Remote leaders, like all business leaders, are responsible for:
- Articulating a company’s mission and key operating principles
- Figuring out the nuts and bolts of the firm’s business model
- Maintaining the financial health of the enterprise
- Supporting the success, growth, and well-being of the team
Where things get a little fuzzy, though, is when we try to translate that final point into specific leadership behaviors. “Walk the floor” and “Work shoulder to shoulder with people” is what I learned once upon a time, but that was the 90s. Not only was there an actual floor; I often walked it wearing this obsolete technology called pantyhose.
As I slo-mo hand the leadership baton to the next generation here at Steyer, I’m unclear what to tell them, so I’m asking all of you: in a fully remote company, with people in 20+ states and a results-only culture, what exactly should leadership look like? Beyond ensuring that every team member has a supportive person they can go to with questions or problems, what else in your view should remote leaders do to help? For example: if you work at Steyer or in a similar environment, how much do you want to “see” leadership around? And in what contexts: chat threads, one-on-ones, group meetings? How important is it to host in-person gatherings, so that anyone who wants to can meet the company’s leadership live and unpixelated? And in these various modes, what do you see as constructive leadership behaviors? What turns you off?
To weigh in, please write to me at kwalton@steyer.net. To rant at me, feel free to use Suggestion Ox, a tool we offer to make sure there’s a way to tell us stuff anonymously that might otherwise be hard to say.
As always, I’ll share what I learn!
Thanks,
Kate
Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash