Skip to content

What are 4 key qualities in business leaders?

HubSpot Video

In this episode of our New Ways: Leading in a Changed World Series, Pexip chatted with Brian Ferreira, vice president managing executive partner at Gartner. Brian is a global expert in business and technology trends and executive leadership.

There are four aspects that leaders need to provide people in times of crisis -- hope, empathy, trust and stability. Why are these so important?

According to Ferreira, if you consider how people’s lives have been disrupted, most haven’t experienced a period of turbulence like this before. The scale of complexity in our lives adds to the ambiguity.

“As humans, we want hope … we want to see that there's a future, we want empathy because we want to be heard … and being heard is being honest with us and being transparent ... That comes with trust. We can only trust people when we've got that real connection and there’s that hope, that empathy and that transparency. Those things combined gives you a sense of stability. Even if there's massive risk, it gives you that sense of stability.”

There are organizations and even industries striving to gain that sense of stability for their workforces. Sometimes however, lack of authentic leadership drives employees away.

In one example given by Ferreira, a ‘bricks and mortar’ business had seen more than a 50% reduction in revenue during Covid. The employees working in that business had seen beyond the crisis, they’d experienced things at home in the way all our lives have been changed. They saw that bricks and mortar operations were likely to be less practical in the future. Their leadership however told them ‘we’re going back to normal.’ Despite conversations and attempts at internal communication, there was a fundamental difference in views around recovery perspective between the employees and their leaders.

“Someone said to me that people were actually saying ‘I don't buy the vision’ and ‘I'm happy to go work somewhere else where it's going to be more hopeful and where there's more stability.’”

So, people are not so much worried about risk. Often, they've already managed or assessed their personal risk. They've managed to work through the toughness of the change in our new lives. I sometimes think … that leaders have forgotten that people have already adjusted, and that they’ve seen risk beyond their own leaders and are no longer feeling comfortable in that space.”

This episode was filmed with interviewer Ben Campbell in Adelaide, and Brian Ferreira in Sydney, Australia – using Pexip meetings to bring everyone together.

Discover how enhanced video collaboration can power your post-pandemic business growth

LEARN MORE

The Hoffice

How to get the best out of your home office environment

Microphones

We all know how important video is to a video conference. But what’s more important than video? Audio. Watch our best practice tips on video conferencing from home.
WATCH NOW

Cameras

This episode of The Hoffice explores cameras and camera placement. Watch our best practice tips on lifting your video game for high-performance video meetings from home.
WATCH NOW

Being Present

Watch our 4 best practice principles on how to stay present and engaged during a video call.
WATCH NOW

Lighting

Why is lighting important? In this episode of The Hoffice, we cover how lighting can impact the performance of your video call. Watch our best practice tips to help you look your best.
WATCH NOW

Environment

This episode explores the environment around you and its importance when planning a video meeting. Watch our best practice tips setting yourself up in the right surroundings.
WATCH NOW

Backdrops

This episode looks at backdrops – what to consider and what to avoid. Watch our best practice tips on setting up a great video conference.
WATCH NOW

Work from home resources

How-to guides for individuals and their teams

5 tips on building a great culture for remote workers

Is it enough to just let people know that they can do their work from home?
WATCH NOW

5 tips for planning a successful video meeting

With a little planning, you can avoid distracting technical issues and keep your meetings as productive as possible.
WATCH NOW

How to support mental health and well-being for remote workers

Paul Vittles - researcher and consultant to commercial, government and non-for-profits –makes recommendations on how companies can support employees
WATCH NOW