Organisational leadership: a shift in post-Covid-19 perspective

Leadership refers to the unique quality of governing employee behaviour. Leaders guide and motivate employees to achieve organisational goals and objectives in an organisational setting. Leaders are responsible for taking an effective corporate resolution to eliminate any discrepancies. Additionally, they are also responsible for motivating and improving employee performance. Leadership can be termed as the art of executing tasks through others.

Thus, due to the recent Covid-19 pandemic, effective leadership has become an essential element of organisational culture to achieve organisational goals and objectives and boost employee morale and productivity. Moreover, it promotes employee engagement as well as enthusiasm. As a result, it becomes easier for workers to adapt to the environment. It enhances operational excellence by instilling a sense of responsibility and commitment amongst employees. To be precise, leadership upholds the overall image and worth.

 In our opinion, the recent pandemic has changed the expectations of traditional leadership roles in an organisation. Leadership is now viewed as a tool to incorporate optimistic goals and approaches while managing employees' challenges and motivation. Effective leadership allows employees to reach their full potential with the necessary energy and enthusiasm while accomplishing goals and objectives promptly.

It can be termed a tool to encourage associates and workers to possess a flourishing profession by demonstrating, supporting, and actively attempting to persuade positivity. Furthermore, it equally considers the organisation and its citizens' welfare and prosperity.

Thus, this belief may construct a healthy workplace where cooperation fosters interrelations across all organisational functions, ultimately benefiting an entire firm. Performance management also depends much on leadership in today's world. This is how it can help to counter difficulties to widely held views regarding leadership's value. From the organisational behavioural theories, it has been evident that administration effectively resolves deviations during confusion and turbulence.

It is essential to create a group of employees committed to their tasks and accomplish them while valuing mobility and approachability. Post Covid-19 leadership is a crucial requirement in the fast-paced world to navigate inclusivity and multiculturalism. To achieve organisational success and generate content for employees, a firm must include and implement leadership tactics. This will undoubtedly help a firm to reach a competitive edge in the long run.

In contrast, in adapting to the new normal post-Covid-19, we believe that virtual teams and ethical leadership go hand in hand in terms of attaining institutional accomplishment. Virtual teams comprise many professionals utilising modern technologies for interacting and collaborating. It can be constructed in a particular zone, although frequently dispersed with the ease of performing and participating from various neighbourhoods of the planet. Virtual or distant teams operate to function simultaneously without being available at present. They employ numerous online tools like task administration systems and applications to facilitate interaction among workers and work at a similar pace. Due to separation among members, forming credibility within the setting is crucial and cultivating effective interaction to avoid complications and errors and avoid unnecessary costs. Since individuals interact better in a social environment, it might pose newer challenges to overcome the obstacles coming from the virtual working space.

However, good leadership can generate positive outcomes in a virtual organisation. Virtual teams are beneficial to a large extent. Virtual organisations reduce office costs, foster employee mobility, and increase overall efficiency. On the other hand, a physical office ensures the availability of organisational expertise. For example, Boeing appoints architects across nations to develop and design new models of aeroplanes. Virtual teams must be constructed in this regard, and team members ought to discuss and share their ideology. Therefore, the need for virtual teams to achieve organisational success is remarkable.

On the other hand, ethical leadership would also be a key ingredient in reaching organisational victory in a new normal post-Covid-19. Work contentment and moral leadership are linked due to their favourable implication for work. It has the strength to be demonstrated to boost personal productivity and organisational performance. A leader with high moral attributes positively influences the outcome and the individual's flexibility to adjust. It determines appreciable and inappreciable values and code of conduct. Alongside, common moral ideals can generate satisfying organisational culture. It is essential to acknowledge action that is at odds with the notions an organisation looks up to. For example, Google's praiseworthy leadership style can be referred to as present-day ethical leadership. Virtual teams and ethical leadership are crucial for accomplishing organisational goals, targets, and success. The firms of the 21st century would have been nothing in the absence of these core and critical functions.

Therefore, organisational justice may take place from the perspective of administrative justice theories, meaning workers' feelings of equity. There are four perspectives: consequentialist, operational, cognitive, and transactional views. Numerous research works suggest that organisational justice varies inside teams in a job setting and in the entire organisation. It is a multilayered procedure. A firm's organisational justice builds upon routes of successful disclosures, regulation on an equitable level, a rapid decision-making process where leaders are protected from retribution, and modifications to the ethics code. It follows a democratic approach, and improved results have also been experienced. For example, Tim cook changed the narrative of Apple when it used to be an autocratic-style firm; once it started practising the democratic leadership style, much-improved results were visible.

While the above principles of organisational behaviour are implemented and fostered, the benefits of maintaining a positive (enthusiasm of) corporate culture start to prevail. For example, Dolce & Gabanna, a world-famous fashion retailer brand has unique values. They also appoint designers across the nation to perform better. Thus, every organisation has a fantastic set of conduct and cultural practice where it embraces diversity and shares a similar intention to achieve targets and competence among rivals. It is an essential tool for any firm to be recognised and work to better the organisation and its stakeholders. 

Mohammad Shahidul Islam. Ph.D. Assistant Professor, BRAC Business School, BRAC University; Tanzin Khan, Lecturer, BRAC Business School; Riya Prava MBA Student, BRAC Business School. [email protected]