Just20yearsago,“goingto
leadership models that were created you can use them to bring greater pro-
work”meantwakingup,
almost a century ago. As a result,busi- ductivity and overall success to your
nesses worldwide are suffering from what organization.
gettingdressed,jumpingin
I call Virtual Distance.”
thecar,anddrivingtoa
CREATINGCONTEXT
Lojeski’s book - which includes never-
physicallocationwhereyou
before-published interviews with execu- What is meant by context? It is every-
interacted,face-to-face,with
tives from IBM,Merck,HP,Alcatel-Lucent, thing around us that helps us to under-
Crayola,Western Union,and more - stand who we are,where we are,and
yourbossandcoworkersall
explores the subject in detail. what our role is. Context is the founda-
day. In2010itmightmean
tion upon which we derive meaning
Virtual Distance is characterized by a from what other people say.
steppingacrossthehallto
combination of physical separation,tech-
yourhomeofficeandgetting
nology mediation,and disconnected In the past,the requisite context needed
onavideoconferencewitha
relationships,she explains. These dynam- to do a good job was readily available.
ics lead to a psychological separation Coworkers knew about the personal lives
bossyouhaven’tseenin
that builds over time,leading to negative of their colleagues. They saw each other
years-if,indeed,you’veever
effects on productivity,innovation,and every day. With that information,they
trust between employees and groups of could cipher who thought what about
mether.
organizations. work as well as politics,family,and other
important notions in life. But today it’s
Yes,everything about work has changed.
In fact,studies show that when Virtual not so simple. Work is commonly done
It’s gone from a permanent,flesh-and-
Distance is relatively high,innovation in temporary projects where people
blood world of people who know their
falls by over 90 percent and competitive come and go,and organizational affilia-
coworkers well - from where they live to
advantage is severely impacted,while tions change with each new project or
how many kids they have to how they
trust and job satisfaction decline by over merger or downsizing.
drink their coffee - to a transient one
80 percent. On-time and on-budget proj-
where the voices on the phone may
ect performance suffers by over 50 per- “While it might be easy,neat,and logical
change week-to-week and project-to-proj-
cent and can cost a company millions, to think that we don’t need to know each
ect. (Even inside an office coworkers
and goal and role clarity decline by over other to stay on task,that’s just not the
are more likely to email the person in the
60 percent. case,”says Lojeski. “That kind of magical
next cubicle than speak to him.)
thinking has led many leaders astray.
“Rapidly evolving changes in the way When we are blind to others’ contexts -
According to Karen Sobel Lojeski,the
that we work have led to the need for a their surroundings,the way they think,
implications of these changes are stag-
new model of leadership,”asserts Lojeski. and more,we simply do not operate with
gering. In fact,they require a whole new
“Leading the Virtual Workforce presents maximum effectiveness. So one of the
leadership model.
the Virtual Distance Leadership Model, things that leaders need to do most is to
which helps organizations motivate and help individuals and teams in the virtual
“The virtual workforce in the U.S.has
inspire employees who are geographical- workforce see the context that is other-
exploded,”says Lojeski,author of the
ly, culturally,and functionally dispersed. wise invisible. They do this by under-
book“Leading the Virtual Workforce:
It supplies leaders with the new behav- standing how to use technology to com-
How Great Leaders Transform
iors and skills they need in order to municate effectively and by serving as a
Organizations in the 21st Century.”
reduce Virtual Distance and improve human anchor,or constant,to help every-
employee productivity and satisfaction.” one stay connected.”
“In fact,according to the International
Data Corporation,the mobile workforce
The Virtual Distance Leadership Model CULTIVATINGCOMMUNITY
in the U.S.- which has the largest percent-
consists of three core competencies for
age of mobile workers in the world - is
leading today’s virtual workforce: The word“community”is not one nor-
set to become 73 percent of the nation’s
Creating Context,Cultivating Community, mally associated with corporate leader-
workforce by 2011,”she continues.
and Co-Activating New Leaders. ship. But today as organizations have
become flatter and more matrixed,the
“The problem is that while the way we
To fully understand the Virtual Distance ability to“recruit”people to work on proj-
work has changed,the way leaders lead
Leadership Model and why and how it ects or other assignments has become an
those workforces has not,”she adds. “In
works,one must first understand these important aspect of leadership. One way
fact,many organizations are still using
core competencies. Read on for more that effective leaders do this is by build-
about the core competencies and how ing diverse communities of people who
Mid-Atlantic EVENTS Magazine 61
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