When the workplace is no longer physical but digital, it changes not only the way we work but also what we look for in a leader. New research shows that personal leadership qualities such as intelligence and charm do not necessarily make good remote leaders. In a digital working life, what we need above all are leaders who take responsibility for getting the work done. Traditional versus practical leadership qualities
In a recent study, American researchers mapped what distinguishes good remote leaders from good office leaders. By studying 220 work groups, the researchers examined which types of employees take on the leadership role in digital and in physical work settings. The study focused on so-called emergent leaders – employees who lack formal authority but are naturally recognised as leaders by the rest of the team. In the groups whose members met face to face, it was the members with typically extroverted traits such as enthusiasm and good social skills who took on the leadership role. This stood in contrast to the digital teams. In these groups, it was not traditional leadership traits such as charisma, charm and social intelligence that people wanted in their team leader, but rather pragmatic leadership skills.
Remote leaders get the job done
In the teams that collaborated online, it was the most goal-oriented, productive and organised members who were regarded as group leaders. According to the study, we prefer remote leaders who act as facilitators for their employees. In a digital context, people gain leadership status by helping team members with their tasks and by making sure the team reaches its goals on time. In other words, when work no longer takes place face to face but virtually, we do not want a charming and sociable boss, but first and foremost a leader who takes responsibility for getting the work done. This may be because miscommunication and misunderstandings arise more often when communication takes place via digital platforms. In virtual work settings, it is therefore the leaders who take concrete steps to secure performance who come across as competent, rather than those with a charismatic personality. Put differently, from our home offices we identify good leaders first and foremost by what they do, not by who they are.
Promotion and trust in leaders
The study, which was carried out before the coronavirus pandemic, has taken on particular relevance at a time when working from home and remote leadership have become the norm. Now that our personal workplaces have become partly or entirely digital, leaders and employees alike benefit from understanding how desired leadership qualities and leadership styles are affected by different work contexts. This insight should also be reflected in which employees are given leadership responsibility. According to the researchers behind the study, organisations should not automatically promote employees who have distinguished themselves as good leaders in a physical work setting to leadership roles in a digital context. The soft qualities that traditional leaders possess are not necessarily transferable to a digital working life. Successfully taking on a leadership role requires the ability to establish trust between yourself and your employees. According to the study, this applies whether you lead in a physical office or over Teams. What distinguishes the two types of leader, however, is how that trust is built. In the digital workplace, trust arises first and foremost from the way a leader takes the time to help others, coordinate tasks and give frequent feedback on the work employees do. In the office, there is less need for leaders who are ‘hands-on’, and more need for a sociable and motivating boss who spreads inspiration and the reassurance that the company is being led with a steady hand.
From traditional to digital leadership
The study’s findings suggest that all leaders should develop digital leadership skills and adopt the behaviour employees want in a remote leader. This is necessary both for virtual leaders who want to keep their current leadership status and for office leaders who want to be accepted as remote leaders as well. To truly succeed as a leader in the digital working day, it is not enough simply to have the personality of a ‘natural leader’.
You actually have to roll up your sleeves, do the work and show that you can lead in practice!
