Change your Life. Change the world.

I believe that leadership development has morphed into a new realm since the covid epidemic – one in which leadership styles must be adjusted to emerging environments that have changed. So how has the nature of work changed in the workplace? Questions surrounding trends in the workplace over the last few years have exploded. Learning soft skills (basically people skills) have had to be relearned in our digital world, and becoming aware of how intercultural our world is as well as learning social etiquette and empathy has become paramount to success in our post covid world.

I recently had my daughter and son who live together over for dinner. They were commenting on how grateful they are to have their fireplace working now that cold weather is quickly approaching. I reminded them that they needed to be sure that it is turned off when they leave for work or in general. They both looked at me funny, and when I asked why, they both reminded me that since Covid, they have been working from home and that because of that, having the fireplace on is what enables them to stay comfortable enough to work remotely.

This new work environment requires that smart leaders adapt their strategies and in the case of my son and daughter, in order for them to succeed at their job, they needed their fireplace working. It didn't matter if their team members could see it or not, they needed heat to stay comfortable and be productive. Given that the pandemic’s impact on isolation – both personally and professionally - has wreaked much havoc around the world, there must be a reconnection of employees to their work as well as with leaders to their followers.

Both my son and daughter have had numerous struggles working from home. My son lost one of his IT jobs and barely is able to keep up with his cost of living. Because my daughter's work is most effective remotely, she has become unaccustomed to being at meetings in person and therefore is very hesitant to make an appearance at the office unless absolutely necessary. She believes this is one reason she has been passed up for promotion since the pandemic.

Across the board, a sense of purpose must be relearned within organizations, yielding a renewed excitement to reconnect with new goals inside everyone’s roles. Examples of this idea are everywhere; however, I was recently inspired when I learned about the United Nation’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development on their website, which proves how its advancement must be reunited with today's world, especially given that it has been lacking in recent generations. Thankfully, the UN is bringing their mission back, which is to "seek the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental." In fact, given that "the survival of many societies, and of the biological support systems of the planet, is at risk," we are also in "a time of immense opportunity. Significant progress has been made in meeting many development challenges. Within the past generation, hundreds of millions of people have emerged from extreme poverty. Access to education has greatly increased for both boys and girls. The spread of information and communications technology and global interconnectedness has great potential to accelerate human progress, to bridge the digital divide and to develop knowledge societies, as does scientific and technological innovation across areas as diverse as medicine and energy." In other words, the UN's motto from their website is "Peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet."

Finally, I have included one of my favorite inspirational links below, which issues a challenge for every leader. Watching this testimony can change your life.

References:

  1. United Nations. (n.d.). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development | department of economic and social affairs. United Nations. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
  2. Watch This Everyday and Change Your Life - Denzel Washington Motivational Speech 2023. YouTube. (2019, June 3). https://youtu.be/tbnzAVRZ9Xc?si=eGAHfSrkd975l-UN