As many of CLS’s members continue to work remotely, Sally Courtney of Promise Consultancy shared her thoughts on how to do so more effectively whilst at a distance from colleagues and the normal work environment.
46 members attended a webinar on 20 October 2020 given by Sally Courtney. Sally’s career began as a research chemist at Unilever which led to a management role developing a leadership programme for senior leaders. Following a master’s degree in coaching and learning design, she has spent the last 15 years working with both large and small organisations and individual leaders, with a focus on changing behaviour and culture.
Sally started by saying that she felt that there was a danger of the human side of the Covid-19 crisis being neglected. She spoke about a resilient leadership model with four elements.
The first element was boundaries, and the difficulties of setting limits when working remotely. She felt that many people overcompensated when working remotely by working unsocial and long hours in order to show their colleagues and leaders that they were actually working, an issue which I think is common to many of us. The importance of being clear about intentions and boundaries was discussed.
The second element was relationships, and the difficulties of maintaining these remotely with the loss of in person informal interaction. Sally spoke about a ‘relationship bank account’ and the elements of inclusion, control and openness.
The third element was environment, and the importance of making changes to support remote working rather than adapting to the status quo.
Finally, Sally spoke about energy and focus, in particular sleep, hydration, movement and nutrition. Apparently we should be aiming to eat nearer ten portions of fruit and veg a day rather than the much publicised five a day! Regular movement is essential to maintaining oxygen flow, detoxing the body and processing nutrients but this can be forgotten without those regular trips to the kitchen at work for a cup of tea.
There was an interesting discussion after the presentation about building and maintaining relationships, and the importance of working on this on a daily basis. The value of calling colleagues regularly for a chat cannot be underestimated.
Emma Bowman
Real Estate solicitor at Hewitsons LLP
November 2020
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