It’s time to get over bad-apple syndrome and just become a better manager.
That’s the resounding message to leaders at London’s Tech Week ‘Future of Work’ Summit yesterday. And a message that should be ringing in the ears of all agency leaders.
Agencies really do need to change to better protect their teams. That means leaders need to change.
They need to close their ears to the draconian views of previous agency leaders or founders. Agency cultures are not created in an office. People don’t need to be governed by the same working patterns.
Shifting leadership practices is hard, it requires trust and experimentation. We’ve tried different working styles that many will recoil at. Mostly out of fear that the ‘bad apples’ will have an easy ride. But, with patience and adjustment, we have found a better way.
If you’re looking to grow and evolve as a leader, here are some thoughts that resonate:
- – Become digital first, not digital only.
- – Ensure level access across the organisation.
- – Shift from favouring presentism, to measuring outputs.
- – Get over bad-apple syndrome and become a better manager.
- – Learn how to trust, develop, and spot talent in this new world of work.
- – Know that flexibility is allowing people to choose – ‘when, where and how they work’.
- – Learn how to develop a different style of management to accommodate this different way of working.
- – Learn how to work out loud yourself. Teach others to work out loud. Teach others to embrace the technology that allows new working practices to thrive.
- – If you want to attract the best talent – have a clear purpose. Live by the purpose. Align that purpose with that of the employee’s purpose.
- – Great leaders bridge the gap between enabling true flexibility to improve employee wellbeing, whilst ensuring that people show up when the business needs them.
At 3THINKRS, we are evolving all the time. We are testing out new ways of working. Some will work (pun intended), some will fail. But I fundamentally believe that people perform better when they get to work to their own rhythm.
I also believe results talk; that ‘bad apples’ can be quickly identified.
If you are delivering what’s expected of you, you can be on a beach in Bali for all I care.
By Beth Coombes
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