural assimilation right when a new leader comes on board. Leadership derailment is a lot more about Leaders missing out on the “how” of a job rather than the “what” of the job.

Darleen speaks about the challenges in hiring effectively in the remote world. Atul Bhandari, Ritu Kochhar and Rohit also share their perspectives around how we need to tap into stories much more in these times and how remote work has opened up the aperture in terms of where people look for talent. They also share an interesting perspective around how companies are thinking about experience versus potential in these times.

Darleen speaks about how we need to take care of physical, mental and spiritual energy in these times. Atul Bhandari and Sahiba Singh also share their perspectives around how some leaders can think about staying healthy and productive in these times.