Institute For The Future

Leaders: How to be there when you are not there

Most leaders I know today are at their best when they are there physically, in person as we say. When they are not present physically, however, there is often a big gap.

In a world of disruptions and as we move towards decentralized and distributed organizations (shape-shift organizations), leaders will need to have a presence at all times, anyplace, anytime. Sometimes, they will need to feel present everyplace, every time—without feeling intrusive. Leaders will need to make very smart decisions about when to travel and when to use which virtual medium in what way with whom. I have been working with senior executives for more than thirty years now, and my sense is that many of them travel too much and they travel at the wrong times. Certainly, some of today’s leaders—especially the younger ones—use today’s virtual media very well.

Being Present in Shape-shifting Organizations

 

Leaders will need to find new points of contact in the shape-shifting organizations within which they will be working. Leaders will need a new leadership presence, through a wide mix of media and in-person meetings in varied combinations. Leaders will need to create organizational cultures that are amplified by the increasingly rich mix of media options that will emerge over the next decade. Today’s smart phones and tablets will look quaint a decade from now. Those leaders who think they are in a futuristic world of telework now will be shocked by what is coming. Even when leaders are not present in person, they will need to have their presence felt.

Blended-Reality Presence

When I started studying teleconferencing and social media in the 1970s, most systems designers assumed that meeting face-to-face was the ideal medium for human communication. The (often-unstated) goal in those days was to design an electronic medium that came as close as possible to meeting face-to-face. However, we should be able to do better than using new technology to replicate what we did before. In-person meetings will continue to be best for certain things, but electronic media should allow us to go beyond the ways that we meet today.

The good news is that the tools for culture seeding and nurturing will be so much better than what we have today. Augmented reality, mixed reality, and virtual reality are the current buzzwords for a new blended-reality world of work that will take shape over the next decade.

 

THOSE WHO ARE FLUENT IN THE LITERACY OF BEING there when you are not there will say:

• I am skilled in the use of multiple media as I communicate my leadership, including not only in-person meetings but also a wide range of electronic media.
• I am skillful in choosing which medium is good for what, with whom.
• I am able to communicate my leadership presence continuously, even when I am not physically present.

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This post is an excerpt from Bob Johansen's new book The New Leadership Literacies: Thriving in a Future of Extreme Disruption and Distributed Everything.

Learn more about the book here or purchase your copy on Amazon.