Permanent remote policies, the new normal, and mindfulness
A roundup of the latest remote work news and insights
This week brought a plethora of good news about remote work and how a variety of companies are opening themselves up to more conscious leadership. It was encouraging to read how Twitter is making their coronavirus-implemented remote work option permanent. Their public statement spoke volumes about how they empower their employees to make the best decision for their wellbeing: “Opening offices will be our decision. When and if our employees come back, will be theirs.”
Not only is this great news for the future of remote work, it also displays the conscious leadership necessary to trust, empower, and grow a virtual team.
Conversely, the NYT published a humorous column about one reporter’s experiment with surveillance software while working from home. He voluntarily used the service then gave his editor access to evaluate for the story what this did to their relationship and his engagement level. The results were as expected: while he did feel more pressure to perform under the software’s watching eye, he and his editor found the surveillance creepy and unnecessary. As I’ve mentioned before, this type of authoritarian scrutiny isn’t necessary when you hire, coach, and lead your team well.
Here is some of the remote work/conscious leadership content I found interesting this week:
Key insight for me: “In 2019, OwlLabs promoted a tagline for their annual Work from Anywhere campaign that summarized the true telework advocacy goals best: “Location is Irrelevant.” We don’t need to be anywhere specific to fulfill our scope of work. Some days we might choose to go to the office, others we might go to a coworking space, library, or just our living room. The point is that no matter where we are, we’re trusted and enabled to do our best work. Period.”
This week my friend Eric Reynolds (an awesome coach!) shared with me this New York Times article about employees who don’t want to go back to the office.
Key insight for me: “At the very least, some workers would like to see employers put lessons of the pandemic into practice, including more compassionate management in general.” A great reminder that conscious leadership and remote work policies go hand-in-hand.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to attend a Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI) workshop to learn more about mindfulness in the workplace. It was a fantastic experience. The instructors provided lots of research showing the positive impact of meditation and mindfulness for teams and individuals. SIYLI is hosting a free online series about developing emotional intelligence skills. Emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and meditation are all an integral part of developing conscious leadership, and SIYLI offers excellent resources to leaders working on these skills.
Work happy. Live happy. BE happy.
Meredith
Are you ready to increase your conscious leadership? Want to talk about building your remote team? Send me a note and let’s talk about achieving your goals.
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