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Manila, 19 October 2022 — How a great transformation is prompting a new language for leaders.

Story

It happened in March 2020. One of the great transformations of our time was triggered by the widespread and sudden lockdowns imposed on us at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Almost overnight, the world as we knew it changed, ushering in an unprecedented panic and burst of creative productivity to move our meetings, conferences, workshops, and training events online. Because there was no longer an alternative to organizing online meetings at that time, human ingenuity broke through the mental barriers that, until then, had held us back. Many who had resisted online meetings became Zoom experts within a few weeks. For the trainers and coaches who had already embraced working online with clients in earlier years — like yours truly — the transition was mild. But for most, it was a rough wake-up call to a new normal.

Two and a half years later, with the effects of the pandemic receding in many countries and a growing proportion of workers returning to offices and resuming travel, we are now finding our way in a warren of challenging ‘hybrid’ work and meeting arrangements. Most experts agree that the fundamental changes ushered in during the pandemic will continue to transform the way we work and meet. That, however, has brought many challenges of adaptation, including the language we use. In January 2021, Doreen Loeber, an events and communications coordinator at Exempla Management & Consulting, already warned us on LinkedIn about the growing confusion in using terminology like live, virtual, online, and face-to-face for the marketing of events in the digital age. 

The real impacts of the transformation, however, go well beyond the immediate concerns that Loeber highlighted. At a more fundamental level, the change is about how we adjust to new realities and opportunities for working together in an era where, unlike before, travel is questioned for taking up valuable time, adding to traffic congestion, and generating undesirable carbon emissions. Meanwhile, technology is offering us new, and continuously improving, means to connect with each other in calls, meetings, workshops, and conferences. As usual, the challenge to make the best use of the new opportunities in our ‘hybrid’ era starts in our head, with our mindset and the language we choose to use. For starters, ask yourself what it means in the brave new world we have entered, to meet people live, in-person, or face-to-face?

Challenge

Are you ready to take on the challenge of reviewing and adapting the language you use to describe how you meet and work with other people? Do you still need to travel and physically be in the same room with someone to have an ‘in-person’ or ‘face-to-face’ meeting when you can meet them in an online room and, yes, also face-to-face, courtesy of Zoom, Teams, and the other available services? Furthermore, what is, today, virtual and not virtual when it comes to holding meetings? 

For leaders who want to bring out the best in others and drive and facilitate change in their workplaces, these are important questions as we move into the new era. How we use language as we move forward is also important for inclusive leadership — the process of consistently increasing the involvement of your teammates and other colleagues in creating better results together. In hybrid meetings where some participants are physically in the same room while others join from other locations, we can already observe the challenge of creating a level playing field where everyone can contribute equally. 

Of course, there is no doubt that on-site meetings where we physically meet in the same place, will be different from even the best online meetings. Being able to observe full-body language, touch each other, and sense energies up close, makes a difference. Moreover, research has shown that this is especially attractive to extroverts, who tend to thrive more in such environments. Summing up, there are pros and cons to both physical onsite and online meetings, and there are added challenges in making hybrid meetings work equally well for the onsite and online participants. What is clear is that we have entered a new age where we need not only a new mindset but also additional skills.

Question

My question for you this week is how you are adapting your language to adjust to the new normal, including more online and hybrid meetings. And, on reflection, how are you choosing your terminology in this new age to make the best use of the opportunities we now have and respect the people you work with? 

I’m looking forward to hearing from you about this, so do take a moment to write and share your experiences.

Throughout the ages, language has played an important role in leadership, and it is natural that the use of language for leaders keeps evolving as the context for exercising leadership evolves, as it has in recent years. There is much more to learn about how leaders can use language to communicate effectively to drive change. If you believe that you need to level up in this area, then go ahead and book a free strategy call so that we can discuss where you want to take your leadership in the next months.