Situational Leadership in a WFH Setting

I am fortunate enough to have experienced (qp) global in both an in-person internship experience and in a remote setting. This has given me the opportunity to observe the leadership of the firm in both settings. I am starting to notice how the CEO utilizes situational leadership has shifted his leadership approach due to the transition into a work from home setting. Last summer, Peter, the CEO, utilized a more relationship-oriented style of leadership. He constantly traveled out of his office and into the “bullpen” where most of the employees are located. He would hang around for a while, catch up with his employees, and ask them about both their personal lives and their work. It was a style of leadership that focused mainly on his relationships with his employees and he came across as genuinely interested when he would venture out and have these conversations with his employees. I think it boosted the morale of the employees and helped in building a strong trust between the leader and his followers. However, this type of personal touch in the workplace is harder to achieve this summer while he is forced to make these connections through virtual conferences and meetings. This has caused him to shift his approach towards more of a task-oriented style because of his inability to naturally integrate a deep personal touch on top of making sure the tasks of the firm were being accomplished. From what I’ve seen, Peter’s style in the work from home setting is more focused on conversations related to the tasks at hand and a deeper focus on making sure the work that needs to be done is being completed. I believe that this has always been a deep focus for Peter but being in an office setting allowed him the opportunity to build strong connections with his employees while checking up on the work. He has not completely shifted his focus and still utilizes building relationships and checking in on the mental well-being of his employees. Every now and then he will give me a video call at a random time and just check in on how I am doing personally and how I am handling the internship experience. I believe the nature of a work from home setting has caused Peter to shift more towards a task-oriented style because he has less oversight of other people’s work. However, he still utilizes his natural instinct to have personal connections with each of his employees.