DUBAI: The digital era has transformed the way people work and live, and has become more evident as the coronavirus pandemic forced everybody into an online environment to learn, work, and communicate.
In a discussion, titled the 鈥榝uture of work,鈥� at the second day of the Civil Society 20 Summit (C20) a panel of experts and business leaders discussed leadership in the digital age.
The C20 is one of the eight official engagement groups of the G20, which allows civil society groups to put forward a non-government and non-business voice.
Panelists of the 鈥楻ethinking 鈥楲eadership鈥� for a Digital Age鈥� session said they agreed that leadership must work hand-in-hand with technology and that 鈥渢here must be a greater understanding between leadership and authority in this digital age.鈥�
鈥淟eadership sometimes needs authority, sometimes it does not,鈥� Salma El-Yassir, co-founder of Womaneze, said, stressing that it is important to understand the difference between the two.
Yassir further explained that the lack of understanding created underlying fears, leading to some resisting change, including a shift to technology-driven work.
Roberto Croci, managing director at Microsoft for Startups MEA, said leadership in the digital age was not about technology, but more on people.
鈥淚t is human centered. Leaders misunderstand their role, always thinking about themselves鈥� but it is about others,鈥� Croci told the panel.
鈥淎 leader should come out as vulnerable, it is okay to be human. A good leader should be asking the right questions [since leaders] do not have all the answers.鈥�
Anastasia Dedyukhina, founder of Consciously Digital, said she believed that 鈥渓eadership should work hand in hand with technology.鈥�
鈥淎 great leader is not only listening to people but also listens to suggestions. The [coronavirus] pandemic is a perfect example, if a leader listens to employees it will invigorate leadership,鈥� Dedyukhina said.
But Dedyukhina warned that technology tools were not necessarily neutral, as some digital tools end up putting workers on a digital leash.
鈥淪mall things [such as digital communication versus personal communication] make a big difference鈥� technology adoption has an effect on employees,鈥� she explained.
鈥淭echnology is taking a toll on people. That is not our natural state of being. We cannot be expected to be at a screen for hours on end. Companies have to be cognizant and aware and make allowances for it,鈥� Yassir meanwhile commented.
For Croci, some leaders are not updating the way people are being measured for performance management.
鈥淧eople must be rewarded on outcomes and impact. Who cares if you work nine hours in your laptop? The small mannerisms of leaders show how to respect your employees,鈥� Croci explained.
鈥淲e are seeing signs of digital fatigue in this new normal. Long meetings are not natural, are not healthy.鈥�
The panelists likewise had critical views about working from home, which has become common across workforces around the globe since the coronavirus pandemic broke out.
鈥淥n the short term [working from home] can be great, but the last six months has been just about surviving,鈥� Dedyukhina said, and mentioned a study where home-based employees were eager to return to office work, fearing their chances of promotion were jeopardized by their physical absence.
鈥淭he idea of ownership of a day initially feels great but it stops, and then becomes tiring. It may be time for leaders to reconfigure, and give workers a choice of working from home or in the office,鈥� Yassir said.
鈥淚t could be time to do a combination of things, trust people to do their work.鈥�
鈥淗ow you are measuring your employees鈥� you do not necessarily have to be a Google or Microsoft. It is the way you care [for your employees]. Think of your employees as human, would you do this thing to yourself? We need a human-centered leader at these times,鈥� Microsoft鈥檚 Croci meanwhile commented.